[bug-gettext] JavaScript support status

[Bruno Haible]

Hi,

I'm trying to get an understanding of:
  - What is the JavaScript community doing w.r.t. localization and PO and MO
    files?
  - What can/should the GNU gettext package do in order to be useful for this
    community?

Here's a set of packages and use situations I could find. It does not give a
big picture to me. Can someone shed some light on anything of this, and
clarify?

========================== Package in/for JavaScript ==========================

JavaScript libraries:

* gettext-js
  https://code.google.com/archive/p/gettext-js/
  2007-2009
  API: A global Gettext object.
  Implementation: Uses PO files by parsing them.
  Depends on Prototype.js.

* jsgettext
  https://sourceforge.net/projects/jsgettext.berlios/
  https://github.com/adrienrn/jsgettext
  https://bitbucket.org/fanstatic/js.jsgettext
  http://jsgettext.sourceforge.net/
  2008-2011
  API: A global Gettext object. See 
http://jsgettext.sourceforge.net/doc/html/Gettext.html
  Implementation: Uses PO files by parsing them.

* JQuery Globalize
  https://github.com/globalizejs/globalize
  2010-2016
  Uses just JSON, no PO or MO files so far

* jed
  https://github.com/messageformat/Jed
  http://messageformat.github.io/Jed/
  https://alexsexton.com/blog/2012/10/introducing-the-jed-toolkit/
  http://www.2ality.com/2012/11/jed-toolkit.html
  http://www.jeromesteunou.net/internationalisation-in-javascript.html
  2012-2016

* gettext-js based on jed
  https://www.npmjs.com/package/gettext-js
  https://github.com/frascata/gettext-js
  2016

* angular-gettext
  https://angular-gettext.rocketeer.be/
  https://github.com/rubenv/angular-gettext
  2013-2016
  API: An Angular module.
  Implementation: Uses JSON files created by 
https://github.com/rubenv/angular-gettext-tools
  Depends on Angular.

* angular-translate
  https://github.com/angular-translate/angular-translate
  2013-2016
  ?

* gettext.js
  https://github.com/ojii/gettext.js
  http://gettextjs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
  API: minimal
  Includes a MO -> JSON converter: 
https://github.com/ojii/gettext.js/blob/master/src/py/gettextjs.py
  2015-2016


"Toolkits":

* http://i18next.com


Integrated in web frameworks:

* Babel
  https://babel.edgewall.org/
  https://babel.edgewall.org/wiki/Documentation/messages.html
  also supports JavaScript 
  API: ?
  Implementation: ?

* Django
  https://www.djangoproject.com/
  https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.10/topics/i18n/translation/
  Lexer: https://github.com/django/django/blob/master/django/utils/jslex.py
  2011-2015
  Implementation: Uses .mo files
  Uses "wrappers around xgettext and msgfmt", "for convenience".

* django-jsgettext based on Django
  https://github.com/niwinz/django-jsgettext
  2012-2013


Converters PO -> MO

* https://www.npmjs.com/package/gulp-gettext
  https://github.com/cloud-walker/gulp-gettext
  2015-2016

Converters MO -> JSON

* https://github.com/jakob-stoeck/jpoker/blob/master/mo2json.py
  2008

* https://github.com/wrook/jquery.gettext/blob/master/mo2json.py
  2009

=============================== Use situations ===============================

JavaScript runtimes:
- Browsers
- Node.js (a.k.a. "server-side JavaScript")
- gjs (command-line, but linked to Mozilla's JavaScript) [who uses that?]

================================= Status quo =================================

What is currently implemented in GNU gettext?
- xgettext support for jsgettext package.
- A test case lang-javascript. Based on the gjs gettext module.
- There is no hello-javascript.


Bruno