Re: Extracting selected messages from a po file

[Bruno Haible]

Martin Quinson wrote:

> I had an idea this night : what about an utility using a LDAP-like syntax to
> filter some messages from the input file ? It could be renamed msgselect.
> 
> The previous request would be expressed with :
> 
> msgselect "(|(fuzzy=yes)(translated=no)(comment=.*FIXME.*))'" file.po > 
> selected.po
> 
> which is ways easier to remember and to use, isn't it? Moreover, if we stick
> to the LDAP syntax, that's a somehow standard.

The msg* tools up to now view each PO file as a list of records, and
follow the philosophy of the small bricks that can be glued together
through pipes. This gives a good deal of flexibility.

But you are right, it makes sense to view a PO file as a list of
records with fields; as a "table" in database speak. For someone with
no experience with LDAP, this syntax is strange. But one could imagine
an msgselect with SQL query syntax, something like

   msgselect 'SELECT fuzzy is yes AND translated is no AND comment has "FIXME"'

SQL syntax seems more widely known and more legible than LDAP syntax,
isn't it?

Bruno