[bug-gettext] Further about --kde mode for xgettext

[Chusslove Illich]

Hi,

The --kde option makes xgettext recognize KDE 4 format strings, and add
kde-format flag to them. For example:

  #, kde-format
  msgid "File %1 not found."

There is one issue with this alone, and one new speciality in KF5 (KDE
Frameworks 5, informally "KDE 5").

The issue is that in KDE 4 format placeholder substitution is performed on
every string. String such as this should also get the flag:

  #, kde-format
  msgid "File not found."

because if the translation were to contain %1 (e.g. left in as unfuzzing
error), the runtime would try to replace it with an argument. So, to be
technically correct, xgettext with --kde should not try to test strings for
KDE 4 format, but blindly add kde-format to all of them.

A new specialty in KF5 is that there is another set of translation calls
which is guaranteed to contain well-formed XML strings. The plain-text calls
are named i18n* and the XML ones are named xi18n*, so it is possible to
discern between them at extraction time. It would thus be a pity if all XML
strings also simply get kde-format tag, as that would prevent any XML
validation of translation. Instead it would be good if they get another
flag, e.g. kde-xml-format. Then msgfmt with -c could verify also the well-
formedness of such strings, but even until/if that is implemented, other
tools could use it for validation (e.g. a PO editor).

Taking these two things together, we could do by having only kde-xml-format
flag added in a lightweight manner, e.g. without matching by xgettext and
with msgfmt verification same as for kde-format. The rest could be achieved
by applying multiple --flag options to xgettext. Would this be acceptable?

However, since the --kde option anyway exists, and since KDE translation
call set is fixed and used as-is (no arbitrary short forms through #define
directives), it seems to me it would be nicer and non-problematic if all of
the above is automatically applied by xgettext. That is, that the user does
not have to specify many -k and --flag options just to support all the
default calls (32 in total, as [k][x]i18n[d][c][p], the ones with *x* being
XML). Of course, -k would continue to have its normal function (cancel
defaults, add more calls). Would this be acceptable?

-- 
Chusslove Illich (Часлав Илић)

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