BINDTEXTDOMAIN(3) Library Functions Manual BINDTEXTDOMAIN(3)
NAME
bindtextdomain - set directory containing message catalogs
SYNOPSIS
#include <libintl.h>
char * bindtextdomain (const char * domainname, const char * dirname);
DESCRIPTION
The bindtextdomain function sets the base directory of the hierarchy containing message catalogs for a given
message domain.
A message domain is a set of translatable msgid messages. Usually, every software package has its own message
domain. The need for calling bindtextdomain arises because packages are not always installed with the same
prefix as the <libintl.h> header and the libc/libintl libraries.
Message catalogs will be expected at the pathnames dirname/locale/category/domainname.mo, where locale is a
locale name and category is a locale facet such as LC_MESSAGES.
domainname must be a non-empty string.
If dirname is not NULL, the base directory for message catalogs belonging to domain domainname is set to
dirname. The function makes copies of the argument strings as needed. If the program wishes to call the chdir
function, it is important that dirname be an absolute pathname; otherwise it cannot be guaranteed that the
message catalogs will be found.
If dirname is NULL, the function returns the previously set base directory for domain domainname.
RETURN VALUE
If successful, the bindtextdomain function returns the current base directory for domain domainname, after
possibly changing it. The resulting string is valid until the next bindtextdomain call for the same domainname
and must not be modified or freed. If a memory allocation failure occurs, it sets errno to ENOMEM and returns
NULL.
ERRORS
The following error can occur, among others:
ENOMEM Not enough memory available.
BUGS
The return type ought to be const char *, but is char * to avoid warnings in C code predating ANSI C.
SEE ALSO
gettext(3), dgettext(3), dcgettext(3), ngettext(3), dngettext(3), dcngettext(3), textdomain(3), realpath(3)
GNU gettext 0.18.2 May 2001 BINDTEXTDOMAIN(3)
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