# Locales

Localization uses embedded _gettext_ files, defaulting to English
when locale cannot be guessed from environment variables.


## Development Flow

1. Add calls to `gotext.Get(…)` somewhere in the codebase
2. Run `make i18n_extract`
3. Update the `PO` files with some software like [Poedit]
4. Make sure your software has also updated the `MO` files

[Poedit]: https://poedit.net/

## Overview

### POT files

The `*.pot` file(s) are automatically generated by the following command :

    make i18n_extract

They are named `<domain>.pot`, and when the domain is not specified, it is `default`.

### PO & MO files

The actual translation files, in _gettext_ format (`*.po` and `*.mo`), are in the directory `<domain>/`.
They are named `<language>.po` and `<language>.mo`.

The supported `<language>` formats are :
- [ISO 639-3](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_639-3) _(eg: eng, fra, …)_
- [BCP 47](https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionnaire:BCP_47/language-2)  _(eg: en, fr, …)_

The `*.po` files are plain text, and are the authoritative sources of translations.

The `*.mo` files are the ones actually packaged in cobra as embedded files, because they are smaller.