.\" Copyright (c) Bruno Haible <haible@clisp.cons.org>
.\"
.\" This is free documentation; you can redistribute it and/or
.\" modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
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.\" References consulted:
.\"   GNU glibc-2 source code and manual
.\"   GNU gettext source code and manual
.\"   LI18NUX 2000 Globalization Specification
.\"
.TH BINDTEXTDOMAIN 3 "May 2001" "GNU gettext 0.16"
.SH NAME
bindtextdomain \- set directory containing message catalogs
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.B #include <libintl.h>
.sp
.BI "char * bindtextdomain (const char * " domainname ", const char * " dirname );
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
The \fBbindtextdomain\fP function sets the base directory of the hierarchy
containing message catalogs for a given message domain.
.PP
A message domain is a set of translatable \fImsgid\fP messages. Usually,
every software package has its own message domain. The need for calling
\fBbindtextdomain\fP arises because packages are not always installed with
the same prefix as the <libintl.h> header and the libc/libintl libraries.
.PP
Message catalogs will be expected at the pathnames
\fIdirname\fP/\fIlocale\fP/\fIcategory\fP/\fIdomainname\fP.mo,
where \fIlocale\fP is a locale name and \fIcategory\fP is a locale facet such
as \fBLC_MESSAGES\fP.
.PP
\fIdomainname\fP must be a non-empty string.
.PP
If \fIdirname\fP is not NULL, the base directory for message catalogs belonging
to domain \fIdomainname\fP is set to \fIdirname\fP. The function makes copies
of the argument strings as needed. If the program wishes to call the
\fBchdir\fP function, it is important that \fIdirname\fP be an absolute
pathname; otherwise it cannot be guaranteed that the message catalogs will
be found.
.PP
If \fIdirname\fP is NULL, the function returns the previously set base
directory for domain \fIdomainname\fP.
.SH "RETURN VALUE"
If successful, the \fBbindtextdomain\fP function returns the current base
directory for domain \fIdomainname\fP, after possibly changing it. The
resulting string is valid until the next \fBbindtextdomain\fP call for the
same \fIdomainname\fP and must not be modified or freed. If a memory allocation
failure occurs, it sets \fBerrno\fP to \fBENOMEM\fP and returns NULL.
.SH ERRORS
The following error can occur, among others:
.TP
.B ENOMEM
Not enough memory available.
.SH BUGS
The return type ought to be \fBconst char *\fP, but is \fBchar *\fP to avoid
warnings in C code predating ANSI C.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR gettext (3),
.BR dgettext (3),
.BR dcgettext (3),
.BR ngettext (3),
.BR dngettext (3),
.BR dcngettext (3),
.BR textdomain (3),
.BR realpath (3)