# –rewrite=STYLE

podebug allows you to rewrite the output text in a number of ways.

## xxx

The target text is surrounded by `xxx` as follows

    msgid "English"
    msgstr "xxxEnglishxxx"

This is useful when you want to identify which text is localisable. There might be text in your application which you cannot localise this will allow you to quickly identify that text.

## en

The source text is copied to the target

    msgid "English"
    msgstr "English"

In this way you can create translations that contain only the source text. Useful if you are preparing a roundtrip test or want to start an English derived translation such as British English. It produces the same results as msgen but with the advantage that you can add debug markers.

## blank

This simply empties your current translations

    msgid "English"
    msgstr ""

When you have a set of translation files but no template this allows you to essentially convert a PO into a POT file. This mimics the `--empty` functionality of msghack.

## bracket

New in version 1.4.

Places brackets around the translated text.

    msgid "English"
    msgstr "[English]"

This can be used in the same way as `xxx` to check for translatability. It is also useful with very long strings as it allows you to check that the full string in rendered and has not been cutoff by the application.

## chef

New in version 1.2.

Rewrites the source text using mock Swedish as popularised by the Swedish Chef.

    msgid "English"
    msgstr "Ingleesh"

This is probably only useful for some fun. It’s not guaranteed that every string will be rewritten as the mock Swedish rules might not apply thus its not ideal for identifying untranslatable strings.

## flipped

New in version 1.4.

Change the text into a version that uses equivalent Latin characters that are upside down.

    msgid "English"
    msgstr "‮Ǝuƃʅısɥ"

`flipped` can give an output that simulates RTL languages. It inserts RTL characters to try to achieve RTL-like results. Its not perfect but will give you some sense of whether your application can do RTL. Or just use it for fun!

For really testing right-to-left GUIs, you want to make sure that the whole application is shown in RTL, not just the strings. Test your pseudo-translated file as a translation of an RTL language like Arabic or Hebrew. In case the application relies on other files coming from libraries (like GTK+), you might need to repeat the process for them, or at least ensure that you have the Arabic/Hebrew .mo files for them installed.

## unicode

New in version 1.2.

Rewrites the source text with Unicode characters that looks like the Latin characters that they are replacing.

    msgid "English"
    msgstr "Ḗƞɠŀīşħ"

This allows a translator or programmer to test a programs ability to use Unicode message strings. By using characters in the Unicode range but that are related to the plain Latin characters that they replace we ensure that the messages are still readable.

Note

Before version 1.4, the rewrite rule will also rewrite variables and XML tags, which would cause problems in some situations. Run pofilter as a quick method to fix up incorrect changes, or upgrade to version 1.4.