Re: Redundant/mis-use of _(x) gettext macro?

Chao Li <li.evan.chao@gmail.com>

From: Chao Li <li.evan.chao@gmail.com>
To: Peter Smith <smithpb2250@gmail.com>
Cc: PostgreSQL Hackers <pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org>
Date: 2026-04-01T03:57:00Z
Lists: pgsql-hackers

> On Apr 1, 2026, at 11:48, Peter Smith <smithpb2250@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi.
> 
> As originally reported [1] in the EXCEPT (TABLE ...) thread, I felt
> the _() gettext macro is mis-used when it contains nothing but a
> quoted format string.
> 
> AFAIK the purpose of using gettext (e.g. the "_(x)" macro) is for
> marking the string for i18n translation. But there's nothing even to
> translate here.

Indeed.

> 
> Only 2 examples were found like this. Granted, this is probably not
> very harmful, but IMO it's better to patch the mis-use to prevent it
> from propagating.

+1

> 
> PSA the patch for more details.
> 
> ======
> [1] https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/CAHut%2BPtVaOYVP1R0TOoNh5G9CUBurrP%3D6i7fJCdfWEZiqVCRvw%40mail.gmail.com
> 
> Kind Regards,
> Peter Smith.
> Fujitsu Australia
> <v1-0001-misuse-of-gettext-macro.patch>

LGTM.

Best regards,
--
Chao Li (Evan)
HighGo Software Co., Ltd.
https://www.highgo.com/







Commits

Same data as JSON: GET /api/v1/messages/:b64id/commits the thread's linked commits as JSON, with link sources. API reference →
  1. Fix translatable string construction in psql

  2. Fix translatable string construction