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symbolic links not followed during extract #1211
Description
Problem
Python files that are under symlinked directories are not processed by pybabel.
Expected result
The ** glob pattern in the configuration file instructs pybabel to traverse recursively all sub-directories, including symbolic links.
Am I missing some option in my configuration or command line or is this a bug/missing feature? Thank you.
Background
- My python project has a complex structure that includes symbolic links to other directories and files.
- I want to extract a template file for all translation strings in the project including those under directories that are sym-linked.
- My configuration line includes
[python: **.py]. - I am on Debian Linux.
Activity
jmoraleda commentedon Jun 13, 2025
I looked at the source code and realized that at the core of the traversal is function
extract_from_dirwhich usesos.walkto traverse the directory.os.walkby default does not traverse symlinks. But it has a parameterfollowlinksthat can be used to instruct it to follow them.Since I needed this feature I went ahead and added an optional
follow-linksparameter inextract_from_dirandfrontend. Now passingfollow_links=Trueor--follow-linksrespectively one is able to tell babel to instruct os.walk to follow symbolic links. If no parameter is passed babel defaults to not follow links, just as before so this new feature should not impact any existing code or workflows.I made a PR with the new feature #1212 , including documentation and a unit test.
Add option to follow symbolic links when extracting from a directory