[This question ought to have been sent to bug-gettext, not bug-gnulib.] Hi Eric,
Use of PRIuMAX in a translated string produces a .pot file that refers to the special string <PRIuMAX>, and which requires the need-formatstring-macros option passed to AM_GNU_GETTEXT in configure.ac to be universally supported. If I'm reading gettext.git history correctly, need-formatstring-macros was added in gettext 0.11.4 (commit 8b45c5df),
yes.
but had bugs until 0.17 (commit 4e34b2ac);
It had bugs until 0.16, fixed in versions >= 0.16.1 (released on 2006-11-27).
am I missing any details about how to properly use the gettext formatstring-macros option
You invoke AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external], [need-formatstring-macros]) and, on glibc systems, use a glibc newer than 2002.
which gettext versions are supported
Versions 0.16.1, 0.17, 0.18.1.1 support need-formatstring-macros. Bruno