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Command-line interface

If you are writing non-server-type OmniMark programs, you will run those programs using the command-line interface. This means that you will issue an "omnimark" command (or an "omle" command if you're using OMLE) followed by one or more command-line options and arguments, and at least one filename.

For example, if you had a program called "test2.xom" that didn't require any further options or filenames to run successfully, you would execute it by typing the following on the command line:

  omnimark -s test2.xom

"omnimark" (or "omle") will always be the first word in any set of instructions issued on the command line. The "-s" is a command-line option (short for "source program") that precedes the name of the file that contains the OmniMark program you want to run. In this case that file is "test2.xom".

In addition to command-line options, the names of files can be specified on the command line. Any words that appear on the command line that are not recognized as command-line options are placed on the #command-line-names built-in shelf. Anything that appears on the command line that is not preceded by a "-letter" will be placed on the #command-line-names shelf.

In addition to the "-s", there are numerous other options that can be specified on the command line when running an OmniMark program. The most commonly used of these options are as follows (please note that this is only a partial list, a complete list is available):

-activate switch-name

activates the OmniMark switch variable named switch-name. "-a" can be used as a short form of this option.

-alog log-path

specifies that any error messages that OmniMark produces are appended to the error file given by "log-path". Unlike "-log" (below), "-alog" appends messages to the end of the file specified by "log-path", if the file exists. If the file does not exist, "-alog" will create it. If neither "-log" nor "-alog" are specified on the command line, error messages are written to the program's standard error stream. On most computer systems, errors will be displayed on the user's screen.

-aof output

specifies #main-output, the system-specific name of a file into which standard OmniMark output is written. The difference between this option and the "-of" option is that output is written to the end of the named file if it already exists. The file specified using the "-aof" or "-of" command-line options becomes the destination of the built-in stream called #main-output. This stream is the default program output stream. If there is no "-aof" or "-of" on the command line, then #main-output identifies the same output destination as #process-output (which is standard output).

-argsfile command-file-path

specifies that some of the contents of the command line are in the arguments file given by "command-file-path". When an "-argsfile command-file-path" option is encountered, the contents of "command-file-path" are immediately processed as if they appeared on the command line. Multiple arguments files may be specified on the command line, and arguments files can refer to other arguments files. "-f argsfile" can be used as a short form of this option.

-counter counter-name value

sets the OmniMark counter named "counter-name" to "value", prior to running an OmniMark program. Any initial specification for the specified counter is ignored. "-c" can be used as a short form of this option.

-define stream-name content

specifies the stream "stream-name", which OmniMark opens as a buffer, places content specified by "content" in it, and then closes. The effect of this argument is to have a buffer with defined content when OmniMark starts processing. Each stream may be defined only once. This argument cannot be specified when the "-source" and "-save" options have both been specified. "-d" can be used as a short form of this option.

-help

causes OmniMark to display a list of its command-line options.

-include include-path

specifies a directory in which to look for files to be included. If the file specified in an include declaration within the program cannot be opened, OmniMark looks for a file of the same name in directory "include-path". There can be multiple occurrences of this argument on a command line. OmniMark will inspect the directories in the order in which they occur on the command line until a file of the specified name is found. OmniMark processes "include-path" in a system-independent manner. To look in the "include-path" directory, OmniMark simply appends "include-path" to the front of the file name it is trying to include. This has two consequences. First, the "include-path" must have a trailing directory name separator, as required by the operating system on which OmniMark is being run. Second, OmniMark will not remove any directory name prefixes from a file name before appending the "include-path". "-i" can be used as a short form of this option.

-log output-file

causes OmniMark to write any error messages to the system-specific file named "output-file". If this argument is not specified, error messages are written to the program's standard output. On many computer systems, they appear on the user's screen.

-of output

specifies #main-output, the system-specific name of a file into which standard OmniMark output is written. This argument is equivalent to "-os output #main-output". This argument cannot be specified when the "-source" and "-save" options have both been specified.

-temppfx temppfx

specifies "temppfx", a prefix that OmniMark uses to create temporary files.

-version

causes the OmniMark banner with the copyright information, date, and version information to output to the standard error, and then halts.

-warning

enables the display of informative messages that indicate possible trouble areas in the OmniMark program being executed. Usually these warning messages are suppressed.

-x path-name/=L

specifies a path to an external function library. When using this option to specify the path and file name extension of the external function libraries, "=L" must be used to mark the place in the libpath where the file name of the library (as specified in the library declaration in the OmniMark program) would appear. For example, a typical command line specifying both the path and file name extension for the external function libraries on a UNIX system could be:

  omnimark -xflpath /common/omnimark/lib/=L.so

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