Running the speedata publisher on the command line

The speedata Publisher is started via the command line (also: terminal, command window). On the one hand there are commands, on the other hand the commands can be controlled via parameters.

$ sp <Command> <Parameter> <Parameter> ...
On Windows/PowerShell you have to run sp.exe since sp is an internal command of PowerShell.

The default command is run. So the call of

$ sp

the same as

$ sp run

Besides the command run there are other commands (see below).

With

$ sp --help

you can display a list of the allowed commands and parameters.

Description of the commands

clean

Deletes all generated intermediate files and keeps the PDF file.

checkupdate

Checks if a new version of the Publisher is available. Return code is 0 if the version is up to date. 1 if a new version is available.

clearcache

Removes files from the image cache.

compare

Recursively check a directory for layout changes. See the topic about quality assurance.

doc

Opens the reference manual in the browser (local HTML files).

list-fonts

Lists all font files found in the Publisher directories. Together with --xml this command allows to copy&paste the output into the layout rules. See Using fonts.

new [DIRECTORY]

Create simple layout and data file to start. Provide optional directory.

run

Start publishing (default).

server

Run as http-api server on localhost port 5266 (configure with --address and --port). See the chapter Server mode (REST API).

watch

Start watchdog / hotfolder. See Starting the Publisher via the Hotfolder.

Description of the commandline parameters

-h, --help

Show this help

--address=IPADDRESS

Address to be used for the server mode. Defaults to 127.0.0.1.

--autoopen

Open the PDF file. Can be set in the How to configure the speedata publisher.

--cache=METHOD

Use cache method. One of none, fast or optimal. Default is optimal. See the description in the How to configure the speedata publisher.

-c, --config=NAME

Read the config file with the given NAME. Default: publisher.cfg

--credits

Show credits and exit

--[no-]cutmarks

Display cutmarks in the document

--data=NAME

Name of the XML data file. Defaults to data.xml. Use - for STDIN (only 1 run possible).

--dummy

Don’t read a data file, use <data /> as input

-x, --extra-dir=DIR

Additional directory for file search.

--extra-xml=NAME

Add this file to the layout file. Not supported with the new XPath module. Use xinclude instead.

--filter=FILTER

Run Lua filter before publishing starts

--grid

Display background grid. Disable with --no-grid

--ignore-case

Ignore case when accessing files (on a case-insensitive file system) in the recursive file lookup.

--imagecache=PATH

Set the image cache

--inkscape=PATH

Set the path to the inkscape program

--jobname=NAME

The name of the resulting PDF file (without extension), default is publisher

--[no-]local

Add local directory to the search path. Default is true

--layout=NAME

Name of the layout file. Defaults to layout.xml

--logfile=NAME

Logfile for server mode. Default publisher.protocol. Use STDOUT for standard output and STDERR for standard error.

--loglevel=LVL

Set the log level to one of debug, info, message, warn and error. Messages from this level and above are written to the protocol file.

--mainlanguage=NAME

The document’s main language in locale format, for example en or en_US.

--mode=NAME

Set mode. Multiple modes given in a comma separated list. See Control of the layout when calling the Publisher.

--option=OPTION

Set a specific option that has no command line parameter.

--outputdir=DIR

Copy PDF and protocol to this directory.

--pdfversion=VERSION

Set the PDF version. Default is 1.7.

--prepend-xml=NAME

Add this file in front of the layout file. Not supported with the new XPath module. Use xinclude instead.

--port=PORT

Port to be used for the server mode. Defaults to 5266

--quiet

Run publisher in silent mode

--runs=NUM

Number of publishing runs

--startpage=NUM

The first page number

--show-gridallocation

Show the allocated grid cells

-s, --suppressinfo

Suppress optional information (timestamp) and use a fixed document ID

--systemfonts

Use system fonts (not Win XP)

--tempdir=DIR

Use this directory instead of the system temporary directory

--trace

Show debug messages and some tracing PDF output

--timeout=SEC

Exit after SEC seconds

-v, --var=VAR=VALUE

Set a variable for the publishing run

--varsfile=NAME

Set variables for the publishing run from a file with each line containing key=value pairs. Lines starting with a # are ignored.

--verbose

Print the messages from the log file to standard out.

--version

Show version information

--wd=DIR

Change working directory

--xpath

Set the XML and XPath parser to one of luxor or lxpath. Default is 'lxpath'. The old luxor is less robust and has fewer capabilities.

--xml

Output as (pseudo-)XML (for list-fonts)