8.6 Command Line Arguments

FreeForm ND programs can take various command line arguments. The most widely used or standard arguments are discussed in this section. They are used for several different purposes: identifying input and output files, identifying format files and titles, changing run-time operation parameters, and defining data filters.

The only required argument for any FreeForm ND program is the name of the input file or file to be processed. All other arguments are optional and can be in any order following the input file name. The command line of a FreeForm ND program with the standard arguments has the following form:

application_name input_file [-f format_file]

[-if input_format_file] [-of output_format_file] [-ft "title"] [-ift "title"] [-oft "title"] [-b local_buffer_size] [-c count] [-v var_file] [-q query_file] [-o output_file]

NOTE: To see a summary of command line usage for a FreeForm ND

program, enter the program's name on the command line without any arguments.

• 8.6.1 Specifying Input and Output Files
• 8.6.2 Specifying Format Description Source
• 8.6.3 Changing Run-time Parameters
• 8.6.4 Defining Filters