A2X(1)A2X(1)NAMEa2x - A toolchain manager for AsciiDoc (converts Asciidoc text files to
other file formats)
SYNOPSISa2x [OPTIONS] SOURCE_FILE
DESCRIPTION
A DocBook toolchain manager that translates an AsciiDoc text file
SOURCE_FILE to PDF, EPUB, DVI, PS, LaTeX, XHTML (single page or
chunked), man page, HTML Help or plain text formats using asciidoc(1)
and other applications (see REQUISITES section). SOURCE_FILE can also
be a DocBook file with an .xml extension.
OPTIONS-a, --attribute=ATTRIBUTE
Set asciidoc(1) attribute value (shortcut for --asciidoc-opts="-a
ATTRIBUTE" option). This option may be specified more than once.
--asciidoc-opts=ASCIIDOC_OPTS
Additional asciidoc(1) options. This option may be specified more
than once.
--conf-file=CONF_FILE
Load configuration file. See CONF FILES section.
-D, --destination-dir=PATH
Output directory. Defaults to SOURCE_FILE directory.
-d, --doctype=DOCTYPE
DocBook document type: article, manpage or book. Default document
type is article unless the format is manpage (in which case it
defaults to manpage).
-f, --format=FORMAT
Output formats: chunked, docbook, dvi, epub, htmlhelp, manpage, pdf
(default), ps, tex, text, xhtml.
-h, --help
Print command-line syntax and program options to stdout.
--icons
Use admonition or navigation icon images in output documents. The
default behavior is to use text in place of icons.
--icons-dir=PATH
A path (relative to output files) containing admonition and
navigation icons. Defaults to images/icons. The --icons option is
implicit if this option is used.
-k, --keep-artifacts
Do not delete temporary build files.
--lynx
Use lynx(1) to generate text formatted output. The default behavior
is to use w3m(1).
-L, --no-xmllint
Do not check asciidoc output with xmllint(1).
---epubcheck
Check EPUB output with epubcheck(1).
-n, --dry-run
Do not do anything just print what would have been done.
-r, --resource=PATH
If PATH refers to a directory recursively search it for required
resource files. If PATH refers to a file add it to the list of
required resource files. This option may be specified more than
once.
-m, --resource-manifest=FILE
FILE contains a list resources (one per line). Manifest FILE
entries are treated just like --resource option arguments.
--stylesheet=STYLESHEET
The file name of the docbook-xsl CSS stylesheet file. Defaults to
docbook-xsl.css. The stylesheet must reside in a valid resource
file location. Applies to HTML formats: xhtml, epub, chunked,
htmlhelp formats.
-v, --verbose
Print operational details to stderr. A second -v option applies the
verbose option to toolchain commands.
--version
Print program version to stdout.
--xsltproc-opts=XSLTPROC_OPTS
Additional xsltproc(1) options. This option may be specified more
than once.
--xsl-file=XSL_FILE
Override the built-in XSL stylesheet with the custom XSL stylesheet
XSL_FILE.
--fop
Use FOP to generate PDFs. The default behavior is to use
dblatex(1). The --fop option is implicit if this option is used.
--fop-opts=FOP_OPTS
Additional fop(1) options. If this option is specified FOP is used
to generate PDFs. This option may be specified more than once.
--dblatex-opts=DBLATEX_OPTS
Additional dblatex(1) options. This option may be specified more
than once.
Options can also be set in the AsciiDoc source file. If SOURCE_FILE
contains a comment line beginning with // a2x: then the remainder of
the line will be treated as a2x command-line options. Options spanning
multiple such comment lines will be concatenated. Zero or more white
space characters can appear between the leading // and a2x:.
Command-line options take precedence over options set in the source
file. Example usage:
// a2x default options.
// a2x: -dbook --epubcheck
// Suppress revision history in dblatex outputs.
// a2x: --dblatex-opts "-P latex.output.revhistory=0"
OUTPUT FILES
Output files are written to the directory specified by the
--destination-dir option. If no --destination-dir option is set output
files are written to the SOURCE_FILE directory.
Output files have the same name as the SOURCE_FILE but with an
appropriate file name extension: .html for xhtml; .epub for epub; .hhp
for htmlhelp; .pdf for pdf; .text for text, .xml for docbook. By
convention manpages have no .man extension (man page section number
only). Chunked HTML directory names have a .chunked extension; chunked
HTML Help directory names have a .htmlhelp extension.
Same named existing files are overwritten.
In addition to generating HTML files the xhtml, epub, chunked and
htmlhelp formats ensure resource files are copied to their correct
destination directory locations.
RESOURCES
Resources are files (typically CSS and images) that are required by
HTML based outputs (xhtml, epub, chunked, htmlhelp formats). a2x scans
the generated HTML files and builds a list of required CSS and image
file. Additional resource files can be specified explicitly using the
--resource option.
a2x searches for resources in the following locations in the following
order:
1. The SOURCE_FILE directory.
2. Directories specified by --resource and --resource-manifest options
(recursively).
3. The asciidoc(1) images and stylesheets configuration file
directories (recursively).
4. The destination directory.
When a resource is found it is copied to the correct relative
destination directory. Missing destination sub-directories are created
automatically.
EXAMPLESa2x-f pdf doc/source-highlight-filter.txt
Generates doc/source-highlight-filter.pdf file.
a2x-f xhtml -D ../doc --icons -r ../images team.txt
Creates HTML file ../doc/team.html, uses admonition icons and
searches ../images for any missing resources.
a2x-f manpage doc/asciidoc.1.txt
Generate doc/asciidoc.1 manpage.
REQUISITESa2x uses the following programs:
· Asciidoc: http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/
· xsltproc: (all formats except text): http://xmlsoft.org/XSLT/
· DocBook XSL Stylesheets (all formats except text):
http://docbook.sourceforge.net/projects/xsl/
· dblatex (pdf, dvi, ps, tex formats):
http://dblatex.sourceforge.net/
· FOP (pdf format — alternative PDF file generator):
http://xmlgraphics.apache.org/fop/
· w3m (text format): http://w3m.sourceforge.net/index.en.html
· Lynx (text format — alternative text file generator):
http://lynx.isc.org/
· epubcheck (epub format — EPUB file validator):
http://code.google.com/p/epubcheck/
See also the latest README file.
CONF FILES
A configuration file contains executable Python code that overrides the
global configuration parameters in a2x.py. Optional configuration files
are loaded in the following order:
1. a2x.conf from the directory containing the a2x.py executable.
2. a2x.conf from the AsciiDoc global configuration directory. Skip
this step if we are executing a locally installed (non system wide)
copy.
3. a2x.conf from the AsciiDoc $HOME/.asciidoc configuration
directory.
4. The CONF_FILE specified in the --conf-file option.
Here are the default configuration file option values:
# Optional environment variable dictionary passed to
# executing programs. If set to None the existing
# environment is used.
ENV = None
# External executables.
ASCIIDOC = 'asciidoc'
XSLTPROC = 'xsltproc'
DBLATEX = 'dblatex' # pdf generation.
FOP = 'fop' # pdf generation (--fop option).
W3M = 'w3m' # text generation.
LYNX = 'lynx' # text generation (if no w3m).
XMLLINT = 'xmllint' # Set to '' to disable.
EPUBCHECK = 'epubcheck' # Set to '' to disable.
# External executable default options.
ASCIIDOC_OPTS = ''
DBLATEX_OPTS = ''
FOP_OPTS = ''
XSLTPROC_OPTS = ''
BUGS
See the AsciiDoc distribution BUGS file.
AUTHOR
Written by Stuart Rackham, <srackham@gmail.com>
RESOURCES
SourceForge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/asciidoc/
Main web site: http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/
COPYING
Copyright (C) 2002-2010 Stuart Rackham. Free use of this software is
granted under the terms of the MIT license.
8.6.3 14 November 2010 A2X(1)
