A master configuration file, also called a specification file, can be used
to list all the customizations and options to apply. Such a file is passed
by using the
option -S
.
config_file
You should use the XML format to configure dblatex. It contains more features than the text format used up to the 0.3.7 release that is now deprecated. The principle remains the same, that is, most of the configuration parameters correspond to a command line option.
Here is a full example of a configuration file. In the next sections the meaning and use of the configuration tags are detailed.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <!-- ======================================================= --> <!-- Dblatex Configuration example for building a book --> <!-- ======================================================= --> <config xmlns="http://dblatex.sourceforge.net/config" version="1.0"> <latex> <backend use="xetex"/> <texstyle use="dbsimple"/> <texpost fileref="dblatex-postprocess"/> <indexstyle fileref="../myindexstyle.ist"/> <texinputs>../mystyledir:/etc/texmf/userfont</texinputs> </latex> <xslt> <stylesheet fileref="user_param.xsl"/> <stylesheet fileref="xetex_param.xsl"/> <stylesheet fileref="pdf.xsl"/> </xslt> <imagedata> <converter src="svg" dst="*" docformat="pdf"> <command> inkscape -z -D --export-dpi=600 --export-%(dst)s=%(output)s %(input)s </command> </converter> </imagedata> <options>-X -V</options> </config>
Another example, much simpler, is the configuration file used for this manual.
Example 4.5. User Manual Configuration File
<?xml version="1.0" ?> <!-- ==================================================================== Configuration file for dblatex documentation (manual, release notes) ==================================================================== --> <config xmlns="http://dblatex.sourceforge.net/config"> <latex> <texinputs>../latex//</texinputs> <texstyle use="docbook"/> <backend use="pdftex"/> </latex> <xslt> <stylesheet fileref="manual.xsl"/> </xslt> </config>
The following sections detail the meaning of each tag. Note that dblatex provides some schema that you can use to validate your configuration file.
It is the root element of a configuration file. A valid configuration
file must have a config
root element.
Attributes:
The namespace to use for a dblatex configuration file is:
http://dblatex.sourceforge.net/config
.
The following elements occur in config
:
latex, xslt,
imagedata, options.
The latex element contains the configuration data related to the latex processing.
Attributes: none
The following elements occur in latex
:
backend
It defines the latex engine to use, like the option
--backend
does. The backend name is specified through the
use
attribute.
texstyle
It defines the docbook latex style to use, like the option
--texstyle
does. The latex package is specified through the
use
attribute.
texpost
It defines the latex post-processing script to use, like the
option --texpost
does. The script name is specified through the
use
attribute or the fileref
attribute.
indexstyle
It defines index style file (.ist) to use, like the
option --indexstyle
does. The filename is
specified through the fileref
attribute.
texinputs
The element text defines the extra paths to add to TEXINPUTS,
like the option --texinputs
does.
bibinputs
The element text defines the lookup paths of BIBINPUTS,
like you would do by successive use of the option --bib-path
.
bstinputs
The element text defines the lookup paths of BSTINPUTS,
like you would do by successive use of the option --bst-path
.
The xslt element contains the configuration data related to the XSL processing.
Attributes: none
The following elements occur in xslt
:
stylesheet
It defines a user stylesheet to use, like the option
--xsl-user
does. The stylesheet name is specified through the
fileref
attribute. If several
stylesheet
elements are set, the precedence is the same
like using the option --xsl-user
several times.
engine
It defines the XSLT processor to use, like the option
--xslt
does. The engine name is specified through the
use
attribute.
The imagedata element contains the rules and commands to convert on the fly the images included in the docbook document.
Attributes: none
The following elements occur in imagedata
:
figpath
It defines a path where to find the images, like the option
--fig-path
does.
converter
It defines an image transformation rule. See converter for more details.
The converter element defines a rule about how to convert on the fly an image in a docbook document to the corresponding image used in the built latex file. The goal is to have an image format compatible with the latex engine, whatever the original format is. Dblatex has a default set of rules, but one can overwrite or add some rules.
Attributes:
Format of the original image referenced in the XML document. The converter only applies to the images matching this format.
Target format once converted. The converter only applies
to the original images having the format src
and that
need to be converted to the format dst
.
dst
can take the special value "*
"
meaning that the rule applies for all
the possible target formats (e.g. eps, pdf, png).
Specify for which document output format the converter
applies. For example, if docformat
is set to "pdf",
it means that
the converter applies only if the document output format is PDF. The
converter will not apply if you want to build a PostScript or DVI
document.
The converter applies only if it is this latex engine that is used. For example, it is usefull if you want to convert an image in a specific way only when xetex is used.
The following elements occur in converter
:
commandchain
List of the commands to run. A
commandchain
contains one or more
command
elements.
command
command to execute to perform the conversion, or a part of the conversion if several commands are chained. See command.
The command element contains the arguments of the command to run. The arguments can contain some predefined keywords that are replaced by the actual values when the command is executed. The known keywords are:
%(src)s
Replaced by the src
value (original
image format).
%(dst)s
Replaced by the dst
value (target
image format).
%(input)s
Replaced by the input file required by the command. In the case of an image conversion, it is the filename of the original image to convert.
%(output)s
Replaced by the name of the ouput file required by the command. In the case of an image conversion, it is the filename of the output image once converted.
Attributes:
Standard input of the command to run. It can specify a file or it can specify to use the output of the preceding command if the keyword "PIPE" is used.
Standard output of the command to run. It can specify a file or it can specify that the output shall be redirected to the next command if the keyword "PIPE" is used.
When set to "1" or "true", the command is run in a shell environment.
The format of the file is the following:
Every comment starts with a “#”, and is ignored.
The file must contain one parameter by line.
The format of a parameter is the following:
<keyword>: <value>
Every parameter is mapped to an option that can be passed to dblatex.
An unknown parameter is silently ignored (the whole line is dropped).
The parameters defining a path (a file or a directory) can take absolute or relative paths. A relative path must be defined from the specification file itself. For instance, a specification file under /the/spec/directory/
with a parameter describing the file ../where/this/file/is/myfile
points to /the/spec/where/this/file/is/myfile
.
The following table lists the supported parameters and the corresponding command line option.
Keyword | Value | Corresponding option | Description |
---|---|---|---|
TexInputs | Directories | --texinputs | Defines extra path to add to TEXINPUTS |
TexStyle | Latex package name | --texstyle | Defines the LaTeX style package to use. |
TexPost | Script file name | --texpost | Defines the LaTeX post process script to use. |
XslParam | Parameter file name | -p | Defines the parameter file to use. |
FigInputs | Directories | -I | Defines the extra figures path. |
Options | Command line options | None | Lists command options to use by default when using the tool. The options specified by the parameter are directly passed to dblatex |
By default dblatex tries to find the configuration files in the following paths, in respect of the order:
The current directory
$HOME/.dblatex
/etc/dblatex
The dblatex package configuration directories.
You can add some extra paths where to look for by setting the
DBLATEX_CONFIG_FILES
environment variable. The paths are
separated by ":" in Unix like systems, and by ";" on Windows. These paths are used
only when nothing is found in the default paths.