lyx_mirror/lyx.1in

.\" Man page for LyX.
.\" Use the following command to view man page:
.\"
.\"  tbl lyx.1 | nroff -man | less
.\"
.TH LYX 1 "@LYX_DATE@" "Version @VERSION@" "LyX @VERSION@"
.SH NAME
LyX \- A Document Processor
.\"
.\" setup
.de Cr
.ie n (c)
.el \(co
..
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBlyx@version_suffix@\fR [ \fIcommand\-line switches\fR ] [ \fIname[.lyx] ...\fR ]
.br
.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBLyX\fR is too complex to be described completely in the "man" page
format. If your system is properly configured, you can access the full
documentation within \fBLyX\fR under the Help menu.

\fBLyX\fR is a document preparation system. It excels at letting you
create complex technical and scientific articles with mathematics,
cross\-references, bibliographies, indices, etc. It is very good at
documents of any length in which the usual processing abilities are
required: automatic sectioning and pagination, spellchecking, and so
forth. It can also be used to write a letter to your mom, though
granted, there are probably simpler programs available for that. It is
definitely not the best tool for creating banners, flyers, or
advertisements, though with some effort all these can be done, too.
Some examples of what it is used for: memos, letters, dissertations
and theses, lecture notes, seminar notebooks, conference proceedings,
software documentation, books (on PostgreSQL, remote sensing,
cryptology, fictional novels, poetry, and even a children's book or
two), articles in refereed scientific journals, scripts for plays and
movies, business proposals... you get the idea.

Currently, \fBLyX\fR uses the Qt library as a
toolkit. \fBLyX\fR should run everywhere, where this library runs.
This is on all major Unix platforms as well as Windows and macOS
(which actually is a unix platform).
.SH OPTIONS
\fBLyX\fR supports the following command\-line switches.
.TP 6
.BI \-help
summarizes LyX usage
.TP
.BI \-version
provides version information on the build of LyX.
.TP
.BI \-sysdir " directory"
sets system directory. Normally not needed.
.TP
.BI \-userdir " directory"
sets user directory. Needed if you want to use LyX with different lyxrc
settings.
.TP
.BI \-geometry " WxH+X+Y"
set geometry of the main window.
.TP
.BI \-dbg " feature[,feature...]"
where feature is a name or number.
Use "\fBlyx@version_suffix@ \-dbg\fR" to see the list of available debug features.
.TP
\fB \-x [\-\-execute]\fP \fIcommand
where command is a lyx command.
.TP
\fB \-e [\-\-export]\fP \fIfmt
where fmt is the export format of choice (latex, pdflatex, luatex, xetex, xhtml, text, lyx, ps, pdf, ...).
Note that the order of \-e and \-x switches matters.
.TP
\fB \-E [\-\-export\-to]\fP \fIfmt \fIfilename
where fmt is the export format of choice (see \-\-export), and filename is the destination filename. Note that any additional external file needed by filename (such as image files) will be exported as well to the folder containing filename (preserving the relative path embedded within the original LyX document, if any).
.TP
\fB \-i [\-\-import]\fP \fIfmt file.xxx
where fmt is the import format of choice and file.xxx is the file to be imported.
.TP
\fB \-f [\-\-force\-overwrite]\fP \fIwhat
where what is is either "\fBall\fR", "\fBmain\fR" or "\fBnone\fR".
Specify "\fBall\fR" to allow overwriting all files during a batch export,
"\fBmain\fR" to allow overwriting the main file only, or "\fBnone\fR"
to disallow overwriting any file. When this switch is followed by anything
else other than "\fBall\fR", "\fBmain\fR" or "\fBnone\fR", the behavior is as
if "\fBall\fR" was specified, but what follows is left on the command line for
further processing.
.TP
\fB \-\-ignore\-error\-message\fP \fIwhich
allows you to ignore specific LaTeX error messages.
Do not use for final documents! Currently supported values:
"\fBmissing_glyphs\fR" Fontspec "missing glyphs" error.
.TP
\fB \-n [\-\-no\-remote]\fP
open documents passed as arguments in a new instance, even if another
instance of LyX is already running.
.TP
\fB \-r [\-\-remote]\fP
by using the lyxpipe, ask an already running instance of LyX to open the
documents passed as arguments and then exit. If the lyxpipe is not set up or
is not working, a new instance is created and execution continues normally.
.TP
\fB \-v [\-\-verbose]\fP
print on terminal all spawned external commands.
.TP
.BI \-batch
causes LyX to run the given commands without opening a GUI window.
Thus, something like:
.br
    lyx \-batch \-x "buffer\-print printer default dvips" myfile.lyx
.br
will cause LyX to print myfile.lyx to the default printer, using dvips and
the default print settings (which, of course, have to have been configured
already).

.SH QT OPTIONS
\fBLyX\fR is a Qt-based application and thus recognizes common options implemented
by Qt itself (notably \fB-platform\fR, \fB-style\fR, \fB-geometry\fR, \fB-session\fR,
\fB-display\fR, etc). Please consult Qt documentation for further details, e.g.:
.br

https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qapplication.html#QApplication
.br
https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qguiapplication.html#supported-command-line-options
.br

.SH ENVIRONMENT
.TP
.B @LYX_DIR_VER@
can be used to specify which system directory to use.
.PP
The system directory is determined by searching for the file
"chkconfig.ltx". Directories are searched in this order:
.br
1) \-sysdir command line parameter
.br
2) @LYX_DIR_VER@ environment variable
.br
3) Maybe <path of binary>/TOP_SRCDIR/lib
.br
4) <path of binary>/../share/<name of binary>/
.br
5) hardcoded lyx_dir (at build time: @real_pkgdatadir@)
.TP
.B @LYX_USERDIR_VER@
can be used to specify which user directory to use.
.PP
The user directory is, in order of precedence:
.br
1) \-userdir command line parameter
.br
2) @LYX_USERDIR_VER@ environment variable
.br
3) $HOME/.<name of binary> if no explicit setting is made

.TP
.B LYX_LOCALEDIR
can be used to tell LyX where to look for the translations of its GUI
strings in other languages.

.TP
.B LYX_FORCE_OVERWRITE
can be used to change the default behavior when exporting from command
line.
.PP
By default, LyX overwrites the main file when exporting from command
line but not the ancillary files. This behavior can be changed by setting
this environment variable, which relieves the need of using the \-f switch.
Allowed values are either "\fBall\fR", "\fBmain\fR" or "\fBnone\fR", with
same meaning as for the \-f switch.
.SH FILES
.nf
.ta \w'\fILIBDIR\fR/lyxrc.in  'u
~/.lyx/preferences      Personal configuration file
~/.lyx/lyxrc.defaults   Personal autodetected configuration file
\fILIBDIR\fR/lyxrc.dist  System wide configuration file
\fILIBDIR\fR/configure.py  Updates \fBLyX\fR if config has changed
\fILIBDIR\fR/bind/      Keybindings
\fILIBDIR\fR/clipart/   Clipart pictures
\fILIBDIR\fR/doc/       Documentation in \fBLyX\fR format.
\fILIBDIR\fR/examples/  Example documents
\fILIBDIR\fR/images/    Images used as icons or in popups
\fILIBDIR\fR/kbd/       Keyboard mappings
\fILIBDIR\fR/layouts/   Layout descriptions
\fILIBDIR\fR/templates/ Templates for documents
\fILIBDIR\fR/tex/       Extra TeX files
.sp
.fi

.I LIBDIR
is the system directory. This was at build time @real_pkgdatadir@.
.SH SEE ALSO
tex2lyx@version_suffix@(1), latex(1).

Full documentation in either native \fBLyX\fR or postscript format.
.SH BUGS/LIMITATIONS
There are still some bugs in \fBLyX\fR. To report one, read if
possible the Introduction found under the Help menu in LyX. You'll
find detailed info on submitting bug reports there. If you can't do
that, send details to the LyX Developers mailing list
lyx\-devel@lists.lyx.org, or use the LyX bug tracker at
http://www.lyx.org/trac/wiki/BugTrackerHome.
Don't forget to mention which version you are having problems with!

\fBLaTeX\fR import is still not perfect and may produce buggy *.lyx
files. Consult the \fBtex2lyx@version_suffix@\fR documentation.

.SH AUTHORS
LyX is Copyright (C) 1995 by Matthias Ettrich, 1995-2023 LyX Team