HTML2IPF - command-line usage

Here is the format of the HTML2IPF command line:

Usage: HTML2IPF [IndexFileName.HTML] {OutputFileName.IPF} {Conversion options}
[IndexFileName.HTML]
+-|is the "root" .HTML file to start with
{OutputFileName.IPF}
+-|is the output filename (usually with the .IPF extension)
{Conversion options}
+-+|are one or more of the following:
  \+-|-CO{LORS}{+|-}
   |  Use (+) or don`t use (-) ANSI [C]olors in output
   +-|-CE{NTER}{+|-}
   |  enable (+) or disable (-) processing <CENTER> tags
   +-|-CH{ECK}{+|-}
   |  check (+) or process (-) HTML file (along with all recursive links)
   |  Handy for checking HTML files (along with the -DEBUG+ switch)
   |  In the -CHECK+ state no output file(s) will be produced.
   +-|-S{ORT}{+|-}
   |  Enable (+) or disable (-) alphabetical sorting of all links
   |  belonging to same HTML.
   +-|-P{ICTURES}{+|-}
   |  Include (+) or don`t include (-) [P]ictures in .IPF file
   |-|-D{EBUG}{+|-}
   \_ Enable (+) or disable (-) [D]ebug logging into HTML2IPF.LOG
Default HTML2IPF options:
   -COLORS+ -CENTER+ -CHECK- -SORT+ -PICTURES+ -DEBUG-

You launch HTML2IPF specifying the root (index) file; HTML2IPF will try to follow all local links (theoretically I can extend HTML2IPF to follow even Internet links - but what for?) and incorporate everything into a single .IPF file; this file will have same name as the root (index) file except that its extension will be replaced by IPF.

The -COLORS switch you can use to avoid HTML2IPF's colored output. You can use this switch if you want to redirect HTML2IPF's output into a file (or pipe); otherwise you will see lots of ANSI color sequences.
The -CENTER switch must be used if you do not want HTML2IPF to handle <CENTER> tags, since HTML2IPF will treat all text between <CENTER> and </CENTER> as pre-formatted text which is not compliant with HTML specs.
The -CHECK switch is handy to use when you want to check if every component of a big HTML tree is present. HTML2IPF will analyse each HTML file and check each <A HREF=...> link. Before program exits, it will give a list of missing components. You should log them (using the -DEBUG+ switch) and then analyze HTML2IPF.LOG file. This file will also contain all syntax errors (and unrecognized tags) of HTML files, and maybe you will want to correct them first before converting to INF.
The -SORT switch can be used to disable (by default it is enabled) sorting subheadings for each HTML node.
The -PICTURES switch can be used to enable/disable (by default it is enabled) ebmedding pictures into the .IPF file. If the pictures are disabled (-PICTURES-) (or HTML2IPF cannot find the image file), HTML2IPF will replace pictures by the <IMG ALT=...> text.
The -DEBUG switch can be used to enable debug logging into the HTML2IPF.LOG file. The program will output all unrecognised and unexpected tags (and unexpected plain text too...) into the log file - you can check it if you`re suspecting HTML2IPF is fooling you.

Examples

HTML2IPF index.html -check+ -debug+
** or **
HTML2IPF index.html -ch -d

This example will check the syntax and the presense of all links found inside the index.html file (and all descendents). No output file will be produced

HTML2IPF index.html JavaBook.ipf -pictures- -sort-
** or **
HTML2IPF index.html JavaBook.ipf -p- -s- -co-

This example will produce the JavaBook.ipf file from the Index.html file, skipping all pictures and not sorting subheadings alphabetically.

HTML2IPF index.html -check+ -debug+ -colors- >html2ipf.out
** or **
HTML2IPF index.html -ch -d -co- >html2ipf.out

This example will check the syntax and links of the index.html file, redirecting program's output into the html2ipf.out file. The -COLORS- switch is used because otherwise ANSI color sequences will be also logged into the redirected file.

Return to title page