Common parameters

Certain parameters apply to all transformations that DITA Open Toolkit supports.

args.debug
Specifies whether debugging information is included in the log. The allowed values are yes and no; the default value is no.
args.draft
Specifies whether the content of <draft-comment> and <required-cleanup> elements is included in the output. The allowed values are yes and no; the default value is no.
Corresponds to the XSLT parameter DRAFT in most XSLT modules.
Tip:
For PDF output, setting the args.draft parameter to yes causes the contents of the <titlealts> element to be rendered below the title.
args.figurelink.style
Specifies how cross references to figures are styled in output. The allowed values are NUMBER, TITLE, and NUMTITLE.
Specifying NUMBER results in "Figure 5"; specifying TITLE results in the title of the figure. Corresponds to the XSLT parameter FIGURELINK.
Note:
Support for PDF was added in DITA-OT 2.0. By default PDF uses the value NUMTITLE, which is not supported for other transformation types; this results in "Figure 5. Title".
args.filter

Specifies filter file(s) used to include, exclude, or flag content. Relative paths are resolved against the DITA-OT base directory (for backwards compatibility) and internally converted to absolute paths.

Note:

To specify multiple filter files, use the system path separator character to delimit individual file paths (semicolon ‘;’ on Windows, and colon ‘:’ on macOS and Linux) and wrap the value in quotes:

--args.filter="filter1.ditaval;filter2.ditaval;filter3.ditaval"

DITAVAL files are evaluated in the order specified, so conditions specified in the first file take precedence over matching conditions specified in later files, just as conditions at the start of a DITAVAL document take precedence over matching conditions later in the same document.

args.gen.task.lbl
Specifies whether to generate headings for sections within task topics. The allowed values are YES and NO.
Corresponds to the XSLT parameter GENERATE-TASK-LABELS.
args.grammar.cache
Specifies whether the grammar-caching feature of the XML parser is used. The allowed values are yes and no; the default value is yes.
Note:
This option dramatically speeds up processing time. However, there is a known problem with using this feature for documents that use XML entities. If your build fails with parser errors about entity resolution, set this parameter to no.
args.input
Specifies the main file for your documentation project.

This parameter corresponds to the command-line argument --input.

Typically this is a DITA map, however it also can be a DITA topic if you want to transform a single DITA file. The path can be absolute, relative to args.input.dir, or relative to the current directory if args.input.dir is not defined.

args.input.dir
Specifies the base directory for your documentation project.
args.output.base
Specifies the name of the output file without file extension.
args.rellinks
Specifies which links to include in the output. The following values are supported:
  • none – No links are included.
  • all – All links are included.
  • noparent – Ancestor and parent links are not included.
  • nofamily – Parent, ancestor, child, descendant, sibling, next, previous, and cousin links are not included.

For PDF output, the default value is nofamily. Other formats include all link roles except ancestor links.

args.resources
Specifies resource files.

This parameter corresponds to the command-line option --resource.

Resource files can be used to convert partial documentation sets by processing input with additional information.

For example, to process a single topic file with a map that contains key definitions, use a command like this: 
dita --input=topic.dita --format=html5 --args.resources=keys.ditamap
To convert a chapter map to HTML5 and insert related links from relationship tables in a separate map, use: 
dita --input=chapter.ditamap --format=html5 --args.resources=reltables.ditamap
args.tablelink.style
Specifies how cross references to tables are styled. The allowed values are NUMBER, TITLE, and NUMTITLE.
Specifying NUMBER results in "Table 5"; specifying TITLE results in the title of the table. Corresponds to the XSLT parameter TABLELINK.
Note:
Support for PDF was added in DITA-OT 2.0. By default PDF uses the value NUMTITLE, which is not supported for other transformation types; this results in "Table 5. Title".
build-step.branch-filter
Run process branch-filter The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.chunk
Run process chunk The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.clean-preprocess
Run process clean-preprocess The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.clean-temp
Run process clean-temp The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.coderef
Run process coderef The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.conref
Run process conref The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.copy-flag
Run process copy-flag The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.copy-html
Run process copy-html The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.copy-image
Run process copy-image The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.keyref
Run process keyref The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.map-profile
Run process map-profile The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.maplink
Run process maplink The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.mapref
Run process mapref The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.move-meta-entries
Run process move-meta-entries The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.normalize-codeblock
Run process normalize-codeblock The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
build-step.profile
Run process profile The allowed values are true and false; the default value is false.
build-step.topic-profile
Run process topic-profile The allowed values are true and false; the default value is false.
build-step.topicpull
Run process topicpull The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.
clean.temp
Specifies whether DITA-OT deletes the files in the temporary directory after it finishes a build. The allowed values are yes and no; the default value is yes.
conserve-memory
Conserve memory at the expense of processing speed. The allowed values are true and false; the default value is false.
default.language
Specifies the language that is used if the input file does not have the @xml:lang attribute set on the root element. By default, this is set to en. The allowed values are those that are defined in IETF BCP 47, Tags for Identifying Languages.
dita.dir
Specifies where DITA-OT is installed.
dita.input.valfile
Specifies a filter file to be used to include, exclude, or flag content.
Notice:
This parameter is deprecated in favor of the args.filter parameter.
dita.temp.dir
Specifies the location of the temporary directory.

This parameter corresponds to the command-line option --temp.

The temporary directory is where DITA-OT writes intermediate files that are generated during the transformation process.

filter-stage
Specifies whether filtering is done before all other processing, or after key and conref processing. The allowed values are early and late; the default value is early.
Note:
Changing the filtering stage may produce different results for the same initial data set and filtering conditions.
force-unique
Generate copy-to attributes to duplicate topicref elements. The allowed values are true and false; the default value is false.

Setting this to true ensures that unique output files are created for each instance of a resource when a map contains multiple references to a single topic.

generate-debug-attributes
Specifies whether the @xtrf and @xtrc debugging attributes are generated in the temporary files. The following values are supported:
  • true (default) – Enables generation of debugging attributes
  • false – Disables generation of debugging attributes
Note:
Disabling debugging attributes reduces the size of temporary files and thus reduces memory consumption. However, the log messages no longer have the source information available and thus the ability to debug problems might deteriorate.
generate.copy.outer
Adjust how output is generated for content that is located outside the directory containing the input resource (DITA map or topic). The following values are supported:
  • 1 (default) – Do not generate output for content that is located outside the DITA map directory.
  • 3 – Shift the output directory so that it contains all output for the publication.

See Handling content outside the map directory for more information.

link-crawl
Specifies whether to crawl only those topic links found in maps, or all discovered topic links. The allowed values are map and topic; the default value is topic.
onlytopic.in.map
Specifies whether files that are linked to, or referenced with a @conref attribute, generate output. The allowed values are true and false; the default value is false.
If set to true, only files that are referenced directly from the map will generate output.
outer.control
Specifies whether to warn or fail if content is located outside the directory containing the input resource (DITA map or topic). The following values are supported:
  • fail – Fail quickly if files are going to be generated or copied outside of the directory.
  • warn (default) – Complete the operation if files will be generated or copied outside of the directory, but log a warning.
  • quiet – Quietly finish without generating warnings or errors.
Warning:
Microsoft HTML Help Compiler cannot produce HTML Help for documentation projects that use outer content. The content files must reside in or below the directory containing the root map file, and the map file cannot specify ".." at the start of the @href attributes for <topicref> elements.
output.dir
Specifies the name and location of the output directory.

This parameter corresponds to the command-line option --output.

By default, the output is written to DITA-dir/out.

parallel
Run processes in parallel when possible. The allowed values are true and false; the default value is false.
processing-mode
Specifies how DITA-OT handles errors and error recovery. The following values are supported:
  • strict – When an error is encountered, DITA-OT stops processing
  • lax (default) – When an error is encountered, DITA-OT attempts to recover from it
  • skip – When an error is encountered, DITA-OT continues processing but does not attempt error recovery
remove-broken-links
Remove broken related links. The allowed values are true and false; the default value is false.
result.rewrite-rule.class
Specifies the name of the Java class used to rewrite filenames.
The custom class should implement the org.dita.dost.module.RewriteRule interface.
result.rewrite-rule.xsl
Specifies the name of the XSLT file used to rewrite filenames.
See Adjusting file names in map-first pre-processing for details.
root-chunk-override
Override for map chunk attribute value.
Acceptable values include any value normally allowed on the @chunk attribute. If the map does not have a @chunk attribute, this value will be used; if the map already has a @chunk attribute specified, this value will be used instead.
store-type
Temporary file store type. The allowed values are file and memory; the default value is file.

In-memory processing provides performance advantages in I/O bound environments such as cloud computing platforms, where processing time depends primarily on how long it takes to read and write temporary files. For more information, see Store API – Processing in memory.

Important:
Custom plug-ins that expect to find certain files on disk in the temporary directory will not work with in-memory processing.
transtype
Specifies the output format (transformation type).

This parameter corresponds to the command-line argument --format.

You can create plug-ins to add new output formats; by default, the following values are available:
  • dita
  • eclipsehelp
  • html5
  • htmlhelp
  • markdown, markdown_gitbook, and markdown_github
  • pdf
  • xhtml
Tip:
See DITA-OT transformations (output formats) for sample command line syntax and more information on each transformation.
validate
Specifies whether DITA-OT validates the content. The allowed values are true and false; the default value is true.