Switches used in the Command line
This topic gives a detailed description of command-line switches and examples of their usage.
Access available Documenter switches
To access help regarding the available command line arguments, use the following command:
documenter.com /?
For more information on each command-line operation, run the following command and specify the required option value documenter /option_name /?. For example, documenter /document /?.
Note
To run the Command Line in Windows 11:
From the Windows taskbar
- Right-click the taskbar at the bottom of the screen and select Run. Alternatively, select Start or press Windows on the keyboard to open the Start menu.
- In the Search bar, enter cmd or Command Prompt.
- Select Command Prompt from the search results.
Using shortcut keys
- Press Windows + R to open the Run command window.
- In the window that opens, enter cmd and press Enter.
Command line usage
documenter.com /document [/switch1[:value | [parameter1:value parameter2:value ..]] /switch2 ..]
The first argument for documenter is usually an operation switch, which indicates the specific action you want to execute with the application.
Available command-line switches
| Switch | Usage and description |
|---|---|
| /argfile | /argfile:<path>Specifies a path to the command line arguments file. Options specified from the command line have higher priority than the options included in the file. |
| /activate | /activate /key:<activation_key> Activates the product using the activation key. |
| /deactivate | Deactivates the product. |
| /document | Generates database documentation. |
| /execute | Executes a script. |
| /quiet (/q) | Hides the console window in the console mode. It should be used after the main operation switch. |
Switches details
/document
| Parameter | Usage and description |
|---|---|
| /author | /author:<expression> Specifies the ‘author’ parameter for documentation. Overrides the ‘author’ field value specified in the documentation project file (.ddoc). |
| /breadcrumbs | /breadcrumbs:<value> Specifies the ‘breadcrumbs’ parameter value for documentation. To turn on the option, specify: Yes, Y, On, True, or T. To turn off the option, specify: No, N, Off, False, or F. The default value for the parameter is Y. |
| /connection | /connection:<connection_string> Specifies the connection string. |
| /copyright | /copyright:<expression>Specifies the ‘copyright’ parameter for documentation. Overrides the ‘copyright’ field value specified in the documentation project file (.ddoc). |
| /created | /created:<expression> Specifies the ‘created’ parameter for documentation. Overrides the ‘created’ field value specified in the documentation project file (.ddoc). |
| /database | /database:<dbname1[,dbname2]> Specifies databases for which the documentation project will be generated. The user can specify a single database or multiple databases separated by commas. If the user wants to select all the databases of the server, the ALLDATABASES parameter can be used (ex. /database:ALLDATABASES) |
| /docdescription | /docdescription:<expression> Specifies the ‘docdescription’ parameter for documentation. Overrides the ‘docdescription’ field value specified in the documentation project file (.ddoc). |
| /doclogo | /doclogo:<path> Specifies the ‘doclogo’ parameter for documentation. Overrides the ‘doclogo’ field value specified in the documentation project file (.ddoc). |
| /doctitle | /doctitle:<expression> Specifies the ‘doctitle’ parameter for documentation. Overrides the ‘doctitle’ field value specified in the documentation project file (.ddoc). |
| /documentformat | /documentformat:<HTML|PDF|MARKDOWN> Specifies the output documentation file format: HTML - a simple HTML file; PDF - a portable document format file; MARKDOWN - a document with a lightweight markup language. The default is HTML. |
| /errormode | /errormode:<ignore|abort> Specifies the application behavior when an error is encountered. Enter ‘ignore’ to ignore all errors or ‘abort’ to cancel execution if any error occurs. |
| /exitcodes | Returns the list of possible exit codes that can be returned by the command-line process. |
| /output | /output:<path> Specifies an output file name for PDF documentation or folder name for HTML or Markdown documentation. (ex. “D:\mydoc"). |
| /password | /password:<pw> Specifies the server password. Overrides the password specified in the connection string. |
| /path | /path:<filepath> Specifies the destination directory for documentation. |
| /permissions | /permissions:<value> Specifies the ‘permissions’ parameter value for documentation. To turn on the option, specify: Yes, Y, On, True, T. To turn off the option, specify: No, N, Off, False, F. The default value for the parameter is Y. |
| /projfile | /projfile:<path> Loads command line settings from the project file .ddoc (ex. “D:\mydoc.ddoc”) |
| /treatwarningaserror | /treatWarningAsError:[Yes|No] Yes: Treat all warnings as errors and further behavior is determined by the errormode option. No: Do not consider all warnings as errors and execute with warning messages. |
/execute
| Parameter | Usage and description |
|---|---|
| /connection | /connection:<connection_string>Specifies the connection string. |
| /database | Specifies a database to execute a script to. Databases specified in the script will be ignored. Does not affect objects with fully qualified names. |
| /encoding | /encoding:<codepage|encoding name>Specifies the encoding that should be applied to open and execute the script. |
| /exitcodes | Returns the list of possible exit codes that can be returned by the command-line process. |
| /inputfile | Specifies a SQL or ZIP file with the script to execute. |
| /password | Enters the server password. Overrides the password specified in the connection string. |