fglform

The fglform tool compiles form specification files into XML formatted files used by programs.

Syntax 1: Compiling forms

fglform [comp-options] [prepro-options] file-list
  1. In this form, fglform compiles the form specification files to a .42f file.
  2. comp-options are described in compilation options.
  3. prepro-options are described in preprocessor options.
where file-list is:
{ form-name[.per]
| pattern
| @argfile
} [...]
  1. form-name.per is the form specification file. The .per extension is optional.
  2. pattern is a MATCHES-style pattern to find files, like '[a-z]*.per'.
  3. argfile defines a file that contains a list of .per sources to be compiled. Each line must specify a filename or a pattern.

Syntax 2: Extracting localized strings

fglform -m [prepro-options] form-name[.per]
  1. In this form, fglform extracts localized strings from the source.
  2. prepro-options are described in preprocessor options.
  3. form-name.per is the form specification file. The .per extension is optional

Syntax 3: Information options

fglform info-option
  1. info-option can be any of the informational options.

Options:

Table 1. Compilation options
Option Description
--make Do not recompile .42f form files up-to-date with provided .per source. See Compiling in make mode.
-M Write error messages to standard output instead of creating a .err error file.
-o or --output-dir Specify the output directory where .42f files must be created. fglform automatically creates the target and intermediate directories if they do not exist. See also Output directory for .42f form files.
-k or --keep-going When compiling a set of .per files passed as arguments, if a form file produces an error, the remaining files are processed. See Compiling several .per sources in a single command.
--verbose Print detailed compilation information.
-W { all } Produce warning messages. Only -W all option is supported for now.
Table 2. Preprocessor options
Option Description
-E Preprocess only. See Source preprocessor for more details.
-p option

Preprocessing control, where option can be one of:

  • nopp: Disable preprocessing.
  • noli: No line number information (only with -E option).
  • fglpp: Use # syntax instead of & syntax.
  • auto: Detect # syntax or & syntax automatically.
-I path Provides a single path to search for include files. See Source preprocessor for more details.
-D ident[=value] Defines the macro 'ident' with an optional value (default is 1). See Source preprocessor for more details.
-U ident Undefines the macro 'ident'. See Source preprocessor for more details.
Table 3. Informational options
Option Description
-V or --version Displays version information.
-h or --help Displays options for the tool.
-i [ mbcs ] Displays information about the current locale / character set settings. See Application locale.

Usage

The fglform command line tool compiles a .per form specification file into a .42f compiled version:
fglform custform.per

The .per extension is optional, if not used, fglform will automatically search for files with this extension.

The .42f compiled version is an XML formatted file used by programs when a form definition is loaded with the OPEN FORM or OPEN WINDOW WITH FORM instructions.