lyx(1)
NAME
LyX - A Document Processor
SYNOPSIS
lyx [ command-line switches ] [ name[.lyx] ... ]
DESCRIPTION
LyX 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 LyX under the Help menu. LyX 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, LyX uses the Qt4 library as a toolkit. LyX should run everywhere, where this library runs. This is on all major Unix platforms as well as Windows and Mac OS X (which actually is a unix platform).
OPTIONS
LyX supports the following command-line switches.
-help summarizes LyX usage
-version
provides version information on the build of LyX.
-sysdir directory
sets system directory. Normally not needed.
-userdir directory
sets user directory. Needed if you want to use LyX with different
lyxrc settings.
-geometry WxH+X+Y
set geometry of the main window.
-dbg feature[,feature...]
where feature is a name or number. Use "lyx -dbg" to see the
list of available debug features.
-x [--execute] command
where command is a lyx command.
-e [--export] fmt
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.
-E [--export-to] fmt filename
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).
-i [--import] fmt file.xxx
where fmt is the import format of choice and file.xxx is the file
to be imported.
-f [--force-overwrite] what
where what is is either "all", "main" or "none". Specify "all"
to allow overwriting all files during a batch export, "main" to
allow overwriting the main file only, or "none" to disallow
overwriting any file. When this switch is followed by anything
else other than "all", "main" or "none", the behavior is as if
"all" was specified, but what follows is left on the command line
for further processing.
-n [--no-remote]
open documents passed as arguments in a new instance, even if
another instance of LyX is already running.
-r [--remote]
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.
-batch
causes LyX to run the given commands without opening a GUI
window. Thus, something like:
lyx -batch -x "buffer-print printer default dvips" myfile.lyx
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).
ENVIRONMENT
LYX_DIR_22x
can be used to specify which system directory to use.
The system directory is determined by searching for the file
"chkconfig.ltx". Directories are searched in this order:
1) -sysdir command line parameter
2) LYX_DIR_22x environment variable
3) Maybe <path of binary>/TOP_SRCDIR/lib
4) <path of binary>/../share/<name of binary>/
5) hardcoded lyx_dir (at build time: /usr/share/lyx)
LYX_USERDIR_22x
can be used to specify which user directory to use.
The user directory is, in order of precedence:
1) -userdir command line parameter
2) LYX_USERDIR_22x environment variable
3) $HOME/.<name of binary> if no explicit setting is made
LYX_LOCALEDIR
can be used to tell LyX where to look for the translations of
its GUI strings in other languages.
LYX_FORCE_OVERWRITE
can be used to change the default behavior when exporting from
command line.
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 "all", "main" or "none", with
same meaning as for the -f switch.
FILES
~/.lyx/preferences Personal configuration file ~/.lyx/lyxrc.defaults Personal autodetected configuration file LIBDIR/lyxrc.dist System wide configuration file LIBDIR/configure.py Updates LyX if config has changed LIBDIR/bind/ Keybindings LIBDIR/clipart/ Clipart pictures LIBDIR/doc/ Documentation in LyX format. LIBDIR/examples/ Example documents LIBDIR/images/ Images used as icons or in popups LIBDIR/kbd/ Keyboard mappings LIBDIR/layouts/ Layout descriptions LIBDIR/templates/ Templates for documents LIBDIR/tex/ Extra TeX files LIBDIR is the system directory. This was at build time /usr/share/lyx.
SEE ALSO
tex2lyx(1), latex(1). Full documentation in either native LyX or postscript format.
BUGS/LIMITATIONS
There are still some bugs in LyX. 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! LaTeX import is still not perfect and may produce buggy *.lyx files. Consult the tex2lyx documentation.
AUTHORS
LyX is Copyright (C) 1995 by Matthias Ettrich, 1995-2010 LyX Team
Opportunity
Personal Opportunity - Free software gives you access to billions of dollars of software at no cost. Use this software for your business, personal use or to develop a profitable skill. Access to source code provides access to a level of capabilities/information that companies protect though copyrights. Open source is a core component of the Internet and it is available to you. Leverage the billions of dollars in resources and capabilities to build a career, establish a business or change the world. The potential is endless for those who understand the opportunity.
Business Opportunity - Goldman Sachs, IBM and countless large corporations are leveraging open source to reduce costs, develop products and increase their bottom lines. Learn what these companies know about open source and how open source can give you the advantage.
Free Software
Free Software provides computer programs and capabilities at no cost but more importantly, it provides the freedom to run, edit, contribute to, and share the software. The importance of free software is a matter of access, not price. Software at no cost is a benefit but ownership rights to the software and source code is far more significant.
Free Office Software - The Libre Office suite provides top desktop productivity tools for free. This includes, a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation engine, drawing and flowcharting, database and math applications. Libre Office is available for Linux or Windows.
Free Books
The Free Books Library is a collection of thousands of the most popular public domain books in an online readable format. The collection includes great classical literature and more recent works where the U.S. copyright has expired. These books are yours to read and use without restrictions.
Source Code - Want to change a program or know how it works? Open Source provides the source code for its programs so that anyone can use, modify or learn how to write those programs themselves. Visit the GNU source code repositories to download the source.
Education
Study at Harvard, Stanford or MIT - Open edX provides free online courses from Harvard, MIT, Columbia, UC Berkeley and other top Universities. Hundreds of courses for almost all major subjects and course levels. Open edx also offers some paid courses and selected certifications.
Linux Manual Pages - A man or manual page is a form of software documentation found on Linux/Unix operating systems. Topics covered include computer programs (including library and system calls), formal standards and conventions, and even abstract concepts.
