Brevierv0.6.0

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Command line

Every brevier command and its options: pdf, html, preview, lint, serve, import, batch, compile, template, scaffold, sample, from-template and licence.

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brevier --version
brevier --help
brevier <command> --help
Command What it does
pdf Renders one template to a PDF.
html Renders one template to HTML.
preview Previews a template in the browser and reloads on save.
lint Renders a template and lists the layout and font problems, each with its page and the line of the generated HTML.
serve Runs the engine as an HTTP service or stdio process.
import Imports a template from Word, JasperReports or BIRT.
batch pdf, batch html Renders every template in a folder.
compile Writes the HTML that a Markdown template compiles to.
template Writes a starting template and sample data from a schema.
scaffold Writes a schema, a starting template and sample data from one JSON record.
sample Writes sample data from a schema, and nothing else.
from-template Writes the schema a template needs.
licence Shows the company, type, key ID, end date and days left of your licence key.

pdf

Renders one HTML or Markdown template to a PDF.

brevier pdf rechnung.md --data rechnung.json -o rechnung.pdf
Option Meaning
-o, --output The file to write. Required.
--data A JSON file with the data.
--theme A built-in theme: print-base, web or din5008.
--style A CSS file. Use it more than once for several files; a later file wins.
--schema The schema check: true (the default, uses rechnung.schema.json next to the template), false, the path of a schema file, or the schema as JSON text.
--base-url The folder or URL that images and fonts with a relative path are read from. Default: the template's folder.
--debug Also write the HTML and CSS the engine got, as .debug.html and .debug.css.
--einvoice Also embed the invoice as data, in the file factur-x.xml (ZUGFeRD / Factur-X). See below.

The command ends with exit code 1 when something is wrong: broken JSON, a missing field, a schema error, or a missing CSS file. The message says what is wrong and, where it can, on which line.

E-invoice

Every PDF that Brevier writes is PDF/A-3b. With --einvoice, the PDF also carries the invoice as an XML file in the EN 16931 standard, so the buyer's software can book it without typing.

brevier pdf rechnung-zugferd.html --data rechnung.json --einvoice -o rechnung.pdf

Brevier writes the XML from the same --data as the page. The data must follow the invoice schema. Before it writes the file, Brevier checks that the amounts add up. If they do not, the command stops and names the field. The template rechnung-zugferd shows a full invoice.

html

Renders one template to HTML, with the same options as pdf except --einvoice. The HTML is product output: see Output and tests.

brevier html rechnung.md --data rechnung.json -o rechnung.html

preview

Previews a template in the browser and reloads automatically whenever the template, data or stylesheet changes on disk.

brevier preview rechnung.html --data rechnung.json --port 5151 --open
Option Meaning
<template_file> Input HTML or Markdown template file. Required.
--data JSON data file to bind into the template. Default: sample.json next to the template if present.
--style, --css Additional CSS stylesheets to apply. Use it more than once for several files.
--theme A built-in theme: print-base, web or din5008.
--port Port to listen on. Default: 5151.
--open, --no-open Open the browser when the preview starts, or not. Default: --no-open.

lint

Renders a template and lists the problems on the pages: text wider than its container (overflow), a table column narrower than its declared minimum width (table), a glyph that the font lacks (glyph), a heading alone at the bottom of a page (orphan), a table row broken across pages (split) and hyphenated lines that break the hyphen rules (hyphens). It writes no PDF. A column declares its minimum with data-min-width on its <col>: see the lint guide.

brevier lint rechnung.html --data rechnung.json --debug-dir out/

Each problem has one line: the page, the kind, what is wrong, and → the file and line of the generated HTML that holds the cause.

rechnung.html
  page 2    overflow  "DE893704004405320130…" wider than its box (106.1 > 38.4 mm)  → out/rechnung.debug.html:412
  → 1 problem. exit code 1
debug file: out/rechnung.debug.html (holds the document's data)
Option Meaning
<input_file> The .html or .md template. Required.
--data A JSON file with the data.
--theme A built-in theme: print-base, web or din5008.
--style A CSS file. Use it more than once for several files; a later file wins.
--debug-dir The folder for the generated HTML. Default: the folder of the template.
--schema The schema check of the data: true (the default, uses <stem>.schema.json), false, the path of a schema file, or the schema as JSON text.
--format text (default) or json. With json, the output is an array with one object per problem, with the keys page, kind, message, file and line.

The command always writes rechnung.debug.html and rechnung.debug.css, because a problem without the file does not say where it is. The files hold the data of the document: do not share them if the data is private.

Exit code 0: no problems. Exit code 1: at least one problem, or a template that cannot be rendered. Exit code 2: a wrong file type or --format.

serve

Runs the engine as an HTTP microservice or stdio process. Client libraries connect to this service in production.

brevier serve --templates templates/ --port 8080
Option Meaning
--templates Folder whose sub-folders are templates, each as <name>/<name>.html or .md. Required.
--host Listen address. The default accepts only this machine. The server has no TLS and no login: put a gateway in front of it before you expose it. Default: 127.0.0.1.
--port Port to listen on. Default: 8080.
--allowed-host A host name, besides this machine, that a request may use in its Host header. Give it for the name a gateway or a container network uses. Can be repeated. Any other name gets 403.
--stdio Read one JSON request per line from standard input and write one answer per line to standard output.

import

Imports an existing template from Word (.docx), JasperReports (.jrxml) or BIRT (.rptdesign), creating an HTML template, a CSS stylesheet and a JSON Schema. A .jrxml or .rptdesign import also writes sample.json. For each element it leaves out, it prints a line Not converted: line N: <element>. Import a template lists what it converts and names.

brevier import brief.docx -o templates/brief
Option Meaning
<input_file> Input Word, JasperReports or BIRT file to import. Required. A .pdf file is accepted, but no file is written: the AcroForm import is planned.
-o, --output Output directory for generated templates and schemas.
--force Overwrite template files that exist. An import refuses to by default.

batch

Renders every template in a folder and its subfolders.

brevier batch pdf templates/ -o out/
brevier batch html templates/ -o out/ --pattern "*.md"

For each template, Brevier uses a JSON file with the same name as data, if there is one: rechnung.html and rechnung.json give out/rechnung.pdf. The output keeps the folder structure.

Option Meaning
-o, --output The output folder. Required.
--pattern Which files are templates. Default: *.html.
--debug As for pdf.

compile

Writes the HTML that a Markdown template compiles to, next to it. See Templates.

brevier compile rechnung.md
Option Meaning
--force Replace the HTML file if it exists.

template

Writes a starting template, a stylesheet and sample data from a schema. See Schema and code.

brevier template --schema rechnung.schema.json
Option Meaning
--schema The schema file. Required. Its name before .schema.json names the files.
--format html (default) or md.
--theme The theme the template names. Default: print-base.
--force Replace files that exist.

scaffold

Writes a schema, a starting template and sample data from one JSON record, for example a real invoice from your system.

brevier scaffold --from rechnung.json
Option Meaning
--from The JSON file with one record. Required.
--name The base name of the files. Default: the name of the --from file.
--format html (default) or md.
--theme The theme the template names. Default: print-base.
--force Replace files that exist.

It writes rechnung.schema.json, rechnung.html, rechnung.css and sample.json.

sample

Writes sample data from a schema. It writes no template and no stylesheet, and changes none.

brevier sample --schema rechnung.schema.json
Option Meaning
--schema The schema file. Required.
-o, --output The file to write. Default: sample.json next to the schema.
--force Replace the file if it exists.

from-template

Writes the schema that a template needs, from the {{ }} tags in it.

brevier from-template police.html
Option Meaning
--lang Also write Java classes, sample.json and an example: java8 or java17.
--package With --lang: the Java package, for example com.acme.police.
--force Replace files that exist.

licence

Shows the licence key that Brevier reads from BREVIER_LICENCE_KEY: the company, the type (production or trial), the key ID, the end date and the days left. It works without a key. For a missing, invalid or ended key it prints the reason and exits with code 1.

brevier licence

Every other command except --help and --version stops with exit code 1 and writes no file unless the key is valid. Get a 30-day trial key at brevier.dev/pricing.