LYX(1) LyX 2.1.4 LYX(1)NAME
LyX - A Document Processor
SYNOPSISlyx [ 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 documen‐
tation 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-ref‐
erences, bibliographies, indices, etc. It is very good at documents of
any length in which the usual processing abilities are required: auto‐
matic 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, sem‐
inar 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 every‐
where, 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, lua‐
tex, 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 over‐
writing 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 lyx‐
pipe 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 win‐
dow. 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_21x
can be used to specify which system directory to use.
The system directory is determined by searching for the file "chkcon‐
fig.ltx". Directories are searched in this order:
1) -sysdir command line parameter
2) LYX_DIR_21x 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/local/share/lyx)
LYX_USERDIR_21x
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_21x 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 set‐
ting 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/local/share/lyx.
SEE ALSOtex2lyx(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
Version 2.1.4 2015-07-24 LYX(1)
