

<BLOCK body>

htp is designed to be run from the command-line.  Basic usage is
as so:
<P>
<PRE>
    htp [options] &lt;source filename&gt; &lt;final HTML filename&gt;
</PRE>
<P>
Command-line options are discussed in the <A HREF="options.html">options and
customization</A> section.  Most options can also be embedded in the htp
source files themselves.
<P>
The source file contains standard and htp-specific markup tags.  htp
processes the source file and writes the resulting output to the final
HTML file.
<P>
To handle larger sets of files, htp also accepts a response file, which
lists input/output filename pairs and additional response files.  A
response file is specified as so:
<P>
<PRE>
    htp [options] @&lt;response filename&gt;
</PRE>
<P>
A response file is a text file, with input and output filenames specified
on each line, or alternatively, another response file.  Also,
options can be included provided they are preceded by a minus sign 
(&lsquo;-&rsquo;), as if they were typed on the command-line.  Since the
response file is processed once and in order, options should be placed
before specifying any files or response files.  Finally, a comment can
be placed in the response file by adding a semi-colon.  All text on the
line beyond the semi-colon will be ignored.
<P>
<PRE>
    ; sample response file
    -<A HREF="options.html">CONDENSE</A> -<A HREF="options.html">IMGXY</A>
    index.htp index.htm
    page1.htp page1.htm
    feature/feature.rsp
</PRE>
<P>
A hierarchy of response files can be created using this format.
<P>
htp will automatically search for a default response file named
"htp.rsp" if no response file is specified.  Therefore, to execute htp
with a default response file, type
<P>
<PRE>
    htp [options] @
</PRE>
<P>
And, in a response file, only a new directory needs to be specified to
use a default response file:
<P>
<PRE>
    feature/
</PRE>
<P>
Note that the trailing slash (or backslash) <EM>must</EM> be included for
htp to properly discover the response file.
<P>
Additionally, htp will automatically convert slashes and backslashes for
file names in all response files and htp special tags <STRONG>only</STRONG>.
This means that response files and file names specified by a
<A HREF="file.html">FILE INCLUDE</A> do not need to be changed if the files
are taken back and forth between a DOS and UNIX platform.
<STRONG>It will not convert slashes in standard HTML tags.</STRONG>
It will convert them internally if the file must be accessed, as in the case
of <A HREF="img.html">IMG</A>, but the pathname will <EM>not</EM> be changed
in the final output.
<P>
While processing, htp will display informational, warning, and error
messages.  Informational messages are preceded with a "[-]" string.
Warning messages are preceded with a "[*]" string.  Error messages
are preceded with a "[!]" string.  Error messages will halt processing
of the file, and htp will exit with an error level of 1 (one).

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