path: root/man/flac.sgml

<!doctype refentry PUBLIC "-//Davenport//DTD DocBook V3.0//EN" [

  <!-- Fill in your name for FIRSTNAME and SURNAME. -->
  <!ENTITY dhfirstname "<firstname>Matt</firstname>">
  <!ENTITY dhsurname   "<surname>Zimmerman</surname>">
  <!-- Please adjust the date whenever revising the manpage. -->
  <!ENTITY dhdate      "<date>December 18, 2002</date>">
  <!-- SECTION should be 1-8, maybe w/ subsection other parameters are
       allowed: see man(7), man(1). -->
  <!ENTITY dhsection   "<manvolnum>1</manvolnum>">
  <!ENTITY dhemail     "<email>mdz@debian.org</email>">
  <!ENTITY dhusername  "Matt Zimmerman">
  <!ENTITY dhucpackage "<refentrytitle>FLAC</refentrytitle>">
  <!ENTITY dhpackage   "flac">

  <!ENTITY debian      "<productname>Debian GNU/Linux</productname>">
  <!ENTITY gnu         "<acronym>GNU</acronym>">
]>

<refentry>
  <docinfo>
    <address>
	&dhemail;
    </address>
    <author>
	&dhfirstname;
	&dhsurname;
      </author>
	<copyright>
		    <year>2002</year>
		    <holder>&dhusername;</holder>
	</copyright>
	    &dhdate;
	</docinfo>
  <refmeta>
      &dhucpackage;

      &dhsection;
    </refmeta>
      <refnamediv>
		   <refname>&dhpackage;</refname>

	<refpurpose>Free Lossless Audio Codec</refpurpose>
      </refnamediv>
	<refsynopsisdiv>
	  <cmdsynopsis>
	    <command>flac</command>

	    <arg><option><replaceable>OPTION</replaceable></option></arg>
	    <arg choice=plain><replaceable>infile</replaceable></arg>
	    <arg choice=plain><replaceable>...</replaceable></arg>
	  </cmdsynopsis>
	</refsynopsisdiv>
	<refsect1>
	  <title>DESCRIPTION</title>

	  <para>This manual page documents briefly the
	    <command>flac</command> command.</para>

	  <para>This manual page was written for the &debian;
	    distribution because the original program does not have a
	    manual page.  Instead, it has documentation in HTML
	    format; see below.</para>

	</refsect1>
	<refsect1>
	  <title>OPTIONS</title>

	  <para>A summary of options is included below.  For a complete
	  description, see the HTML documentation.</para>

	  <refsect2>
	    <title>General Options</title>

	    <variablelist>
	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-v</option>, <option>--version</option>
		</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Show the flac version number</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-h</option>, <option>--help</option>
		</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Show basic usage and a list of all options</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-H</option>, <option>--explain</option>
		</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Show detailed explanation of usage and all options</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-d</option>, <option>--decode</option>
		</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Decode (the default behavior is to encode)</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-t</option>, <option>--test</option>
		</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Test a flac encoded file (same as -d
		    except no decoded file is written)</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-a</option>, <option>--analyze</option>
		</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Analyze a flac encoded file (same as -d
		    except an analysis file is written)</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

              <varlistentry>
	        <term><option>-c</option>, <option>--stdout</option>
                </term>
                <listitem>
                  <para>Write output to stdout</para>
                </listitem>
              </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-s</option>, <option>--silent</option>
		</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Silent mode (do not write runtime
		    encode/decode statistics to stderr)</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-o</option> <replaceable>filename</replaceable>, <option>--output-name</option>=<replaceable>filename</replaceable></term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Force the output file name (usually flac just
		    changes the extension).  May only be used when
		    encoding a single file.  May not be used in
		    conjunction with --output-prefix.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--output-prefix</option>=<replaceable>string</replaceable></term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Prefix each output file name with the given
		    string.  This can be useful for encoding or decoding
		    files to a different directory.  Make sure if your
		    string is a path name that it ends with a trailing
		    `/' (slash).</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--delete-input-file</option>
		</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Automatically delete the input file after a
		    successful encode or decode.  If there was an
		    error (including a verify error) the input file
		    is left intact.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--skip</option>={<replaceable>#</replaceable>|<replaceable>mm:ss.ss</replaceable>}</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Skip over the first number of samples of the input.
		    This works for both encoding and decoding, but not
		    testing.  The alternative form mm:ss.ss can be used
		    to specify minutes, seconds, and fractions of a
		    second.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--until</option>={<replaceable>#</replaceable>|[<replaceable>+</replaceable>|<replaceable>-</replaceable>]<replaceable>mm:ss.ss</replaceable>}</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Stop at the given sample number for each input file.
		    This works for both encoding and decoding, but not testing.
		    The given sample number is not included in the decoded
		    output.  The alternative form mm:ss.ss can be used to
		    specify minutes, seconds, and fractions of a second.  If a
		    `+' (plus) sign is at the beginning, the --until point is
		    relative to the --skip point.  If a `-' (minus) sign is at
		    the beginning, the --until point is relative to end of the
		    audio.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--ogg</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>When encoding, generate Ogg-FLAC output instead
		    of native-FLAC.  Ogg-FLAC streams are FLAC streams
		    wrapped in an Ogg transport layer.  The resulting
		    file should have an '.ogg' extension and will still
		    be decodable by flac.</para>
		  <para>When decoding, force the input to be treated as
		    Ogg-FLAC.  This is useful when piping input from
		    stdin or when the filename does not end in '.ogg'.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--serial-number</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>When used with --ogg, specifies the serial
		    number to use for the FLAC stream.  When encoding and
		    no serial number is given, flac uses '0'.  When
		    decoding and no number is given, flac uses the serial
		    number of the first page.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	    </variablelist>
	  </refsect2>

	  <refsect2>
	    <title>Analysis Options</title>

	    <variablelist>
	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--residual-text</option>
		</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Includes the residual signal in the analysis
		    file.  This will make the file very big, much
		    larger than even the decoded file.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--residual-gnuplot</option>
		</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>Generates a gnuplot file for every subframe;
		    each file will contain the residual distribution
		    of the subframe.  This will create a lot of
		    files.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	    </variablelist>
	  </refsect2>

	  <refsect2>
	    <title>Decoding Options</title>

	    <variablelist>
	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-F</option>, <option>--decode-through-errors</option>
		</term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>By default flac stops decoding with an error
		    and removes the partially decoded file if it
		    encounters a bitstream error.  With -F, errors are
		    still printed but flac will continue decoding to
		    completion.  Note that errors may cause the decoded
		    audio to be missing some samples or have silent
		    sections.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	    </variablelist>
	  </refsect2>

	  <refsect2>
	    <title>Encoding Options</title>

	    <variablelist>
	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-V</option>, <option>--verify</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Verify a correct encoding by decoding the
		    output in parallel and comparing to the
		    original</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--lax</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Allow encoder to generate non-Subset
		    files.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--replay-gain</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Calculate ReplayGain values and store in
		    Vorbis comments, similar to vorbisgain.  Title
		    gains/peaks will be computed for each input
		    file, and an album gain/peak will be computed
		    for all files.  All input files must have the
		    same resolution, sample rate, and number of
		    channels.  Only mono and stereo files are
		    allowed, and the sample rate must be one of
		    8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, or 48
		    kHz.  Also note that this option may leave a
		    few extra bytes in a PADDING block as the exact
		    size of the tags is not known until all files
		    are processed.  Note that this option cannot be
		    used when encoding to standard output (stdout).
		    </para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--cuesheet</option>=<replaceable>filename</replaceable></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Import the given cuesheet file and store it in a
		    CUESHEET metadata block.  This option may only be used
		    when encoding a single file.  A seekpoint will be added
		    for each index point in the cuesheet to the SEEKTABLE
		    unless --no-cued-seekpoints is specified.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--sector-align</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Align encoding of multiple CD format WAVE
		    files on sector boundaries.  See the HTML
		    documentation for more information.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-S</option> {<replaceable>#</replaceable>|<replaceable>X</replaceable>|<replaceable>#x</replaceable>|<replaceable>#s</replaceable>}, <option>--seekpoint</option>={<replaceable>#</replaceable>|<replaceable>X</replaceable>|<replaceable>#x</replaceable>|<replaceable>#s</replaceable>}</term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>
		    Include a point or points in a SEEKTABLE.  Using #,
		    a seek point at that sample number is added.  Using
		    X, a placeholder point is added at the end of a the
		    table.  Using #x, # evenly spaced seek points will
		    be added, the first being at sample 0.  Using #s, a
		    seekpoint will be added every # seconds (# does not
		    have to be a whole number; it can be, for example, 9.5,
		    meaning a seekpoint every 9.5 seconds).  You may use
		    many -S options; the resulting SEEKTABLE will be the
		    unique-ified union of all such values.  With no -S
		    options, flac defaults to '-S 100x'.  Use --no-seektable
		    for no SEEKTABLE.  Note: '-S #x' and '-S #s' will not
		    work if the encoder can't determine the input size before
		    starting.  Note: if you use '-S #' and # is >=
		    samples in the input, there will be either no seek
		    point entered (if the input size is determinable
		    before encoding starts) or a placeholder point (if
		    input size is not determinable).</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-P</option> <replaceable>#</replaceable>, <option>--padding</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Tell the encoder to write a PADDING metadata
		    block of the given length (in bytes) after the
		    STREAMINFO block.  This is useful if you plan to
		    tag the file later with an APPLICATION block;
		    instead of having to rewrite the entire file later
		    just to insert your block, you can write directly
		    over the PADDING block.  Note that the total length
		    of the PADDING block will be 4 bytes longer than
		    the length given because of the 4 metadata block
		    header bytes.  You can force no PADDING block at
		    all to be written with --no-padding, which is the
		    default.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-T</option> <replaceable>FIELD=VALUE</replaceable>, <option>--tag</option>=<replaceable>FIELD=VALUE</replaceable></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Add a Vorbis comment.  The comment must adhere
		    to the Vorbis comment spec; i.e. the FIELD must
		    contain only legal characters, terminated by an
		    'equals' sign.  Make sure to quote the comment if
		    necessary.  This option may appear more than once
		    to add several comments.  NOTE: all tags will be
		    added to all encoded files.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-b</option> <replaceable>#</replaceable>, <option>--blocksize</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Specify the block size in samples.  The
		    default is 1152 for -l 0, else 4608; must be one of
		    192, 576, 1152, 2304, 4608, 256, 512, 1024, 2048,
		    4096, 8192, 16384, or 32768 (unless --lax is used)</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-m</option>, <option>--mid-side</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Try mid-side coding for each frame (stereo
		    input only)</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-M</option>, <option>--adaptive-mid-side</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Adaptive mid-side coding for all frames (stereo
		    input only)</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-0</option>..<option>-8</option>, <option>--compression-level-0</option>..<option>--compression-level-8</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Fastest compression..highest compression
		    (default is -5).  These are synonyms for other
		    options:</para>

		  <variablelist>
		    <varlistentry>
		      <term><option>-0</option>, <option>--compression-level-0</option></term>

		      <listitem>
			<para>Synonymous with -l 0 -b 1152 -r 2,2
			  </para>
		      </listitem>
		    </varlistentry>

		    <varlistentry>
		      <term><option>-1</option>, <option>--compression-level-1</option></term>

		      <listitem>
			<para>Synonymous with -l 0 -b 1152 -M -r 2,2
			  </para>
		      </listitem>
		    </varlistentry>

		    <varlistentry>
		      <term><option>-2</option>, <option>--compression-level-2</option></term>

		      <listitem>
			<para>Synonymous with -l 0 -b 1152 -m -r 3
			  </para>
		      </listitem>
		    </varlistentry>

		    <varlistentry>
		      <term><option>-3</option>, <option>--compression-level-3</option></term>

		      <listitem>
			<para>Synonymous with -l 6 -b 4608 -r 3,3
			  </para>
		      </listitem>
		    </varlistentry>

		    <varlistentry>
		      <term><option>-4</option>, <option>--compression-level-4</option></term>

		      <listitem>
			<para>Synonymous with -l 8 -b 4608 -M -r 3,3
			  </para>
		      </listitem>
		    </varlistentry>

		    <varlistentry>
		      <term><option>-5</option>, <option>--compression-level-5</option></term>

		      <listitem>
			<para>Synonymous with -l 8 -b 4608 -m -r 3,3
			  </para>
		      </listitem>
		    </varlistentry>

		    <varlistentry>
		      <term><option>-6</option>, <option>--compression-level-6</option></term>

		      <listitem>
			<para>Synonymous with -l 8 -b 4608 -m -r 4
			  </para>
		      </listitem>
		    </varlistentry>

		    <varlistentry>
		      <term><option>-7</option>, <option>--compression-level-7</option></term>

		      <listitem>
			<para>Synonymous with -l 8 -b 4608 -m -e -r 6
			  </para>
		      </listitem>
		    </varlistentry>

		    <varlistentry>
		      <term><option>-8</option>, <option>--compression-level-8</option></term>

		      <listitem>
			<para>Synonymous with -l 12 -b 4608 -m -e -r 6
			  </para>
		      </listitem>
		    </varlistentry>
		  </variablelist>

		</listitem>

	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--fast</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Fastest compression.  Currently
		    synonymous with -0.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--best</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Highest compression.  Currently
		    synonymous with -8.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-e</option>, <option>--exhaustive-model-search</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Do exhaustive model search
		    (expensive!)</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-l</option> <replaceable>#</replaceable>, <option>--max-lpc-order</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Set the maximum LPC order; 0 means use only the fixed predictors</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-p</option>, <option>--qlp-coeff-precision-search</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Do exhaustive search of LP coefficient
		    quantization (expensive!).  Overrides -q;
		    does nothing if using -l 0</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-q</option> <replaceable>#</replaceable>, <option>--qlp-coeff-precision</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Precision of the quantized linear-predictor
		    coefficients, 0 => let encoder decide (min is 5,
		    default is 0)</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>-r</option> [<replaceable>#</replaceable>,]<replaceable>#</replaceable>, <option>--rice-partition-order</option>=[<replaceable>#</replaceable>,]<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Set the [min,]max residual partition order
		    (0..16). min defaults to 0 if unspecified.  Default
		    is -r 3,3.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	    </variablelist>

	  </refsect2>
	  <refsect2>
	    <title>Format Options</title>

	    <variablelist>
	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--endian</option>={<replaceable>big</replaceable>|<replaceable>little</replaceable>}</term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Set the byte order for samples</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--channels</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Set number of channels.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--bps</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Set bits per sample.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--sample-rate</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Set sample rate (in Hz).</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--sign</option>={<replaceable>signed</replaceable>|<replaceable>unsigned</replaceable>}</term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Set the sign of samples (the default is signed).</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--force-aiff-format</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Force the decoder to output AIFF format.  This option
		    is not needed if the output filename (as set by -o) ends
		    with <filename>.aiff</filename>.  Also, this option has no
		    effect when encoding since input AIFF is auto-detected.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--force-raw-format</option></term>

		<listitem>
		  <para>Force input (when encoding) or output (when decoding)
		    to be treated as raw samples (even if filename ends
		    in <filename>.wav</filename>).</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>

	    </variablelist>
	  </refsect2>

	  <refsect2>
	    <title>Negative Options</title>

	    <variablelist>
	      <varlistentry>
		<term><option>--no-adaptive-mid-side</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-decode-through-errors</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-delete-input-file</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-escape-coding</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-exhaustive-model-search</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-lax</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-mid-side</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-ogg</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-padding</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-qlp-coeff-precision-search</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-residual-gnuplot</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-residual-text</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-sector-align</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-seektable</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-silent</option></term>
		<term><option>--no-verify</option></term>
		<listitem>
		  <para>These flags can be used to invert the sense
		    of the corresponding normal option.</para>
		</listitem>
	      </varlistentry>
	    </variablelist>

	  </refsect2>

	</refsect1>
	  <refsect1>
	    <title>SEE ALSO</title>

	    <para>metaflac(1).</para>

	    <para>The programs are documented fully by HTML format
	      documentation, available in
	      <filename>/usr/share/doc/flac/html</filename> on
		&debian; systems.</para>
	  </refsect1>
	  <refsect1>
	    <title>AUTHOR</title>

	    <para>This manual page was written by &dhusername; &dhemail; for
	      the &debian; system (but may be used by others).</para>

	    <!-- <para>Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify
	    this document under the terms of the <acronym>GNU</acronym> Free
	    Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version
	    published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant
	    Sections, no Front-Cover Texts and no Back-Cover Texts.  A copy
	    of the license can be found under
	  <filename>/usr/share/common-licenses/FDL</filename>.</para> -->

	</refsect1>
      </refentry>

	<!-- Keep this comment at the end of the file
	      Local variables:
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	      sgml-shorttag:t
	      sgml-minimize-attributes:nil
	      sgml-always-quote-attributes:t
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	      sgml-default-dtd-file:nil
	      sgml-exposed-tags:nil
	      sgml-local-catalogs:nil
	      sgml-local-ecat-files:nil
	      End:
	      -->