3.1.2 Response file

If a @file command line argument is given, a response file by the name of file will be used, i.e. options and commands are preloaded from that file. A response file may contain options and commands —which are preloaded by Gcal—, but no references to further response files. If such references to further response files are found, they are ignored. See Global option --response-file=name, for hints how to generate a response file automatically.

The searching scheme for a response file is the same as that for resource files, except no standard response file is respected. See File searching mechanism, for more details. Multiple response files may be given in the command line when Gcal is started, and they are processed exactly in that order as given, i.e. strictly sequential.

Each option and command must be on a single line, i.e. separated by a real ‘\n’ (newline) character. A line beginning with a ‘;’ (semicolon) character in the response file is treated as a remark and will not be used by Gcal (see Comment line).

Options must be defined before commands. If a response file contains any commands, then all further arguments after the @file option of the command line are ignored.

For example:

1. Contents of response file file:

   Line     Text
   1        -j
   2        -Cw
   EOF
   
   

   $ gcal -i -b 3 @file -s 3 1994 → gcal -i -b 3 -j -Cw -s 3 1994

2. Contents of response file file:

   Line     Text
   1        -j
   2        -Cw
   3        may 1992
   EOF
   
   

   $ gcal -i -b 3 @file -s 3 1994 → gcal -i -b 3 -j -Cw may

3. Contents of response file file:

   Line     Text
   1        -j
   2        -Cw
   3        may
   4        1992
   EOF
   
   

   $ gcal -i -b 3 @file -s 3 1994 → gcal -i -b 3 -j -Cw may 1992