3. Command Line Options

When you start Fritzing from the command line, you can add the following options to influence settings or perform specific operations.

Usage

Not all combinations of options are possible. Usually, you want to combine various settings with a single task, like this:

fritzing [-d] [-f path -pp path] filename
fritzing [-f path -pp path] -geda folder
fritzing [-f path -pp path] -gerber folder
fritzing [-f path -pp path] -kicad folder
fritzing [-f path -pp path] -kicadschematic folder
fritzing [-f path -pp path] -svg folder
fritzing [-f path -pp path] -port number

User options

These are options relevant for end-users of Fritzing.

d,debug                :  runs Fritzing in debug mode, providing additional debug information
f,folder <path>        :  path to folder containing Fritzing sketches & translations
geda <path>            :  converts all gEDA footprint (.fp) files in folder <path> to Fritzing SVGs
g,gerber <path>        :  exports all sketches in folder <path> to Gerber, in the same folder
h,help                 :  print this help message
kicad <path>           :  converts all Kicad footprint (.mod) files in folder <path> to Fritzing SVGs
kicadschematic <path>  :  converts all Kicad schematic (.lib) files in folder <path> to Fritzing SVGs
port <port>            :  runs Fritzing as a server process under <port>
pp,parts <path>        :  path to folder containing Fritzing parts
svg <path>             :  exports all sketches in folder <path> to SVGs of all views, in the same folder

Usually, the Fritzing executable is stored in the same folder that contains the parts/bins/sketches/translations folders, or the executable is in a child folder of one of these folders. If this is not the case, for example when you are building Fritzing with Qt Creator, use the -f and -pa options to point to the folder containing these folders.

The -geda/-kicad/-kicadschematic/-gerber/svg options all exit Fritzing after the conversion process is complete; these options are mutually exclusive.

Developer options

These are options usually only relevant for Fritzing developers.

db <path>                :  rebuilds the internal parts database at the given path
e,examples <path>        :  prepares all sketches in the folder to be included as examples
ep <path>                :  external process at <path>
eparg <args>             :  external process arguments
epname <name>            :  external process menu item name
ov,overridefolder <path> :  overrides core db parts with those in <path>
p,panel <path>           :  panelize multiple sketches listed in xml file at <path> (experimental)
i,inscription <path>     :  inscription step of panelizer

The -ep option creates a menu item to launch an external process, and puts the standard output of that process into a dialog window in Fritzing. The process path follows the -ep argument; the name of the menu item follows the -epname argument; and any arguments to pass to the external process are provided in the -eparg arguments.