Command-Line Options

This article is part of the Getting Started Guide. It gives some more details on the command-line options of all BaseX start scripts:

A preview page contains all startup options offered by the latest stable snapshot.

BaseX GUI

Launch the GUI

$ basexgui [file]

XML and XQuery files can be passed on as parameters. If an XML file is passed, a database instance is created from this file, or an existing database is opened. If an XQuery expression is passed on, it is opened in the XQuery editor.

BaseX Standalone

Launch the console mode

$ basex
BaseX [Standalone]
Try "help" to get more information.
>_

Available command-line options can be listed with the -h flag:

$ basex -h
Usage: basex [-diosuvVwxz] [-cq] [file]
  [file]      Execute XQuery file
  -b<pars>    Bind external XQuery variables
  -c<cmd>     Execute database command(s)
  -d          Activate debugging mode
  -i<input>   Open initial file or database
  -o<file>    Write output to file
  -q<expr>    Execute XQuery expression
  -s<pars>    Set serialization parameter(s)
  -u          Write updates back to original files
  -v/V        Show (all) process info
  -w          Preserve whitespaces from input files
  -x          Show query execution plan
  -z          Skip output of results

The options have the following meaning:

Flag	Description	Examples
[file]	Execute the specified XQuery file.
-b<pars>	Bind external variables to XQuery expressions. This flag may be specified multiple times; key/value pairs are separated by equality signs (=).	-bv=example -q"declare variable $v external; $v"
-c<cmd>	Launch database commands and skip interactive mode. The flag should be placed last, as all remaining characters are interpreted as commands. Several commands can be separated by semicolons.	-c"list;info"
-d	Turn on debugging. Debugging information is output to standard error.
-i<input>	Open a database or XML document specified by the argument. The opened input may be further processed by an XQuery expression.	-iitems.xml -q"//item"
-o<file>	Command and query output is written to the specified file.
-q<expr>	Execute the specified string as XQuery expression. The flag should be placed last, as all remaining characters are interpreted as XQuery.	-q"doc('input')//head"
-s<pars>	Specify parameters for serializing XQuery results; see Serialization for more details. This flag may be specified multiple times; key/value pairs are separated by equality signs (=).	-smethod=text
-u	Modify original files after evaluating XQuery Update expressions.
-v	Process information is written to standard output.
-V	Detailed query information is written to standard output, including compilation and profiling steps.
-w	By default, whitespaces around text nodes are chopped when a database is created. This flag can be specified to preserve whitespaces.
-x	This flags turn on the output of the query execution plan, formatted in XML.
-z	Skip the serialization of XQuery results. This flag is useful for analyzing query plans.

BaseX Server

Launch the server

$ basexserver
BaseX [Server]
Server was started.

Available command-line options can be listed with the -h flag:

$ basexserver -h
Usage: BaseXServer [-deipSz] [-c] [stop]
  stop     Stop running server
  -c<cmd>  Execute initial database command(s)
  -d       Activate debugging mode
  -e<num>  Set event port
  -i       Enter interactive mode
  -p<num>  Set server port
  -S       Start as service
  -z       Suppress logging

The options have the following meaning:

Flag	Description	Default	Examples
stop	Stop an existing server instance; remaining input is ignored.
-c<cmd>	Launch database commands before the server itself is started; all remaining text is interpreted as command input. Several commands can be separated by semicolons.		-c"open database;info"
-d	Turn on debugging. Debugging information is output to standard error.
-e<num>	Specify the port on which the server will send events to clients.	1985	-e9998
-i	Interactively enter commands on the console, similar to standalone and client mode.
-p<num>	Specify the port on which the server will be addressable.	1984	-p9999
-S	Starts the server as service (i.e., in the background). Template:Mark
-z	Do not generate log files.

BaseX Client

Launch the console mode communicating with the server

The user name and password will be requested. The default user/password combination is admin/admin:

$ basexclient
Username: admin
Password: *****
BaseX [Client]
Try "help" to get more information.
> _

Available command-line options can be listed with the -h flag:

$ basexclient -h
Usage: basexclient [-bdinopPsUvVwxz] [-cq] [file]
  [file]      Execute XQuery file
  -b<pars>    Bind external XQuery variables
  -c<cmd>     Execute database command(s)
  -d          Activate debugging mode
  -i<input>   Open initial file or database
  -n<name>    Set server (host) name
  -o<file>    Write output to file
  -p<num>     Set server port
  -P<pass>    Specify user password
  -q<expr>    Execute XQuery expression
  -s<pars>    Set serialization parameter(s)
  -U<name>    Specify user name
  -v/V        Show (all) process info
  -w          Preserve whitespaces from input files
  -x          Show query execution plan
  -z          Skip output of results

The options have the following meaning:

Flag	Description	Default	Examples
[file]	Execute the specified XQuery file.
-b<pars>	Bind external variables to XQuery expressions. This flag may be specified multiple times; key/value pairs are separated by equality signs (=).		-bv=example -q"declare variable $v external; $v"
-c<cmd>	Launch database commands and skip interactive mode. The flag should be placed last, all remaining characters are interpreted as commands. Several commands can be separated by semicolons.		-c"list;info"
-d	Turn on debugging. Debugging information is output to standard error.
-i<input>	Open a database or XML document specified by the argument. The opened input may be further processed by an XQuery expression.		-iitems.xml -q"//item"
-n<name>	Specify the server name on which the server is running.	localhost	-nserver.basex.org
-o<file>	Command and query output is written to the specified file.
-p<num>	Specify the port on which the server is running.	1984	-p9999
-P<pass>	Specify the user password. Warning: when the password is specified on command-line, it may be visible to others.		-Uadmin -Padmin
-q<expr>	Execute the specified string as XQuery expression. The flag should be placed last, as all remaining characters are interpreted as XQuery.		-q"doc('input')//head"
-s<pars>	Specify parameters for serializing XQuery results; see Serialization for more details. This flag may be specified multiple times; key/value pairs are separated by equality signs (=).		-smethod=text
-U<name>	Specify the user name.		-Uadmin
-v	Process information is written to standard output (STDOUT).
-V	Detailed query information is written to standard output, including compilation and profiling steps.
-w	By default, whitespaces around text nodes are chopped when a database is created. This flag can be specified to suppress chopping.
-x	This flags turn on the output of the query execution plan, formatted in XML.
-z	Skip the serialization of XQuery results. This flag is useful for analyzing query plans.

BaseX HTTP Server

Launch the HTTP server (introduced with Version 7.0)

$ basexhttp
BaseX [Server]
Server was started.
2011-01-02 03:04:05.600:INFO::Logging to STDERR via org.mortbay.log.StdErrLog
2011-01-02 03:04:05.700:INFO::jetty-6.1.26
2011-01-02 03:04:05.800:INFO::Started SocketConnector@0.0.0.0:8984

Available command-line options can be listed with the -h flag:

$ basexhttp -h
BaseX [HTTP]
Usage: basexhttp [-cdehlnpPRsSUWz] [stop]
  stop      Stop running server
  -c        Start in client mode
  -d        Activate debugging mode
  -e<num>   Set event port
  -h<num>   Set port of HTTP server
  -l        Start in local mode
  -n<name>  Set name of database server
  -p<num>   Set port of database server
  -P<pass>  Specify user password
  -R        Deactivate REST service
  -s        Specify port to stop HTTP server
  -S        Start as service
  -U<name>  Specify user name
  -W        Deactivate WebDAV service
  -z        Suppress logging

The options have the following meaning:

Flag	Description	Default	Examples
stop	Stop a running HTTP server. By default, the database server will be stopped as well, unless one of the flags -c or -l is specified.
-c	Starts the server in client mode, and sends all commands to a database server instance. Template:Mark
-d	Turn on debugging. Debugging information is output to standard error.
-e<num>	Specify the port on which the server will send events to clients.	1985	-e9998
-h<num>	The port on which the HTTP server will be addressable. This port is e.g. specified in the HTTP URLs.	8984	-h9999
-l	Starts the server in local mode, and executes all commands in the embedded database context.
-n<name>	The server name on which the server is running.	localhost	-nserver.basex.org
-p<num>	The port on which the BaseX Server will be addressable.	1984	-p9998
-P<pass>	The user password, which will be used by the HTTP services for opening a new session. Warning: when the password is specified on command-line, it may be visible to others.	admin	-Uadmin -Padmin
-R	Deactivates the REST service.
-s<num>	The port that will be used to stop the HTTP server. Template:Mark
-S	Starts the server as service (i.e., in the background). Template:Mark
-U<name>	The user name, which will be used by the HTTP services for opening a new session.	admin	-Uadmin
-W	Deactivates the WebDAV service.
-z	Do not generate log files.

Some options can also be triggered by setting the following system properties:

• org.basex.user: user name for opening new sessions
• org.basex.password: user password for opening new sessions
• org.basex.mode (Version 7.0.1): by default, the HTTP server also starts an instance of the database server. If the mode is set to local, an embedded database context is used for executing commands. If the mode is set to client, all commands are sent to an existing database server instance.