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 <chapter id="dumpmode">
 <title>Command-Line mode for Image Generation</title>
 <indexterm><primary>Image-dump Mode</primary></indexterm>
 
 <para>
 You can use &kstars; to generate an image of the sky
 without actually launching the &GUI;
 portion of the program.  To use this feature, start
 &kstars; from a command prompt using arguments to
 specify the filename for the image, as well as the
 desired image dimensions:
 
 <cmdsynopsis>
 <command>kstars</command>
 <arg choice="plain">--dump</arg>
 <arg>--filename <replaceable>kstars.png</replaceable></arg>
 <arg>--height <replaceable>640</replaceable></arg>
 <arg>--width <replaceable>480</replaceable></arg>
 <arg>--script <replaceable>myscript.kstars</replaceable></arg>
 <arg>--date <replaceable>"4 July 1976
 12:30:00"</replaceable></arg>
 </cmdsynopsis>
 </para>
 <para>
 If no filename is specified, it generates a file
 named <filename>kstars.png</filename>.  It will attempt to
 generate an image that matches the extension of your filename.
 The following extensions are recognized: <quote>png</quote>,
 <quote>jpg</quote>, <quote>jpeg</quote>, <quote>gif</quote>,
 <quote>pnm</quote>, and <quote>bmp</quote>.  If the filename
 extension is not recognized, it defaults to the
 <acronym>PNG</acronym> image type.
 </para>
 <para>
 Likewise, if the image width and height are not specified,
 they default to 640 and 480, respectively.
 </para>
 <para>
 By default, &kstars; will read in the options values stored in
 your <filename>$KDEHOME/share/config/kstarsrc</filename> file
 to determine where the image will be centered, and how it is
 rendered.  This means you need to run &kstars; in normal &GUI;
 mode, and exit the program when it is set up with the desired
 options for the generated images.  This is not very flexible,
 so we also provide the ability to execute a &kstars;
 &DBus; script to set the scene before
 generating the image.  The filename you specify as the
 script argument should be a valid &kstars;
 &DBus; script, such as one created with the
 <link linkend="tool-scriptbuilder">Script Builder Tool</link>.
 The script can be used to set where the image is pointing,
 set the geographic location, set the time and date, change the
 Zoom level, and adjust other view options.  Some of the
 &DBus; functions make no sense in non-&GUI;
 mode (such as <function>waitForKey()</function>); if these
 functions are encountered while parsing the script, they are
 simply ignored.
 </para>
 <para>
 By default, &kstars; will use the system CPU time and date for
 generating the image.  Alternatively, you may specify a time
 and date with the <quote>--date</quote> argument.  You can also
 use this argument for specifying the startup date in normal
 &GUI; mode.
 </para>
 
 </chapter>