Tarma Workshop command line syntax

The Tarma Installer development environment (Tarma Workshop) can be used interactively or in batch mode. In batch mode, no interaction is required except if you want to sign the installation package with a digital signature; in that case, you must provide your private key password.

Command line options

Tarma Workshop uses the following command line syntax. Parts between [brackets] are optional; ellipsis "..." indicate parts that may be repeated. Options may start with / or - and are not case-sensitive. Therefore, -build, /build, and /BUILD all have the same effect. Options are processed from left to right, and if you specify conflicting options, the rightmost one "wins".

[path\]tin.exe [/build[:name]] [/check[:name]] [/nosign] [/sign]
  [/log:logpath] [/dvar=value...] [project.tip]
Argument Description
[path\]tin.exe Specifies the (fully qualified) path to the Tarma Installer executable. The default location for this executable is C:\Program Files\Tarma Installer\Bin\tin.exe.
/build
/build:all
/build:name

Builds one or more configurations from the project and exits.

  • /build on its own builds the default configuration;
  • /build:all builds all configurations;
  • /build:name builds the named configuration.

The results are written to the project log file and reflected in Tarma Workshop's exit code.

/check
/check:all
/check:name

Checks one or more configurations from the project and exits.

  • /check on its own checks the default configuration;
  • /check:all checks all configurations;
  • /check:name checks the named configuration.

The results are written to the project log file and reflected in Tarma Workshop's exit code.

/nosign Does not sign the installation package, even if the build configuration has its Sign after build attribute checked. This option is useful to avoid user interaction during a batch build.
/sign Signs the installation package, even if the build configuration has its Sign after build attribute cleared. This option requires user interaction during a batch build (to enter the private key password).
/log:logpath
/log:+logpath
/log:*

Sets the log file name to logpath instead of the default, which is the project name with a .log extension.

  • /log:logpath uses logpath as the log file path and overwrites any previous file with that name.
  • /log:+logpath uses logpath as the log file path and appends the new log information to the existing file, if any.
  • /log:* sends all log information to the standard output.
/dvar=value...

Specifies zero or more var=value pairs that allow you to set the value of symbolic variables from the command line. Any values set on the command line override the values of the corresponding variables from the project, for the duration of the session (only).

Note - If value contains spaces or special characters such as '<' and '>', you should quote the option as in "/dvar=value" or /dvar="value".

project.tip Specifies the name of the project to open. Be sure to enclose the path in quotes if it contains spaces. You must also include the .tip extension.

Exit codes

Tarma Installer returns one of the following exit codes when it completes.

Exit code Description
-1 Internal error
0 Success
1 No project file specified
2 Invalid build mode specified
3 Error while opening project file
4 Error while opening log file
5 Project check or build failed
6 Unknown build configuration
7 Unspecified error

Tip

If you run Tarma Workshop from a batch file or command line prompt, the default Windows behavior is to continue with the next command as soon as Tarma Workshop is started; it does not wait until Tarma Workshop has finished. As a result, the value of %ERRORLEVEL% does not necessarily reflect Tarma Workshop's exit code.

To remedy this, run Tarma Workshop as follows:

start /wait path\tin.exe other options...

This ensures that the command does not return until Tarma Workshop has exited.

Tip

If the Tarma Workshop program path in the start command contains spaces, you must quote it. However, the start command on Windows NT-based systems interprets the (first) quoted string as the program title and not as a program path. Therefore, you should include a dummy, quoted program title prior to the actual program path, thus:

start /wait "title" "path\tin.exe" other options...

This is only necessary if you quote the Tarma Workshop path for some reason.