Command line

Command line

ZT Studio has gained command line operations very early on. This allows integrating this tool into automated workflows (scripts).

There are basically two types of arguments:

• settings: rather than relying on what has been configured (settings.cfg); enforce certain settings
• actions: makes ZT Studio run an action

While not all settings might make sense to be altered with the command line, they have been made possible.

Actions

As for files and folders: they should be within the root path specified!

Important: you can only use 1 action per command line instruction. If combined with settings: all settings are processed before the action is performed.

Use like:

ZTStudio.exe /action.convertFile.toZT1="C:\Users\root\Documents\testcases\objects\aqbounce\idle\NE"

Action	Value	Explanation
convertFile.toZT1	Filename	Converts PNG file to ZT1 Graphic
convertFile.toPNG	Filename	Converts ZT1 Graphic to PNG
convertFolder.toZT1	Folder path	Converts PNG files to ZT1 Graphics
convertFolder.toPNG	Folder path	Converts ZT1 Graphics to PNG files
listHashes (experimental)	Folder path	Creates file with list of hashes of each file in this folder.
		Purpose: see if any changes in the source code of ZT Studio
		cause any (unexpected) changes in the output (generated graphics)
saveConfig	1	Use if settings specified on the command line should be saved.

Settings

The settings - with a few exceptions - are usually found in settings.cfg If you see this in the settings.cfg file:

[conversionOptions]
pngFilesIndex=1

The command line translates to:

ZTStudio.exe /conversionOptions.pngFilesIndex=1

They are meant to be used in scripts. Mind: they are NOT saved by default, unless combined with /action.saveConfig:1

conversionOptions Hint: might make more sense after reading ZT1 Graphics Explained

Setting	Value	Explanation
deleteOriginal	0	Don't delete original files after conversion.
	1	Delete original files after conversion.
filenameDelimiter	Character. Often _	Defines the delimiter used in names. Optional, can be empty.
		Used between the name of the ZT1 Graphic (e.g. NE) and
		the PNG exported frame(s) (e.g. NE_0000.png, NE_0001.png,... )
overwrite (not implemented!)	0	Do not overwrite destination file (if it exists).
	1	Do overwrite destination file (if it exists) without warning.
pngFilesIndex	0	Starts numbering of PNG files with 0 (when reading/writing).
	1	Starts numbering of PNG files with 1 (when reading/writing).
sharedPalette	0	Always create a separate color palette per graphic.
	1	Try using a shared color palette between graphics.

editing

Setting	Value	Explanation
animationSpeed	125-1000	Default animation speed for new graphics.
individualRotationFix	0	All frames in the graphic are adjusted when changing offsets.
	1	Only the offsets of the specified/displayed frame are altered.

exportOptions

Setting	Value	Explanation
pngCrop	0	Keep canvas size (512x512 pixels)
	1	Crop to largest relevant width / height in this graphic.
	2	Crop to relevant pixels of this frame.
	3	Crop around center (fast but experimental).
pngRenderExtraframe	0	Render all frames, there is no background frame.
	1	Renders last frame of graphic as background for all other frames.
		(example: all frames of smoke; last frame is building - Restaurant)
pngRenderExtraGraphic	0	Do not render a ZT1 Graphic as background.
	1	Renders a specified ZT1 Graphic as background.
		(example: the Rope Swing toy as background for swinging Orang Utan)
pngRenderTransparentBG	0	Renders ZT Studio's background color as PNG background color.
	1	Renders PNG with a fully transparent background.
ZT1AlwaysAddZTAFBytes	0	Skips the ZTAF-bytes when creating a ZT1 graphic.
	1	Enforces the use of ZTAF-bytes at the beginning of a graphic.
ZT1Ani	0	Try to create an .ani file.
	1	Do not create an .ani file

paths

Setting	Value	Explanation
root		Specifies root project folder.

preview

Setting	Value	Explanation
bgColor	VB.Net color value	Specifies background color of canvas
fgColor	VB.Net color value	Specifies foreground color (grid)
footPrintX	2, 4, 6, ...	Sets the footprint of the X-axis. Jumps by 2. Limit: unknown.
footPrintY	2, 4, 6, ...	Sets the footprint of the Y-axis. Jumps by 2. Limit: unknown.
zoom (not implemented!)	1	Reserved. Zoom feature never implemented!

extra These settings are NOT exposed in ZT Studio, at the moment. They allow to specify choices which are often shown to the user during processes.

Setting	Value	Explanation
colorQuantization	0	Don't apply color quantization.
	1	Apply color quantization.
		If a graphic contains more than 255 colors, prevent error message.
		Instead, look for the best possible match within the palette.
		Expect color degradation!