Usage
=====
rst2html4.py [options] [<source> [<destination>]]
Generates (X)HTML documents from standalone reStructuredText sources. Reads
from <source> (default is stdin) and writes to <destination> (default is
stdout). See https://docutils.sourceforge.io/docs/user/config.html for a
detailed settings reference.
Options
=======
General Docutils Options
------------------------
--title=TITLE Specify the document title as metadata.
--generator, -g Include a "Generated by Docutils" credit and link.
--no-generator Do not include a generator credit.
--date, -d Include the date at the end of the document (UTC).
--time, -t Include the time & date (UTC).
--no-datestamp Do not include a datestamp of any kind.
--source-link, -s Include a "View document source" link.
--source-url=<URL> Use <URL> for a source link; implies --source-link.
--no-source-link Do not include a "View document source" link.
--toc-entry-backlinks Link from section headers to TOC entries. (default)
--toc-top-backlinks Link from section headers to the top of the TOC.
--no-toc-backlinks Disable backlinks to the table of contents.
--footnote-backlinks Link from footnotes/citations to references. (default)
--no-footnote-backlinks
Disable backlinks from footnotes and citations.
--section-numbering Enable section numbering by Docutils. (default)
--no-section-numbering Disable section numbering by Docutils.
--strip-comments Remove comment elements from the document tree.
--leave-comments Leave comment elements in the document tree. (default)
--strip-elements-with-class=<class>
Remove all elements with classes="<class>" from the
document tree. Warning: potentially dangerous; use
with caution. (Multiple-use option.)
--strip-class=<class> Remove all classes="<class>" attributes from elements
in the document tree. Warning: potentially dangerous;
use with caution. (Multiple-use option.)
--report=<level>, -r <level>
Report system messages at or higher than <level>:
"info" or "1", "warning"/"2" (default), "error"/"3",
"severe"/"4", "none"/"5"
--verbose, -v Report all system messages. (Same as "--report=1".)
--quiet, -q Report no system messages. (Same as "--report=5".)
--halt=<level> Halt execution at system messages at or above <level>.
Levels as in --report. Default: 4 (severe).
--strict Halt at the slightest problem. Same as "--halt=info".
--exit-status=<level> Enable a non-zero exit status for non-halting system
messages at or above <level>. Default: 5 (disabled).
--debug Enable debug-level system messages and diagnostics.
--no-debug Disable debug output. (default)
--warnings=<file> Send the output of system messages to <file>.
--traceback Enable Python tracebacks when Docutils is halted.
--no-traceback Disable Python tracebacks. (default)
--input-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -i <name[:handler]>
Specify the encoding and optionally the error handler
of input text. Default: <auto-detect>:strict.
--input-encoding-error-handler=INPUT_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER
Specify the error handler for undecodable characters.
Choices: "strict" (default), "ignore", and "replace".
--output-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -o <name[:handler]>
Specify the text encoding and optionally the error
handler for output. Default: utf-8:strict.
--output-encoding-error-handler=OUTPUT_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER
Specify error handler for unencodable output
characters; "strict" (default), "ignore", "replace",
"xmlcharrefreplace", "backslashreplace".
--error-encoding=<name[:handler]>, -e <name[:handler]>
Specify text encoding and optionally error handler for
error output. Default: utf-8:backslashreplace.
--error-encoding-error-handler=ERROR_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER
Specify the error handler for unencodable characters
in error output. Default: backslashreplace.
--language=<name>, -l <name>
Specify the language (as BCP 47 language tag).
Default: en.
--record-dependencies=<file>
Write output file dependencies to <file>.
--config=<file> Read configuration settings from <file>, if it exists.
--version, -V Show this program's version number and exit.
--help, -h Show this help message and exit.
Generic Parser Options
----------------------
--no-file-insertion Disable directives that insert the contents of an
external file; replaced with a "warning" system
message.
--file-insertion-enabled
Enable directives that insert the contents of an
external file. (default)
--no-raw Disable the "raw" directive; replaced with a "warning"
system message.
--raw-enabled Enable the "raw" directive. (default)
--line-length-limit=<length>
Maximal number of characters in an input line. Default
10 000.
reStructuredText Parser Options
-------------------------------
--pep-references Recognize and link to standalone PEP references (like
"PEP 258").
--pep-base-url=<URL> Base URL for PEP references (default
"https://peps.python.org/").
--pep-file-url-template=<URL>
Template for PEP file part of URL. (default
"pep-%04d")
--rfc-references Recognize and link to standalone RFC references (like
"RFC 822").
--rfc-base-url=<URL> Base URL for RFC references (default
"https://tools.ietf.org/html/").
--tab-width=<width> Set number of spaces for tab expansion (default 8).
--trim-footnote-reference-space
Remove spaces before footnote references.
--leave-footnote-reference-space
Leave spaces before footnote references.
--syntax-highlight=<format>
Token name set for parsing code with Pygments: one of
"long", "short", or "none" (no parsing). Default is
"long".
--smart-quotes=<yes/no/alt>
Change straight quotation marks to typographic form:
one of "yes", "no", "alt[ernative]" (default "no").
--smartquotes-locales=<language:quotes[,language:quotes,...]>
Characters to use as "smart quotes" for <language>.
--word-level-inline-markup
Inline markup recognized at word boundaries only
(adjacent to punctuation or whitespace). Force
character-level inline markup recognition with "\ "
(backslash + space). Default.
--character-level-inline-markup
Inline markup recognized anywhere, regardless of
surrounding characters. Backslash-escapes must be used
to avoid unwanted markup recognition. Useful for East
Asian languages. Experimental.
Standalone Reader Options
-------------------------
--no-doc-title Disable the promotion of a lone top-level section
title to document title (and subsequent section title
to document subtitle promotion; enabled by default).
--no-doc-info Disable the bibliographic field list transform
(enabled by default).
--section-subtitles Activate the promotion of lone subsection titles to
section subtitles (disabled by default).
--no-section-subtitles Deactivate the promotion of lone subsection titles.
HTML Writer Options
-------------------
--template=<file> Template file. (UTF-8 encoded, default:
"/opt/chainguard/aws-cli-1/lib/python3.13/site-
packages/docutils/writers/html4css1/template.txt")
--stylesheet=<URL[,URL,...]>
Comma separated list of stylesheet URLs. Overrides
previous --stylesheet and --stylesheet-path settings.
--stylesheet-path=<file[,file,...]>
Comma separated list of stylesheet paths. Relative
paths are expanded if a matching file is found in the
--stylesheet-dirs. With --link-stylesheet, the path is
rewritten relative to the output HTML file. (default:
"html4css1.css")
--stylesheet-dirs=<dir[,dir,...]>
Comma-separated list of directories where stylesheets
are found. Used by --stylesheet-path when expanding
relative path arguments. (default:
".,/opt/chainguard/aws-cli-1/lib/python3.13/site-packa
ges/docutils/writers/html4css1,/opt/chainguard/aws-
cli-1/lib/python3.13/site-
packages/docutils/writers/html5_polyglot")
--embed-stylesheet Embed the stylesheet(s) in the output HTML file. The
stylesheet files must be accessible during processing.
(default)
--link-stylesheet Link to the stylesheet(s) in the output HTML file.
--initial-header-level=<level>
Specify the initial header level. Does not affect
document title & subtitle (see --no-doc-title).
(default: 1 for "<h1>")
--footnote-references=<format>
Format for footnote references: one of "superscript"
or "brackets". (default: "brackets")
--attribution=<format> Format for block quote attributions: one of "dash"
(em-dash prefix), "parentheses"/"parens", or "none".
(default: "dash")
--compact-lists Remove extra vertical whitespace between items of
"simple" bullet lists and enumerated lists. (default)
--no-compact-lists Disable compact simple bullet and enumerated lists.
--compact-field-lists Remove extra vertical whitespace between items of
simple field lists. (default)
--no-compact-field-lists
Disable compact simple field lists.
--table-style=TABLE_STYLE
Added to standard table classes. Defined styles:
borderless, booktabs, align-left, align-center, align-
right, colwidths-auto, colwidths-grid.
--math-output=MATH_OUTPUT
Math output format (one of "MathML", "HTML",
"MathJax", or "LaTeX") and option(s). (default: "HTML
math.css")
--xml-declaration Prepend an XML declaration (default).
--no-xml-declaration Omit the XML declaration.
--cloak-email-addresses
Obfuscate email addresses to confuse harvesters while
still keeping email links usable with standards-
compliant browsers.
HTML4 Writer Options
--------------------
--field-name-limit=<level>
Specify the maximum width (in characters) for one-
column field names. Longer field names will span an
entire row of the table used to render the field list.
Default is 14 characters. Use 0 for "no limit".
--option-limit=<level> Specify the maximum width (in characters) for options
in option lists. Longer options will span an entire
row of the table used to render the option list.
Default is 14 characters. Use 0 for "no limit".
Options (84)
| Option | Description | Source |
|---|---|---|
--title TITLE | Specify the document title as metadata. | help |
--generator, -g | Include a "Generated by Docutils" credit and link. | help |
--no-generator | Do not include a generator credit. | help |
--date, -d | Include the date at the end of the document (UTC). | help |
--time, -t | Include the time & date (UTC). | help |
--no-datestamp | Do not include a datestamp of any kind. | help |
--source-link, -s | Include a "View document source" link. | help |
--source-url URL | Use <URL> for a source link; | help |
--no-source-link | Do not include a "View document source" link. | help |
--toc-entry-backlinks | Link from section headers to TOC entries. | help |
--toc-top-backlinks | Link from section headers to the top of the TOC. | help |
--no-toc-backlinks | Disable backlinks to the table of contents. | help |
--footnote-backlinks | Link from footnotes/citations to references. | help |
--no-footnote-backlinks | Disable backlinks from footnotes and citations. | help |
--section-numbering | Enable section numbering by Docutils. | help |
--no-section-numbering | Disable section numbering by Docutils. | help |
--strip-comments | Remove comment elements from the document tree. | help |
--leave-comments | Leave comment elements in the document tree. | help |
--strip-elements-with-class class | Remove all elements with classes="<class>" from the document tree. | help |
--strip-class class | Remove all classes="<class>" attributes from elements in the document tree. | help |
--report, -r level | Report system messages at or higher than <level>: "info" or "1", "warning"/"2" (default), "error"/"3", "severe"/"4", "none"/"5" | help |
--verbose, -v | Report all system messages. | help |
--quiet, -q | Report no system messages. | help |
--halt level | Halt execution at system messages at or above <level>. | help |
--strict | Halt at the slightest problem. | help |
--exit-status level | Enable a non-zero exit status for non-halting system messages at or above <level>. | help |
--debug | Enable debug-level system messages and diagnostics. | help |
--no-debug | Disable debug output. | help |
--warnings file | Send the output of system messages to <file>. | help |
--traceback | Enable Python tracebacks when Docutils is halted. | help |
--no-traceback | Disable Python tracebacks. | help |
--input-encoding, -i name[:handler | Specify the encoding and optionally the error handler of input text. | help |
--input-encoding-error-handler INPUT_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER | Specify the error handler for undecodable characters. | help |
--output-encoding, -o name[:handler | Specify the text encoding and optionally the error handler for output. | help |
--output-encoding-error-handler OUTPUT_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER | Specify error handler for unencodable output characters; | help |
--error-encoding, -e name[:handler | Specify text encoding and optionally error handler for error output. | help |
--error-encoding-error-handler ERROR_ENCODING_ERROR_HANDLER | Specify the error handler for unencodable characters in error output. | help |
--language, -l name | Specify the language (as BCP 47 language tag). | help |
--record-dependencies file | Write output file dependencies to <file>. | help |
--config file | Read configuration settings from <file>, if it exists. | help |
--version, -V | Show this program's version number and exit. | help |
--help, -h | Show this help message and exit. | help |
--no-file-insertion | Disable directives that insert the contents of an external file; | help |
--file-insertion-enabled | Enable directives that insert the contents of an external file. | help |
--no-raw | Disable the "raw" directive; | help |
--raw-enabled | Enable the "raw" directive. | help |
--line-length-limit length | Maximal number of characters in an input line. | help |
--pep-references | Recognize and link to standalone PEP references (like "PEP 258"). | help |
--pep-base-url URL | Base URL for PEP references (default "https://peps.python.org/"). | help |
--pep-file-url-template URL | Template for PEP file part of URL. | help |
--rfc-references | Recognize and link to standalone RFC references (like "RFC 822"). | help |
--rfc-base-url URL | Base URL for RFC references (default "https://tools.ietf.org/html/"). | help |
--tab-width width | Set number of spaces for tab expansion (default 8). | help |
--trim-footnote-reference-space | Remove spaces before footnote references. | help |
--leave-footnote-reference-space | Leave spaces before footnote references. | help |
--syntax-highlight format | Token name set for parsing code with Pygments: one of "long", "short", or "none" (no parsing). | help |
--smart-quotes yes/no/alt | Change straight quotation marks to typographic form: one of "yes", "no", "alt[ernative]" (default "no"). | help |
--smartquotes-locales language:quotes | Characters to use as "smart quotes" for <language>. | help |
--word-level-inline-markup | Inline markup recognized at word boundaries only (adjacent to punctuation or whitespace). | help |
--character-level-inline-markup | Inline markup recognized anywhere, regardless of surrounding characters. | help |
--no-doc-title | Disable the promotion of a lone top-level section title to document title (and subsequent section title to document subtitle promotion; | help |
--no-doc-info | Disable the bibliographic field list transform (enabled by default). | help |
--section-subtitles | Activate the promotion of lone subsection titles to section subtitles (disabled by default). | help |
--no-section-subtitles | Deactivate the promotion of lone subsection titles. | help |
--template file | Template file. | help |
--stylesheet URL | Comma separated list of stylesheet URLs. | help |
--stylesheet-path file | Comma separated list of stylesheet paths. | help |
--stylesheet-dirs dir | Comma-separated list of directories where stylesheets are found. | help |
--embed-stylesheet | Embed the stylesheet(s) in the output HTML file. | help |
--link-stylesheet | Link to the stylesheet(s) in the output HTML file. | help |
--initial-header-level level | Specify the initial header level. | help |
--footnote-references format | Format for footnote references: one of "superscript" or "brackets". | help |
--attribution format | Format for block quote attributions: one of "dash" (em-dash prefix), "parentheses"/"parens", or "none". | help |
--compact-lists | Remove extra vertical whitespace between items of "simple" bullet lists and enumerated lists. | help |
--no-compact-lists | Disable compact simple bullet and enumerated lists. | help |
--compact-field-lists | Remove extra vertical whitespace between items of simple field lists. | help |
--no-compact-field-lists | Disable compact simple field lists. | help |
--table-style TABLE_STYLE | Added to standard table classes. | help |
--math-output MATH_OUTPUT | Math output format (one of "MathML", "HTML", "MathJax", or "LaTeX") and option(s). | help |
--xml-declaration | Prepend an XML declaration (default). | help |
--no-xml-declaration | Omit the XML declaration. | help |
--cloak-email-addresses | Obfuscate email addresses to confuse harvesters while still keeping email links usable with standards- compliant browsers. | help |
--field-name-limit level | Specify the maximum width (in characters) for one- column field names. | help |
--option-limit level | Specify the maximum width (in characters) for options in option lists. | help |