OS Manuals

/usr/bin/smith

SIL's waf-based framework for building, testing and releasing fonts and other Writing Systems Implementation components from a wscript

From smith 0.3.9-r1 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running smith --help (exit 0). permalink

No wscript file found: the help message may be incomplete
waf [commands] [options]

Main commands (example: ./waf build -j4)
  build      : executes the build
  buildinfo  : Provide requirements.txt and BUILDINFO.txt for toolchain component versions
  checksums  : Provide separate checksum file SHA512SUMS.txt for all released artifacts
  clean      : cleans the project
  configure  : configures the project
  crash      : Crash and burn with fire
  differ     : Run diffenator2 for regression testing.
  dist       :
Create an archive containing the project source code::

        $ waf dist

  distcheck  :
Create an archive of the project, and try to build the project in a temporary directory::

        $ waf distcheck

  exe        : Build Windows installer
  fbchecks   : Run fontbakery checks using the profile in pysilfont.
  fontspector: Run fontspector checks using the silfonts (for static) and googlefonts (for variable) profiles.
  graide     : Create graide .cfg files, one per font in graide/
  install    : installs the targets on the system
  list       : lists the targets to execute
  ots        : Test fonts using OpenType Sanitizer. Check <font.target>_ots.log
  pdfs       : Create pdfs of test texts for fonts and layouts for keyboards
  release    : Create release zip and tarball of build results
  sign       : Provide PGP/GPG signatures files for artifacts
  start      : start: create project template folder structure
  step       : executes tasks in a step-by-step fashion, for debugging
  tarball    : Create release tarball of build results
  test       : Run basic tests, usually regression tests
  uninstall  : removes the targets installed
  version    : Find out which version of smith (waf) is installed
  zip        : Create release zip of build results

Options:
  --version             show program's version number and exit
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -j JOBS, --jobs=JOBS  amount of parallel jobs (64)
  -k, --keep            keep running happily even if errors are found
  -v, --verbose         verbosity level -v -vv or -vvv [default: 0]
  -w WSCRIPT            name of wscript file to use
  --nocache             ignore the WAFCACHE (if set)
  --zones=ZONES         debugging zones (task_gen, deps, tasks, etc)

  configure options:
    -o OUT, --out=OUT   build dir for the project
    -t TOP, --top=TOP   src dir for the project
    --prefix=PREFIX     installation prefix [default: '/usr/local/']
    --download          try to download the tools if missing

  build and install options:
    -p, --progress      -p: progress bar; -pp: ide output
    --targets=TARGETS   task generators, e.g. "target1,target2"

  step options:
    --files=FILES       files to process, by regexp, e.g.
                        "*/main.c,*/test/main.o"

  install/uninstall options:
    --destdir=DESTDIR   installation root [default: '']
    -f, --force         force file installation

  wafplus options:
    --dot               create wscript.dot of build tasks for this command
    --debug             break out into the debugger
    -r, --release       Build for release, no special version numbers
    --standards=STANDARDS
                        Alternative source of base files for testing
    --extratestdir=EXTRATESTDIR
                        Set the EXTRATESTDIR from a ; separated list of paths
Options (22)
OptionDescriptionSource
--versionshow program's version number and exithelp
-h, --helpshow this help message and exithelp
-j, --jobs JOBSamount of parallel jobs (64)help
-k, --keepkeep running happily even if errors are foundhelp
-v, --verboseverbosity level -v -vv or -vvv [default: 0]help
-w WSCRIPTname of wscript file to usehelp
--nocacheignore the WAFCACHE (if set)help
--zones ZONESdebugging zones (task_gen, deps, tasks, etc)help
-o, --out OUTbuild dir for the projecthelp
-t, --top TOPsrc dir for the projecthelp
--prefix PREFIXinstallation prefix [default: '/usr/local/']help
--downloadtry to download the tools if missinghelp
-p, --progress-p: progress bar;help
--targets TARGETStask generators, e.g. "target1,target2"help
--files FILESfiles to process, by regexp, e.g. "*/main.c,*/test/main.o"help
--destdir DESTDIRinstallation root [default: '']help
-f, --forceforce file installationhelp
--dotcreate wscript.dot of build tasks for this commandhelp
--debugbreak out into the debuggerhelp
-r, --releaseBuild for release, no special version numbershelp
--standards STANDARDSAlternative source of base files for testinghelp
--extratestdir EXTRATESTDIRSet the EXTRATESTDIR from a ;help

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.