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3 <!-- Fill in your name for FIRSTNAME and SURNAME. -->
4 <!ENTITY dhfirstname "<firstname>Matt</firstname>">
5 <!ENTITY dhsurname "<surname>Zimmerman</surname>">
6 <!-- Please adjust the date whenever revising the manpage. -->
7 <!ENTITY dhdate "<date>December 30, 2002</date>">
8 <!-- SECTION should be 1-8, maybe w/ subsection other parameters are
9 allowed: see man(7), man(1). -->
10 <!ENTITY dhsection "<manvolnum>1</manvolnum>">
11 <!ENTITY dhemail "<email>mdz@debian.org</email>">
12 <!ENTITY dhusername "Matt Zimmerman">
13 <!ENTITY dhucpackage "<refentrytitle>FLAC</refentrytitle>">
14 <!ENTITY dhpackage "flac">
16 <!ENTITY debian "<productname>Debian GNU/Linux</productname>">
17 <!ENTITY gnu "<acronym>GNU</acronym>">
31 <holder>&dhusername;</holder>
41 <refname>&dhpackage;</refname>
43 <refpurpose>Free Lossless Audio Codec</refpurpose>
47 <command>flac</command>
49 <arg><option><replaceable>OPTION</replaceable></option></arg>
50 <arg choice=plain><replaceable>infile</replaceable></arg>
51 <arg choice=plain><replaceable>...</replaceable></arg>
55 <title>DESCRIPTION</title>
57 <para>This manual page documents briefly the
58 <command>flac</command> command.</para>
60 <para>This manual page was written for the &debian;
61 distribution because the original program does not have a
62 manual page. Instead, it has documentation in HTML
63 format; see below.</para>
67 <title>OPTIONS</title>
69 <para>A summary of options is included below. For a complete
70 description, see the HTML documentation.</para>
73 <title>General Options</title>
77 <term><option>-v</option>, <option>--version</option>
80 <para>Show the flac version number</para>
85 <term><option>-h</option>, <option>--help</option>
88 <para>Show basic usage and a list of all options</para>
93 <term><option>-H</option>, <option>--explain</option>
96 <para>Show detailed explanation of usage and all options</para>
101 <term><option>-d</option>, <option>--decode</option>
104 <para>Decode (the default behavior is to encode)</para>
109 <term><option>-t</option>, <option>--test</option>
112 <para>Test a flac encoded file (same as -d
113 except no decoded file is written)</para>
118 <term><option>-a</option>, <option>--analyze</option>
121 <para>Analyze a flac encoded file (same as -d
122 except an analysis file is written)</para>
127 <term><option>-c</option>, <option>--stdout</option>
130 <para>Write output to stdout</para>
135 <term><option>-s</option>, <option>--silent</option>
138 <para>Silent mode (do not write runtime
139 encode/decode statistics to stderr)</para>
144 <term><option>-o</option> <replaceable>filename</replaceable>, <option>--output-name</option>=<replaceable>filename</replaceable></term>
146 <para>Force the output file name (usually flac just
147 changes the extension). May only be used when
148 encoding a single file. May not be used in
149 conjunction with --output-prefix.</para>
154 <term><option>--output-prefix</option>=<replaceable>string</replaceable></term>
156 <para>Prefix each output file name with the given
157 string. This can be useful for encoding or decoding
158 files to a different directory. Make sure if your
159 string is a path name that it ends with a trailing
165 <term><option>--delete-input-file</option>
168 <para>Automatically delete the input file after a
169 successful encode or decode. If there was an
170 error (including a verify error) the input file
171 is left intact.</para>
176 <term><option>--skip</option>={<replaceable>#</replaceable>|<replaceable>mm:ss.ss</replaceable>}</term>
178 <para>Skip over the first number of samples of the input.
179 This works for both encoding and decoding, but not
180 testing. The alternative form mm:ss.ss can be used
181 to specify minutes, seconds, and fractions of a
187 <term><option>--until</option>={<replaceable>#</replaceable>|[<replaceable>+</replaceable>|<replaceable>-</replaceable>]<replaceable>mm:ss.ss</replaceable>}</term>
189 <para>Stop at the given sample number for each input file.
190 This works for both encoding and decoding, but not testing.
191 The given sample number is not included in the decoded
192 output. The alternative form mm:ss.ss can be used to
193 specify minutes, seconds, and fractions of a second. If a
194 `+' (plus) sign is at the beginning, the --until point is
195 relative to the --skip point. If a `-' (minus) sign is at
196 the beginning, the --until point is relative to end of the
202 <term><option>--ogg</option></term>
205 <para>When encoding, generate Ogg-FLAC output instead
206 of native-FLAC. Ogg-FLAC streams are FLAC streams
207 wrapped in an Ogg transport layer. The resulting
208 file should have an '.ogg' extension and will still
209 be decodable by flac.</para>
210 <para>When decoding, force the input to be treated as
211 Ogg-FLAC. This is useful when piping input from
212 stdin or when the filename does not end in '.ogg'.</para>
217 <term><option>--serial-number</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>
220 <para>When used with --ogg, specifies the serial
221 number to use for the FLAC stream. When encoding and
222 no serial number is given, flac uses '0'. When
223 decoding and no number is given, flac uses the serial
224 number of the first page.</para>
232 <title>Analysis Options</title>
236 <term><option>--residual-text</option>
239 <para>Includes the residual signal in the analysis
240 file. This will make the file very big, much
241 larger than even the decoded file.</para>
246 <term><option>--residual-gnuplot</option>
249 <para>Generates a gnuplot file for every subframe;
250 each file will contain the residual distribution
251 of the subframe. This will create a lot of
260 <title>Decoding Options</title>
264 <term><option>-F</option>, <option>--decode-through-errors</option>
267 <para>By default flac stops decoding with an error
268 and removes the partially decoded file if it
269 encounters a bitstream error. With -F, errors are
270 still printed but flac will continue decoding to
271 completion. Note that errors may cause the decoded
272 audio to be missing some samples or have silent
281 <title>Encoding Options</title>
285 <term><option>-V</option>, <option>--verify</option></term>
288 <para>Verify a correct encoding by decoding the
289 output in parallel and comparing to the
295 <term><option>--lax</option></term>
298 <para>Allow encoder to generate non-Subset
304 <term><option>--replay-gain</option></term>
307 <para>Calculate ReplayGain values and store in
308 Vorbis comments, similar to vorbisgain. Title
309 gains/peaks will be computed for each input
310 file, and an album gain/peak will be computed
311 for all files. All input files must have the
312 same resolution, sample rate, and number of
313 channels. Only mono and stereo files are
314 allowed, and the sample rate must be one of
315 8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, or 48
316 kHz. Also note that this option may leave a
317 few extra bytes in a PADDING block as the exact
318 size of the tags is not known until all files
319 are processed. Note that this option cannot be
320 used when encoding to standard output (stdout).
326 <term><option>--cuesheet</option>=<replaceable>filename</replaceable></term>
329 <para>Import the given cuesheet file and store it in a
330 CUESHEET metadata block. This option may only be used
331 when encoding a single file. A seekpoint will be added
332 for each index point in the cuesheet to the SEEKTABLE
333 unless --no-cued-seekpoints is specified.</para>
338 <term><option>--sector-align</option></term>
341 <para>Align encoding of multiple CD format WAVE
342 files on sector boundaries. See the HTML
343 documentation for more information.</para>
348 <term><option>-S</option> {<replaceable>#</replaceable>|<replaceable>X</replaceable>|<replaceable>#x</replaceable>|<replaceable>#s</replaceable>}, <option>--seekpoint</option>={<replaceable>#</replaceable>|<replaceable>X</replaceable>|<replaceable>#x</replaceable>|<replaceable>#s</replaceable>}</term>
352 Include a point or points in a SEEKTABLE. Using #,
353 a seek point at that sample number is added. Using
354 X, a placeholder point is added at the end of a the
355 table. Using #x, # evenly spaced seek points will
356 be added, the first being at sample 0. Using #s, a
357 seekpoint will be added every # seconds (# does not
358 have to be a whole number; it can be, for example, 9.5,
359 meaning a seekpoint every 9.5 seconds). You may use
360 many -S options; the resulting SEEKTABLE will be the
361 unique-ified union of all such values. With no -S
362 options, flac defaults to '-S 10s'. Use --no-seektable
363 for no SEEKTABLE. Note: '-S #x' and '-S #s' will not
364 work if the encoder can't determine the input size before
365 starting. Note: if you use '-S #' and # is >=
366 samples in the input, there will be either no seek
367 point entered (if the input size is determinable
368 before encoding starts) or a placeholder point (if
369 input size is not determinable).</para>
374 <term><option>-P</option> <replaceable>#</replaceable>, <option>--padding</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>
377 <para>Tell the encoder to write a PADDING metadata
378 block of the given length (in bytes) after the
379 STREAMINFO block. This is useful if you plan to
380 tag the file later with an APPLICATION block;
381 instead of having to rewrite the entire file later
382 just to insert your block, you can write directly
383 over the PADDING block. Note that the total length
384 of the PADDING block will be 4 bytes longer than
385 the length given because of the 4 metadata block
386 header bytes. You can force no PADDING block at
387 all to be written with --no-padding, which is the
393 <term><option>-T</option> <replaceable>FIELD=VALUE</replaceable>, <option>--tag</option>=<replaceable>FIELD=VALUE</replaceable></term>
396 <para>Add a Vorbis comment. The comment must adhere
397 to the Vorbis comment spec; i.e. the FIELD must
398 contain only legal characters, terminated by an
399 'equals' sign. Make sure to quote the comment if
400 necessary. This option may appear more than once
401 to add several comments. NOTE: all tags will be
402 added to all encoded files.</para>
407 <term><option>-b</option> <replaceable>#</replaceable>, <option>--blocksize</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>
410 <para>Specify the block size in samples. The
411 default is 1152 for -l 0, else 4608; must be one of
412 192, 576, 1152, 2304, 4608, 256, 512, 1024, 2048,
413 4096, 8192, 16384, or 32768 (unless --lax is used)</para>
418 <term><option>-m</option>, <option>--mid-side</option></term>
421 <para>Try mid-side coding for each frame (stereo
427 <term><option>-M</option>, <option>--adaptive-mid-side</option></term>
430 <para>Adaptive mid-side coding for all frames (stereo
436 <term><option>-0</option>..<option>-8</option>, <option>--compression-level-0</option>..<option>--compression-level-8</option></term>
439 <para>Fastest compression..highest compression
440 (default is -5). These are synonyms for other
445 <term><option>-0</option>, <option>--compression-level-0</option></term>
448 <para>Synonymous with -l 0 -b 1152 -r 2,2
454 <term><option>-1</option>, <option>--compression-level-1</option></term>
457 <para>Synonymous with -l 0 -b 1152 -M -r 2,2
463 <term><option>-2</option>, <option>--compression-level-2</option></term>
466 <para>Synonymous with -l 0 -b 1152 -m -r 3
472 <term><option>-3</option>, <option>--compression-level-3</option></term>
475 <para>Synonymous with -l 6 -b 4608 -r 3,3
481 <term><option>-4</option>, <option>--compression-level-4</option></term>
484 <para>Synonymous with -l 8 -b 4608 -M -r 3,3
490 <term><option>-5</option>, <option>--compression-level-5</option></term>
493 <para>Synonymous with -l 8 -b 4608 -m -r 3,3
499 <term><option>-6</option>, <option>--compression-level-6</option></term>
502 <para>Synonymous with -l 8 -b 4608 -m -r 4
508 <term><option>-7</option>, <option>--compression-level-7</option></term>
511 <para>Synonymous with -l 8 -b 4608 -m -e -r 6
517 <term><option>-8</option>, <option>--compression-level-8</option></term>
520 <para>Synonymous with -l 12 -b 4608 -m -e -r 6
531 <term><option>--fast</option></term>
534 <para>Fastest compression. Currently
535 synonymous with -0.</para>
540 <term><option>--best</option></term>
543 <para>Highest compression. Currently
544 synonymous with -8.</para>
549 <term><option>-e</option>, <option>--exhaustive-model-search</option></term>
552 <para>Do exhaustive model search
558 <term><option>-l</option> <replaceable>#</replaceable>, <option>--max-lpc-order</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>
561 <para>Set the maximum LPC order; 0 means use only the fixed predictors</para>
566 <term><option>-p</option>, <option>--qlp-coeff-precision-search</option></term>
569 <para>Do exhaustive search of LP coefficient
570 quantization (expensive!). Overrides -q;
571 does nothing if using -l 0</para>
576 <term><option>-q</option> <replaceable>#</replaceable>, <option>--qlp-coeff-precision</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>
579 <para>Precision of the quantized linear-predictor
580 coefficients, 0 => let encoder decide (min is 5,
586 <term><option>-r</option> [<replaceable>#</replaceable>,]<replaceable>#</replaceable>, <option>--rice-partition-order</option>=[<replaceable>#</replaceable>,]<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>
589 <para>Set the [min,]max residual partition order
590 (0..16). min defaults to 0 if unspecified. Default
599 <title>Format Options</title>
603 <term><option>--endian</option>={<replaceable>big</replaceable>|<replaceable>little</replaceable>}</term>
606 <para>Set the byte order for samples</para>
611 <term><option>--channels</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>
614 <para>Set number of channels.</para>
619 <term><option>--bps</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>
622 <para>Set bits per sample.</para>
627 <term><option>--sample-rate</option>=<replaceable>#</replaceable></term>
630 <para>Set sample rate (in Hz).</para>
635 <term><option>--sign</option>={<replaceable>signed</replaceable>|<replaceable>unsigned</replaceable>}</term>
638 <para>Set the sign of samples (the default is signed).</para>
643 <term><option>--force-aiff-format</option></term>
646 <para>Force the decoder to output AIFF format. This option
647 is not needed if the output filename (as set by -o) ends
648 with <filename>.aiff</filename>. Also, this option has no
649 effect when encoding since input AIFF is auto-detected.</para>
654 <term><option>--force-raw-format</option></term>
657 <para>Force input (when encoding) or output (when decoding)
658 to be treated as raw samples (even if filename ends
659 in <filename>.wav</filename>).</para>
667 <title>Negative Options</title>
671 <term><option>--no-adaptive-mid-side</option></term>
672 <term><option>--no-decode-through-errors</option></term>
673 <term><option>--no-delete-input-file</option></term>
674 <term><option>--no-exhaustive-model-search</option></term>
675 <term><option>--no-lax</option></term>
676 <term><option>--no-mid-side</option></term>
677 <term><option>--no-ogg</option></term>
678 <term><option>--no-padding</option></term>
679 <term><option>--no-qlp-coeff-precision-search</option></term>
680 <term><option>--no-residual-gnuplot</option></term>
681 <term><option>--no-residual-text</option></term>
682 <term><option>--no-sector-align</option></term>
683 <term><option>--no-seektable</option></term>
684 <term><option>--no-silent</option></term>
685 <term><option>--no-verify</option></term>
687 <para>These flags can be used to invert the sense
688 of the corresponding normal option.</para>
697 <title>SEE ALSO</title>
699 <para>metaflac(1).</para>
701 <para>The programs are documented fully by HTML format
702 documentation, available in
703 <filename>/usr/share/doc/flac/html</filename> on
704 &debian; systems.</para>
707 <title>AUTHOR</title>
709 <para>This manual page was written by &dhusername; &dhemail; for
710 the &debian; system (but may be used by others).</para>
712 <!-- <para>Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify
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