Command Line Rules

Reference Guide › Command Line Interface › Command Line Rules

Command Line Rules

These general rules apply to CA DMM command lines. See Command Line Switches for additional rules for individual switches:

If a path contains any spaces, as the path of DesktopDNA.exe does when it is installed in the default directory, you must enclose the path.
Command line switches are not case-sensitive, with the exception of the disable commands.
You cannot specify a DNA file and an options file on a single command line. If you want to use the command line in the options file, we recommend the only items you put on the shortcut command line are the location of the DesktopDNA.exe and path and file name of the options file to use:
```
"installation path\DesktopDNA.exe" /O "C:\Process\DDNAOptions.xml"
```
Place the remainder of the command line in the command line option in the options file.
Entering the whole switch name works the same as entering its letter designation. (For example, /Apply is the same as /A)
You can substitute a hyphen (-) for the forward slash (/) preceding a switch.
Each command line must be valid in its own right. Some examples:
- You cannot specify the /M (migrate) command line switch on the applications command line and then specify the /D (create a DNA file) command line switch (/D DNAFile.dna), in an options file.
- A /M command on its own is not valid.
- A"/D DNAFile.dna" command on its own is not valid.
- You cannot specify a template file in the options file if the template has DMM options saved with a command line. The template’s command line conflicts with the options file’s command line that originally specified the template.
Command line switches requiring a file name parameter must include the file name. File names can specify an absolute path, a UNC path, a path relative to the current folder, or no path at all.
Absolute path example:
```
C:\MyDNAFiles\MyDNAFile.dna
```
UNC path example:
```
\\Server\Volume\MyDNAFiles\MyDNAFile.dna
```
Relative path example:
```
MyDNAFile.dna
```
File names without paths are assumed to be located in the following default folders. The following table shows default save locations for files:

File	Folder
DNA File	Current user's "My Documents"
Templates	Current user's "My Documents"
Log Files	Where DesktopDNA.exe is installed, or if you cannot create files there, in "My Documents"
Settings File	Where DesktopDNA.exe is installed, or if you cannot create files there, in "My Documents"

Variable substitutions must be surrounded by the percent sign character (%). Variables can be used in file paths and file names. CA DMM replaces the variable substitution with a corresponding value. Variables are case-insensitive strings and can be the system’s environment variables, such as WINDIR, or special CA DMM variables as shown in the following example:
```
/D "%WINDIR%\DNA Files\%DNA_MACHINE_NAME%\%DNA_USER_NAME%.dna"
```
Log file names can be set in the template to contain environment variables; thus making differentiation between migrations easier. You can do this in the XML options file or in a template that is saved with DMM Options.

For the complete list of variables, see Variables.