Hack 10. Start Up from the Command Line

You can start Firefox without using the mouse.

How is Firefox started? This hack describes all the command-line options. To see command-line options, most technical people instinctively open a command-line window, such as an xterm (Linux) or an MS-DOS or cmd window (Windows). Then they type program /? or program --help, depending on the operating system. The latter option works everywhere except in Windows, because Firefox doesn't provide console-based help there. So Windows is a special case: help information isn't automatically spat out there. To see command-line options on Windows, you have to go further with a DOS or cmd box. On Windows, start up a command line (StartProgramsMS-DOS Prompt) and follow these steps:

C:
cd "Program Files"
cd Firefox
firefox --help > help.txt
type help.txt

The help options will appear in the newly created file help.txt. This advice goes for all options that provide command-line output, such as -version. You don't need to redirect anything on other platforms.

On Windows, you can use / (forward slash) or // (double forward slash) as the command-line switch prefix. On all platforms, Firefox-specific options can be preceded with - (minus) or -- (minus, minus). These two command lines are the same on Windows, but only the first one will work on Linux:

firefox -console --jsconsole http://www.example.com
firefox --console /jsconsole http://www.example.com

On Unix/Linux, some X11 options are supported. X11 X resources aren't supported, because the Unix/Linux port uses the Gtk configuration system. Table 1-4 describes the user-oriented options.

Table 1-4. User-oriented command-line options

Option

Windows?

Unix/Linux?

Macintosh?

Description

General options

-h, -help

Y

Y

Y

State command-line help and exit.

-v, -version

Y

Y

Y

State Firefox version and exit.

Browser options

URL

Y

Y

Y

Display a browser showing this URL.

-height X

Y

Y

Y

Specify window height in pixels.

-width X

Y

Y

Y

Specify window width in pixels.

-edit

N

N

N

Support for old Composer; does nothing by default.

-inspector

Y

Y

Y

Start the DOM Inspector window.

-jsconsole

Y

Y

Y

Start the JavaScript Console window.

-register

Y

Y

Y

Re-register the set of chrome packages.

-safe-mode

Y

Y

Y

Start without any extensions or plug-ins and stick to the default theme. Use as a last resort.

-install-global-extension "{UUID}"

Y

Y

Y

Move the extension with registration number UUID from the profile area to the install area.

-install-global-theme "{UUID}"

Y

Y

Y

Move the theme with registration number UUID from the profile area to the install area.

-list global-items

Y

Y

Y

List extensions and themes added to the install area.

-lock-item "{UUID}"

Y

Y

Y

Lock the extension or theme with this UUID so that the user can't delete it via the user interface.

-unlock-item "{UUID}"

Y

Y

Y

Unlock the extension or theme with this UUID so that the user can delete it via the user interface.

Mozilla options

-chrome D

Y

Y

Y

Start up a plain, chromeless window and display the document at URL D.

-installer

Y

Y

Y

Migrate data from other browsers on startup.

-P Foo

Y

Y

Y

Start up with profile Foo, or with the Profile manager if that profile doesn't exist.

-SelectProfile

Y

Y

Y

Start up with the profile selection dialog box.

-CreateProfile "prof dir"

Y

Y

Y

Auto-create a profile named prof in directory dir and make it the current profile. dir defaults to "."

-ProfileWizard

Y

Y

Y

Start up with the Profile Wizard and step the user through profile creation.

-ProfileManager

Y

Y

Y

Start up with the Profile Manager. On Mac OS X, Option-double-click Firefox.

-UILocale L

Y

Y

Y

Start with language locale L string labels for XUL content (toolbars and menus)

-contentLocale C

Y

Y

Y

Start with content locale C string labels for displayed pages' content.

Windows options

-kill

Y

N

N

Stop any running Firefox instance.

-console

Y

N

N

Tie any stdout and stderr output to a simple text window and display that as well.

Unix/Linux/X11/Gtk options

--g-fatal-warnings

N

Y

N

All warnings kill Firefox.

--display=X

N

Y

N

Choose the X11 display X.

--sync

N

Y

N

Synchronize all X11 calls.

--no-xshm

N

Y

N

Don't use X shared memory extension.

--install

N

Y

N

Give Firefox a private Gtk colormap.

Windows are opened in the order they appear on the command line.

1.12.1. See Also

For the more detailed programmatic command-line options, search for the DumpHelp() function at http://lxr.mozilla.org. For Unix/Linux specifically, consider also this URL: http://www.mozilla.org/unix/remote.html.