Global Options Reference

Purpose

Complete reference for command-line options that are available across all Cabriolet commands. These global options control output verbosity, help display, and version information.

References

Concepts

Global options are available for every Cabriolet command and can be used in combination with command-specific options. They follow standard Unix conventions and can be specified using either short (-v) or long (--verbose) forms.

Available Global Options

--format FORMAT

Force a specific format for the command, overriding automatic format detection.

Description

The format flag specifies which archive format to use for the operation. This is useful when:

  • Auto-detection fails or is ambiguous

  • Working with files that have incorrect or missing extensions

  • Processing data from stdin or non-standard sources

  • Explicitly specifying the desired format for clarity

Supported formats: cab, chm, szdd, kwaj, hlp, lit, oab

Usage 
cabriolet --format FORMAT COMMAND FILE [ARGS]
cabriolet COMMAND --format FORMAT FILE [ARGS]
Examples
Force CHM format
cabriolet --format chm extract help.chm output/
Force SZDD format for unknown file
cabriolet extract --format szdd compressed.dat output.txt
List with format override
cabriolet --format cab list archive.unknown
Use Cases

Use format override when:

  • Ambiguous files: File has multiple possible format signatures

  • Missing extensions: File extension doesn’t match actual format

  • Data streams: Processing from stdin or pipe (no filename available)

  • Testing: Explicitly testing specific format handlers

  • Migration: Converting from format-specific commands

--verbose, -v

Enable verbose output with detailed progress information.

Description

The verbose flag increases the amount of information displayed during command execution. This includes:

  • Detailed progress for each step

  • File-by-file processing updates

  • Compression/decompression statistics

  • Technical details about operations

  • Timing information

Usage 
cabriolet COMMAND --verbose FILE [ARGS]
cabriolet COMMAND -v FILE [ARGS]
Examples
Verbose extraction
cabriolet extract --verbose archive.cab output/
Output
Opening archive.cab...
Found 3 files in 1 folder
Compression: MSZIP

Extracting to output/
  Decompressing folder 1...
  readme.txt (1,245 bytes)... OK
  setup.exe (524,288 bytes)... OK
  config.ini (512 bytes)... OK

Extraction complete
Total: 3 files, 526,045 bytes
Time: 0.5 seconds
Verbose compression
cabriolet create -v archive.cab file1.txt file2.txt
Output
Creating archive.cab with MSZIP compression...
Scanning files...
  Found 2 files (total: 3,072 bytes)

Creating cabinet structure...
  Folder 1: MSZIP compression

Adding files...
  file1.txt (1,024 bytes)... compressed to 512 bytes
  file2.txt (2,048 bytes)... compressed to 1,024 bytes

Writing cabinet file...
  Header: 36 bytes
  Folders: 24 bytes
  Files: 120 bytes
  Data: 1,536 bytes

Successfully created archive.cab
Total: 2 files
  Original size: 3,072 bytes
  Compressed size: 1,716 bytes
  Compression ratio: 44.1%
Use Cases

Use verbose mode when:

  • Troubleshooting: Diagnosing errors or unexpected behavior

  • Monitoring progress: Processing large files or archives

  • Learning: Understanding how commands work

  • Scripting: Capturing detailed output for logs

  • Performance analysis: Measuring compression ratios and timing

--help, -h

Display command-specific help information.

Description

The help flag shows usage information for the specified command, including:

  • Command syntax

  • Available options

  • Parameter descriptions

  • Example usage

  • See also references

Usage 
cabriolet COMMAND --help
cabriolet COMMAND -h
cabriolet --help  # Shows general help
Examples
Command-specific help
cabriolet extract --help
Output
Usage: cabriolet extract [OPTIONS] FILE [OUTPUT_DIR]

Extract files from a CAB archive.

Arguments:
  FILE         Path to the CAB file to extract (required)
  OUTPUT_DIR   Directory to extract files to (optional, default: .)

Options:
  --output, -o DIR     Output directory
  --verbose, -v        Show extraction progress
  --salvage            Enable salvage mode for corrupted files
  --help, -h           Display this help message

Examples:
  cabriolet extract archive.cab
  cabriolet extract archive.cab output/
  cabriolet extract --verbose archive.cab extracted/

See also:
  cabriolet list --help
  cabriolet info --help
General help
cabriolet --help
Output
Cabriolet - Microsoft compression format library

Usage: cabriolet COMMAND [OPTIONS] [ARGS]

Unified Commands (auto-detects format):
  list        List contents of archive file
  extract     Extract files from archive
  create      Create new archive
  info        Show detailed archive information
  test        Test archive file integrity
  search      Find embedded CAB files
  version     Show version information

Legacy Commands (backward compatibility):
  CHM Format:
    chm-list    List contents of CHM file
    chm-extract Extract files from CHM
    chm-info    Show CHM information
    chm-create  Create new CHM file

  SZDD Format:
    expand      Expand SZDD compressed file
    compress    Compress file to SZDD format
    szdd-info   Show SZDD file information

  KWAJ Format:
    kwaj-extract   Extract KWAJ compressed file
    kwaj-compress  Compress file to KWAJ format
    kwaj-info      Show KWAJ file information

  HLP Format:
    hlp-extract Extract files from HLP
    hlp-create  Create HLP file
    hlp-info    Show HLP file information

  LIT Format:
    lit-extract Extract files from LIT eBook
    lit-create  Create LIT eBook file
    lit-info    Show LIT file information

  OAB Format:
    oab-extract Extract OAB file
    oab-create  Create compressed OAB file
    oab-info    Show OAB file information

Global Options:
  --verbose, -v   Enable verbose output
  --format FORMAT Force specific format (cab, chm, szdd, kwaj, hlp, lit, oab)
  --help, -h      Show help message
  --version       Show version

For command-specific help:
  cabriolet COMMAND --help

Examples:
  cabriolet list archive.cab
  cabriolet extract archive.cab output/
  cabriolet create archive.cab file1.txt file2.txt
  cabriolet list help.chm (auto-detects CHM)
  cabriolet extract --format szdd file.ex_ output.txt

For more information, visit:
  https://github.com/omnizip/cabriolet
Use Cases

Use help when:

  • Learning commands: Understanding available options

  • Quick reference: Checking syntax and parameters

  • Discovery: Finding available commands

  • Documentation: Generating inline documentation

--version

Display Cabriolet version information.

Description

The version flag shows the current version of Cabriolet installed on the system, along with copyright and license information.

Usage 
cabriolet --version
cabriolet version
Examples
Show version
cabriolet --version
Output
Cabriolet version 0.1.0
Copyright (c) 2024 Ribose Inc.
Licensed under the BSD 2-Clause License
Version command
cabriolet version
Output
Cabriolet version 0.1.0
Use Cases

Use version when:

  • Troubleshooting: Reporting bugs or issues

  • Compatibility: Checking feature availability

  • Verification: Confirming installation

  • Documentation: Recording environment details

Option Precedence

When multiple options affect the same behavior, the last specified option takes precedence.

# Verbose wins (last specified)
cabriolet extract --verbose archive.cab

# Help wins (shows help instead of executing)
cabriolet extract --verbose --help archive.cab

Combining Options

Global options can be combined with command-specific options:

# Global + command-specific options
cabriolet create --verbose --compression=lzx archive.cab files/

# Short form combination (Unix style)
cabriolet extract -v archive.cab

Environment variables

Cabriolet respects the following environment variables:

CABRIOLET_VERBOSE

Set default verbose mode for all commands.

# Enable verbose by default
export CABRIOLET_VERBOSE=1

# Commands will now be verbose without --verbose flag
cabriolet extract archive.cab

CABRIOLET_LOG_LEVEL

Control logging verbosity (for debugging).

# Set log level: debug, info, warn, error
export CABRIOLET_LOG_LEVEL=debug

cabriolet extract archive.cab

Output Formats

Standard Output

By default, commands write results to standard output:

cabriolet list archive.cab
# Output goes to terminal

cabriolet list archive.cab > contents.txt
# Redirect to file

Standard Error

Error messages and warnings go to standard error:

cabriolet extract corrupt.cab 2> errors.log
# Errors logged to file, output to terminal

cabriolet extract corrupt.cab > /dev/null 2>&1
# Suppress all output

Verbose output

Verbose output goes to standard error to allow separation:

cabriolet extract --verbose archive.cab > /dev/null
# Verbose messages still visible

cabriolet extract --verbose archive.cab 2> progress.log
# Capture verbose output

Exit codes

All Cabriolet commands use standard exit codes:

Code Meaning

0

Success - operation completed successfully

1

General error - operation failed

2

Invalid arguments - incorrect command usage

3

File not found - specified file doesn’t exist

4

Permission denied - insufficient permissions

5

Corrupt archive - file data is corrupted

6

Unsupported format - format or feature not supported

Usage in Scripts 

#!/bin/bash

# Check exit code
if cabriolet extract archive.cab output/; then
  echo "Extraction successful"
else
  echo "Extraction failed with code $?"
  exit 1
fi

# Handle specific errors
cabriolet extract archive.cab output/
case $? in
  0)
    echo "Success"
    ;;
  3)
    echo "File not found"
    ;;
  5)
    echo "Corrupt archive"
    ;;
  *)
    echo "Unknown error: $?"
    ;;
esac

Best practices

  1. Use verbose for troubleshooting: Always enable verbose mode when diagnosing issues

  2. Check help before using new commands: Use --help to understand options

  3. Verify version for bug reports: Include version information when reporting issues

  4. Handle exit codes in scripts: Check return values for proper error handling

  5. Redirect appropriately: Send output and errors to appropriate streams

  6. Set environment defaults: Use environment variables for consistent behavior

Common patterns

Silent Operation 

# Suppress all output
cabriolet extract archive.cab output/ > /dev/null 2>&1

# Check only exit code
if cabriolet test archive.cab > /dev/null 2>&1; then
  echo "Valid"
fi

Progress Tracking 

# Show progress for large operations
cabriolet extract --verbose large-archive.cab | tee extraction.log

# Monitor specific operations
cabriolet create --verbose large-archive.cab files/ 2>&1 | grep -E "(Progress|Ratio)"

Error Logging 

# Log errors while showing progress
cabriolet extract --verbose archive.cab 2> errors.log

# Separate logs
cabriolet extract --verbose archive.cab 1> output.log 2> errors.log

See also

Bibliography