To specify a command (or a macro) to execute before or after a document is converted (and optionally compiled and/or archived):
[Automation] ; SystemStartCommand = command line to run at start of processing ; SystemWrapCommand = command line to run at end, before compiling ; and archiving ; SystemEndCommand = command line to run at end, after compiling ; and archiving
The value you assign to one of the System*Command keywords is an actual Windows system command, just as you would have typed it at a Windows command prompt. For example:
[Automation] SystemEndCommand = copy /Y G:\MyProj\Done\*.xml D:\xml\backups
Assign only one command to each keyword; the command must be all one line. If you need multiple commands or multiple lines per keyword, see the following:
§43.1.4 Supplying system commands in a .bat file
§43.1.5 Supplying system commands in a macro.
When you assign a system command (or a macro) to a System*Command, DITA2Go generates one or more lines of code, each of which is a command to be run at a Windows command prompt. DITA2Go writes these lines to a .bat file named for the keyword, saves the file in your project directory, and causes Windows to execute the file.
When you specify a file path in a system command, use “\” as the separator character. For example, suppose you want to make a backup copy of your book on another server before you run each conversion, and then copy your result files to another directory:
[Automation] SystemStartCommand = copy <$$_prjpath>\*.fm x:\backup SystemEndCommand = copy <$$_currpath>\*.htm \outcopy
Start commands work only when you convert
If your configuration file includes the following setting:
[Automation] OnlyAuto = Yes
commands assigned to SystemWrapCommand and to SystemEndCommand are executed; however, commands assigned to SystemStartCommand are ignored. When you set OnlyAuto=Yes, you are deploying an existing set of output files, and you do not want that set disturbed; see §44.13 Postprocessing separately from converting.