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title: "Glyph - Using Glyph programmatically"
content-type: page
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<p>Besides using Glyph from the command line, you can also use it straight from your code. Glyph&#8217;s public <a
    href="http://rubydoc.info/gems/glyph"><span class="caps">API</span></a> is simple and can be used to:</p>
<ul>
  <li>Retrieve and update configuration settings (using <code>Glyph[]</code> and <code>Glyph[]=</code>)</li>
  <li>Filter text to <span class="caps">HTML</span> (using <code>Glyph#filter</code>)</li>
  <li>Compile Glyph source files into <span class="caps">HTML</span> or <span class="caps">PDF</span> files (using
    <code>Glyph#compile</code>)</li>
</ul>
<p>That&#8217;s pretty much it. Of course, both the <code>filter</code> and <code>compile</code> method cause Glyph to
  run in <a href="/glyph/book/compiling/lite_mode.html#lite_mode"><em>lite</em> mode</a>, so the same <a
    href="/glyph/book/compiling/lite_mode.html#lite_limitations">limitations</a> apply.</p>
<aside class="tip">
  <span class="note-title">Tip</span>
  <p>For an example on how to use Glyph programmatically (specifically in conjunction with the <a
      href="http://nanoc.stoneship.org/">nanoc</a> static site generator), see <a
      href="http://github.com/h3rald/h3rald">h3rald.com source code</a>, in particular:</p>
  <ul>
    <li><a href="http://github.com/h3rald/h3rald/blob/master/lib/glyph_filter.rb">lib/glyph_filter.rb</a> &#8212; using
      the <code>Glyph#filter</code> method.</li>
    <li><a href="http://github.com/h3rald/h3rald/blob/master/lib/glyph_context.rb">lib/glyph_context.rb</a> &#8212;
      using the <code>Glyph#compile</code> method to generate <span class="caps">PDF</span> files.</li>
  </ul>

</aside>
<section class="section">
  <header>
    <h3 id="modes" class="toc">Modes</h1>
  </header>
  <p>It is possible to specify some flags (or "modes") to make Glyph behave slightly different than normal, as shown in
    the following table (by default, none of these is used).</p>
  <table>
    <tr>
      <th>Name</th>
      <th>Writer Method</th>
      <th>Reader Method</th>
      <th>Description</th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Test Mode</td>
      <td>
        <code>Glyph.test_mode=</code>
      </td>
      <td>
        <code>Glyph.test?</code>
      </td>
      <td>Used internally by the <code>rake spec</code> task to run Glyph's specs.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Library Mode</td>
      <td>
        <code>Glyph.library_mode=</code>
      </td>
      <td>
        <code>Glyph.library?</code>
      </td>
      <td>If enabled, the <a href="/glyph/book/ref_commands.html#c_compile"><code>compile</code></a> command command
        will raise exceptions instead of printing errors on the screen. Enabled by the <code>Glyph.compile</code>
        command.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Debug Mode</td>
      <td>
        <code>Glyph.debug_mode=</code>
      </td>
      <td>
        <code>Glyph.debug?</code>
      </td>
      <td>If enabled, additional diagnostic information (such as backtraces or macro values) will be displayed. Enabled
        by specifying the <a href="/glyph/book/ref_commands.html#debug_switch">debug switch</a> when running a Glyph
        command.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Lite Mode</td>
      <td>
        <code>Glyph.lite_mode=</code>
      </td>
      <td>
        <code>Glyph.lite?</code>
      </td>
      <td>
        <p>Used to compile <a href="/glyph/book/compiling/lite_mode.html#lite_mode">single files</a>. Enabled by:</p>
        <ul>
          <li>The <code>Glyph.compile</code> and <code>Glyph.filter</code> methods.</li>
          <li>The <a href="/glyph/book/ref_commands.html#c_compile"><code>compile</code></a> command, if at least one
            parameter is supplied.</li>
        </ul>
      </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Safe Mode</td>
      <td>
        <code>Glyph.safe_mode=</code>
      </td>
      <td>
        <code>Glyph.safe?</code>
      </td>
      <td>
        <p>If enabled, the following macros cannot be used and will return an error:</p>
        <ul>
          <li><a href="/glyph/book/macros/macros_core.html#m_ruby"><code>ruby</code></a> macro</li>
          <li><a href="/glyph/book/macros/macros_core.html#m_macro_"><code>macro:</code></a> macro</li>
          <li><a href="/glyph/book/macros/macros_core.html#m_include"><code>include</code></a> macro</li>
          <li><a href="/glyph/book/macros/macros_core.html#m_define_"><code>define:</code></a> macro</li>
          <li><a href="/glyph/book/macros/macros_core.html#m_config_"><code>config:</code></a> macro</li>
        </ul>
      </td>
    </tr>
  </table>

</section>
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