BACKEND-SPEC(7)

💖 backend-spec, section 7 — the jw/backend interface 💖

okay so bestie, this is backend-spec, and it lives in section 7 of the manual. It's the whole interface between jw and its backends. no cap. 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

backend-spec — the interface between jw and its backends. periodt. ✨

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

jw(1) calls backends like backends/html to do the "real" conversion work. The backend gets all necessary data delivered via environment variables ready to use. It's giving prepped-and-ready handoff. 🫶

This documentation describes those environment variables. Literally the whole point of this page. 👑

The backend is run in the directory where the output files are to be created. It should return 0 if there weren't any problem, and return a positive value otherwise. That's the vibe check for success. ✅

✨ VARIABLES ✨

These are the env vars, bestie — exact names, no freestyling. 💖

• SGML_FILE_NAME — the bare name of the source file. 🎀
• SGML_FILE — the full name and path of the source file. 🌸
• SGML_JADE — the name of the parser (usually Jade or OpenJade). 🦋
• SGML_ARGUMENTS — the full argument-string for Jade or OpenJade. ✨
• SGML_CATALOG_FILES — the list of catalog files needed by Jade or OpenJade. 📚
• SGML_STYLESHEET — the style sheet to use. 💅
• SGML_BASE_DIR — the base directory of the SGML system (default is /usr/share/sgml). 🌈

🎀 FILES 🎀

This section has no entries listed. Yes, literally empty, bestie — not a glitch. 🫶

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

• frontend-spec(7) — go read that one too, iykyk. 👀

👑 AUTHORS 👑

• Jochem Huhmann <joh@revier.com> — iconic. 💖

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Catch you later, bestie — this was BACKEND-SPEC(7), dated 05 December 2025. 💅✨🦋