Running on the command-line

MacOS X on the command line

The most convenient way to run lilypond scripts is by setting up “helper” scripts of your own.

1. Create a directory to store these scripts,

   mkdir -p ~/bin
   cd ~/bin
   

2. Create a file called lilypond which contains

   #!/bin/bash
   exec DIR/LilyPond.app/Contents/Resources/bin/lilypond "$@"
   

   Nota: DIR will generally be /Applications/

3. Create similar files lilypond-book, convert-ly, and any other scripts you wish to use, by replacing the bin/lilypond with bin/convert-ly (or other program name).
4. Make the file executable,

   chmod u+x lilypond
   

5. Now, add this directory to your path. Modify (or create) a file called .profile in your home directory such that it contains

   export PATH=$PATH:~/bin
   

   This file should end with a blank line.

Invoking individual scripts

The scripts — such as lilypond-book, convert-ly, abc2ly, and even lilypond itself — are included inside the .app file for MacOS X.

Scripts can also be run from the command line by invoking them directly:

The same is true for all other scripts in that directory, such as lilypond-book and convert-ly.