2.2 Generic Properties of a HTK Tool

 

HTK tools are designed to run with a traditional command-line style interface. Each tool  has a number of required arguments plus optional arguments. The latter are always prefixed by a minus sign. As an example, the following command would invoke the mythical HTK tool called HFOO

    HFoo -T 1 -f 34.3 -a -s myfile file1 file2

This tool has two main arguments called file1 and file2 plus four optional arguments. Options are always introduced by a single letter option name followed where appropriate by the option value. The option value is always separated from the option name by a space. Thus, the value of the -f option is a real number, the value of the -T option is an integer number and the value of the -s option is a string. The -a option has no following value and it is used as a simple flag to enable or disable some feature of the tool. Options whose names are a capital letter have the same meaning across all tools. For example, the -T option is always used to control the trace output of a HTK tool.

In addition to command line arguments, the operation of a tool can be controlled by parameters stored in a configuration file . For example, if the command

    HFoo -C config -f 34.3 -a -s myfile file1 file2

is executed, the tool HFOO will load the parameters stored in the configuration file config during its initialisation procedures. Configuration parameters can sometimes be used as an alternative to using command line arguments. For example, trace options can always be set within a configuration file. However, the main use of configuration files is to control the detailed behaviour of the library modules on which all HTK tools depend.

Although this style of command-line working may seem old-fashioned when compared to modern graphical user interfaces, it has many advantages. In particular, it makes it simple to write shell scripts to control HTK tool execution. This is vital for performing large-scale system building and experimentation. Furthermore, defining all operations using text-based commands allows the details of system construction or experimental procedure to be recorded and documented.

Finally, note that a summary of the command line and options for any HTK tool can be obtained simply by executing the tool with no arguments.