15.1.19. Command-line options

The openmvide executable takes command-line options that automate what the GUI normally does interactively – the basis for kiosk installations, demo machines, production test stations, and any setup where the IDE should come up connected and running with nobody at the keyboard.

15.1.19.1. Automated startup

The automation flags compose into a launch that needs no clicks:

  • -auto_connect – connect to the camera on startup, and keep reconnecting whenever one appears (the Auto Reconnect option, forced on).

  • -auto_update <release|development|path> – on connect, install the bundled release firmware, the latest development firmware, or a specific firmware file, without prompting.

  • -auto_erase – erase the internal flash filesystem during the automatic update.

  • -auto_run – start the open script as soon as the connection is up.

  • -disable_stop – force the Stop Script on Connect/Disconnect option off and lock it, so the IDE attaching or detaching never halts the script already running on the camera.

  • -full_screen – start with the main window full screen.

  • -serial_number_filter <serial> – only connect to the camera with the given USB serial number; with several cameras attached, each IDE instance can be pinned to one unit.

So openmvide -auto_connect -auto_run -full_screen turns a PC and a camera into an appliance: power on, IDE appears full screen, camera connects, script runs, preview streams.

15.1.19.2. Viewer mode

-viewer_mode starts the application as OpenMV Viewer: the editor and the run controls are gone, and what remains is the frame buffer, the histogram, and the serial output of whatever the camera is already running. It is the mode for the person who should see the camera but not change it – a monitoring station on a line, a demo the audience cannot edit.

15.1.19.3. Terminal-only windows

The terminal flags skip the main window entirely and open a standalone terminal window straight from the command line:

  • -open_serial_terminal <port:baud>

  • -open_tcp_client_terminal <host:port> / -open_tcp_server_terminal <port>

  • -open_udp_client_terminal <host:port> / -open_udp_server_terminal <port>

In a standalone terminal the run button executes the camera’s stored /main.py.

15.1.19.4. Utility flags

-list_ports prints one line of key/value fields per camera serial port (name, description, vendor and product IDs, serial number) to standard output and exits – the hook for scripts that need to discover cameras before launching something else. -update_resources forces the IDE to rebuild its bundled resources (examples, firmware, documentation) as it starts, and -language <locale> overrides the user-interface language.