Quick Start

Running a tool

# Point to a directory containing tool.xml
rappture2web /path/to/tool/

# Or specify tool.xml directly
rappture2web /path/to/tool/tool.xml

# Custom port
rappture2web /path/to/tool/ --port 9000

Open http://localhost:8000 in your browser to see the tool UI.

Command-line options

rappture2web [OPTIONS] TOOL_PATH

Options:
  --port PORT           Server port (default: 8000)
  --host HOST           Bind address (default: 0.0.0.0)
  --library-mode        Use rp_library API instead of driver.xml
  --no-cache            Disable result caching
  --base-path PATH      URL prefix (e.g. /tools/fermi)

Creating a minimal tool

Create a directory with tool.xml and a Python script:
```
my_tool/
├── tool.xml
└── my_tool.py
```

Define the tool XML:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<run>
<tool>
  <title>My First Tool</title>
  <about>A simple example tool.</about>
  <command>python3 @tool/my_tool.py @driver</command>
</tool>
<input>
  <number id="x">
    <about><label>Input X</label></about>
    <default>5</default>
    <min>0</min>
    <max>100</max>
  </number>
</input>
<output>
  <number id="result">
    <about><label>Result</label></about>
  </number>
</output>
</run>

Write the tool script:

import sys
import rappture2web.rp_library as Rappture

rx = Rappture.PyXml(sys.argv[1])

x = float(rx['input.(x).current'].value)
result = x * x

rx['output.number(result).about.label'] = 'X Squared'
rx['output.number(result).current'] = str(result)
rx.close()

Run it:
```
rappture2web my_tool/
```

Classic vs. library mode

Classic mode (default): rappture2web creates a driver.xml with user inputs, runs the tool command, then parses the resulting run.xml. The tool script uses the standard Rappture library (TCL or Python 2) to read the driver and write outputs.

Library mode (--library-mode): the tool script receives the server URL as sys.argv[1] instead of a file path. rp_library reads inputs from and streams outputs to the web server in real time via HTTP.

Use library mode when:

You want live-streaming output updates in the browser
Your tool script is Python 3
You don’t need the classic Rappture TCL library