---
name: "prepmx"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "texlive-doc"
version: "2026.1-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/prepmx"
---

# prepmx(1)

preprocessor for PMX, easy music typesetting program

## NAME

prepmx - preprocessor for PMX, easy music typesetting program

## SYNOPSIS

**prepmx** \[*options*\] *jobname* \[*outdir/*\] \[*stylefile*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**M-Tx** is an easy to use preprocessor language for the **PMX** music typesetting program, aimed at people who are not experts.  For an easy example, have a look at the following example:

  c2+       e4    g   \| b4d-  c1 d c2        \|\
   c8 g+ e g c- g+ e g \| d g f g    c- g+ e g \|

For syntax reference, please look at the M-Tx manual written by Dirk Laurie, the creator of the M-Tx language and the author of  [**prepmx**(1)](/prepmx/1.md), its command-line utility.

**prepmx** processes the file *jobname*.mtx to generate *jobname*.pmx. You can then process this file using the  [**pmxab**(1)](/pmxab/1.md) command, which is a preprocessor for MusiXTeX.

*outdir/* is the directory where \`pmx' will put the final .tex file. Note that the trailing slash is mandatory. You can provide a *stylefile* for M-Tx. If omitted, the file \`mtxstyle.txt' in the current directory is used, if there is one.

## OPTIONS

Options can also be specified in a \`Options:' line in the preamble, which takes precedence over the command line.

- **-b**

  disable unbeamVocal

- **-c**

  disable doChords

- **-D**

  enable debugMode

- **-f**

  enable solfaNoteNames

- **-i**

  enable ignoreErrors

- **-m**

  disable doLyrics

- **-n**

  enable instrumentNames

- **-t**

  disable doUptext

- **-u**

  disable uptextOnRests

- **-v**

  enable beVerbose

- **-w**

  enable pedanticWarnings

- **-***n*

  select Special Case  *n*

- **-H**

  print enabled status of all options

## EXIT STATUS

If no error was found, **prepmx** exits with return code 0.  In case of an error, the line number of the processed line is returned. This may not always be the line containing the actual error. A return status of 10000 means that the input file was empty or could not be opened.

## SEE ALSO

**M-Tx** User's Guide (mtxdoc.pdf)\
 [pmxab(1)](/pmxab/1.md), [musixtex(1)](/musixtex/1.md)

## AUTHORS

prepmx was written by Dirk Laurie \<dirk.laurie@gmail.com\>. This manual page was written by Roland Stigge \<stigge@antcom.de\> for the Debian project. It was revised and extended by Nis Martensen \<nis.martensen@web.de\> and Bob Tennent \<rdt@cs.queensu.ca\>.