Using Sc14n from the command line

Command-line syntax and examples

Syntax

> sc14n --help Usage: sc14n [OPTION]... [INFILE] Performs the C14N transformation of a straightforward XML document. -o, --output=OUTFILE output to OUTFILE [default=stdout] -i, --input=INFILE input from INFILE (optional option) -x, --exclude-bytag=TAGNAME omit (exclude) element with name TAGNAME -s, --subset-bytag=TAGNAME make subset for element with name TAGNAME To specify the N'th element write as `TAGNAME[N]` for N=1,2,3,... -X, --exclude-byid=IDVALUE omit (exclude) element with Id="IDVALUE" -S, --subset-byid=IDVALUE make subset for element with Id="IDVALUE" For an IDNAME other than `Id` write as `IDNAME=IDVALUE` (no quotes) -c, --with-comments include comments (#WithComments) -e, --exclusive use exclusive c14n [default=inclusive] -p, --prefix-list="LIST" space-separated list of namespace prefixes to be handled as per inclusive c14n (exclusive c14n only) -d, --digest-value output base64-encoded digest value, not XML -2, --sha256 use SHA-256 algorithm with -d [default=SHA-1] -3, --sha384 use SHA-384 algorithm with -d [default=SHA-1] -5, --sha512 use SHA-512 algorithm with -d [default=SHA-1] -f, --flatten flatten XML-remove all whitespace between tags -k, --check check input is valid XML -@, --stdin read input from stdin [default=INFILE] -v, --version print program version and exit -L, --libinfo print details of core library and exit -h, --help print this help and exit -E, --examples print examples and exit The options `-x|-X|-s|-S` are mutually exclusive. INFILE must be specified unless `--stdin` option is used. INFILE may be a quoted XML string "<a><b/></a>" instead of a filename. By default the entire input XML document is transformed and output to stdout. Exit status is 0 on success, 1 if error, or 2 if no matching data found. For examples type `sc14n --examples`

Note: when using a --long option with a parameter, you must use the equals "=" sign: — Fixed in v3.1.0.1 published 13 August 2023

sc14n --prefix-list="wsse SOAP-ENV" ... OK
sc14n --prefix-list "wsse SOAP-ENV" ... was ERROR now OK
sc14n -p "wsse SOAP-ENV" ... OK

Examples

> sc14n --examples Examples: sc14n -o out.txt file.xml computes C14N transformation of entire XML document `file.xml` and writes result to file `out.txt`. sc14n -x "ds:Signature" file.xml computes C14N transformation of XML document EXCLUDING the first element with tag name `ds:Signature`. sc14n -s "ds:SignedInfo" file.xml computes C14N transformation of subset with tag name `ds:SignedInfo`. sc14n -S "ref123" file.xml computes C14N transformation of subset with Id="ref123". sc14n -S "myId=ref456" file.xml computes C14N transformation of subset with myId="ref456". sc14n -s "elemName[3]" file.xml computes C14N transformation of subset for the 3rd element found with tag name `elemName`. sc14n -d file.xml computes C14N transformation of entire XML document `file.xml` and outputs resulting digest value using default SHA-1 algorithm. sc14n -d --sha256 file.xml computes C14N transformation of entire XML document `file.xml` and outputs resulting digest value using SHA-256 algorithm. sc14n "<a><b/></a>" accepts XML data as a quoted string. In this case the output is <a><b></b></a>

Reading input from a file

Three ways to read input from a file.

1. Pass the filename directly using the INFILE parameter.

sc14n file.xml

2. Read from stdin using "<" redirection operator.

sc14n -@ < file.xml

3. Use a pipe

type file.xml | sc14n -@

Passing a quoted string as input

Pass the quoted string directly as an argument to the Sc14n command. Windows automatically removes the quote (") characters and this works.

sc14n "<doc/>"
<doc></doc>

Can we use a pipe?

echo "<doc/>"| sc14n -@
Error code -9: Invalid XML structure:
Error: Invalid at the top level of the document (Line: 1)

Ah, no. The echo command passes the quote characters literally and the resulting input to Sc14n is invalid XML.

OK, try using echo without the quotes

echo <doc/>| sc14n -@
| was unexpected at this time.

The "<" and ">" characters used for XML tags have a different meaning on the command line and Windows does not accept this.

The correct way: use set /p with quotes.

echo | set /p="<doc/>"| sc14n -@
<doc></doc>

This time it works.

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This page last updated 10 September 2025

Using SC14N from the command line

Command-line syntax and examples

Syntax

Examples

Reading input from a file

Passing a quoted string as input

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