1. Basic Build Command

This command builds the image using the default values specified in the Dockerfile (UID=1021, GID=1021) and tags it as cwb-base:latest.

docker build -t cwb-base:latest .

• docker build: The command to build an image from a Dockerfile.
• -t cwb-base:latest: The -t or --tag flag assigns a name and a tag to the image. Here, the name is cwb-base and the tag is latest. You could use a more specific tag, like cwb-base:3.5.0-py3.12.
• .: This specifies the build context (the current directory), which is where Docker will look for the Dockerfile and any other files needed for the build.

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2. Recommended Build Command (for Development)

This is the recommended command for a development environment, especially if you plan to mount local directories into the container (e.g., for corpus data). It sets the container's user ID (UID) and group ID (GID) to match your current host user. This prevents file permission issues when the container writes to mounted volumes.

docker build \
  --build-arg CWB_UID=$(id -u) \
  --build-arg CWB_GID=$(id -g) \
  -t cwb-base:latest .

• --build-arg CWB_UID=$(id -u): This sets the CWB_UID build argument. The $(id -u) command dynamically gets your current user's ID on Linux or macOS.
• --build-arg CWB_GID=$(id -g): This does the same for your user's group ID.
• Why is this better? When you run the container and mount a volume like -v ./my_corpus_data:/data, any files created inside the container in the /data directory will be owned by cwbuser. By matching the UIDs, cwbuser inside the container will have the same ID as your user on the host, so you can easily edit or delete those files outside the container without sudo.

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How to Use the Built Image

Once the build is complete, you can run the container.

To get an interactive Bash shell inside the container:

This is perfect for running cqp, cwb-encode, etc., manually.

docker run -it --rm \
  -v "$(pwd)/corpus_files:/data" \
  cwb-base:latest

• -it: Runs the container in interactive mode with a TTY, giving you a shell.
• --rm: Automatically removes the container when you exit, keeping your system clean.
• -v "$(pwd)/corpus_files:/data": Mounts a local directory named corpus_files into the container at the /data path. This is where you would put your corpus registry and data files.
• cwb-base:latest: The name of the image you want to run.

Inside this shell, you can now run your CWB commands:

# Inside the container
cqp -v
cwb-encode -d /data/registry -f my_source_file.vrt -R /data/registry/my_corpus

To run a specific command directly (non-interactively):

This is useful for scripting. For example, to check the version of cwb-align.

docker run --rm cwb-base:latest cwb-align -v

This will start the container, run cwb-align -v, print the output, and then the container will be removed.