Command line switches consist of a + (plus) or - (minus) sign, followed by one or more alphabetic characters and possibly a numeric value. Here is a typical command line with switches.
POVRAY +Isimple.pov +V +W80 +H60
povray
+I switch with the filename tells POV-Ray what scene file it should use as input and +V tells the program to output its status to the text screen as it's working. The +W and +H switches set the width and height of the image in pixels. This image will be 80 pixels wide by 60 pixels high.
In switches which toggle a feature, the plus turns it on and minus turns it off. For example +P turns on the pause for keypress when finished option while -P turns it off. Other switches are used to specify values and do not toggle a feature. Either plus or minus may be used in that instance. For example +W320 sets the width to 320 pixels. You could also use -W320 and get the same results.
Switches may be specified in upper or lower case. They are read left to right but in general may be specified in any order. If you specify a switch more than once, the previous value is generally overwritten with the last specification. The only exception is the +L switch for setting library paths. Up to ten unique paths may be specified.
Almost all + or - switches have an equivalent option which can be used in an INI file which is described in the next section. A detailed description of each switch is given in the option reference section.