LaTeX-batch-builder

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IMPORTANT: I need someone to help me with packaging and testing on Windows. See this issue for details.

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A tool which compiles several LaTeX files simultaneously and deletes temporary files.

This program compiles all LaTeX files in the working directory by executing different commands according to the content of the file. You can customize the commands the program executes.

Usage

Requirement

One of the mainstream LaTeX distributions (TeX Live, MacTeX, etc.) is required. Make sure that xelatex is available at terminal:

xelatex --version

Packed executables

Packed executables (packed using pyinstaller) can be downloaded here. You can use it without Python.

If no settngs.json file in current directory (the program's directory in Windows, and ~ in MacOS if you double-click the program), the program will use default settings. You can export default settings to settngs.json then.

Run Source Code

All you need is Python 3 (This program is tested under Python 3.8). No additional Python package is needed.

Clone this repository and you can use it directly by running LaTeX_batch_builder_cli.py.

Command Line Arguments

usage: LaTeX_batch_builder_cli [-h] [-q] [-c] [-r] [-d DIRECTORY]
-h, --help            Show help message and exit
-q, --quiet           Don't display user interface and use -c,-r arguments
-c, --compile         Compile LaTeX files
-r, --remove          Remove temporary files
-d, --directory       Working directory

Change Language

Default language is English.

To change the language of the program, find the following line in settings.json and modify its value:

"language": "en",

English (by setting value as "en") and simplified Chinese (by setting value as "cns") is supported so far.

Multiprocessing

This program uses multiprocessing to build LaTeX files. Default number of processes is 5.

To change the number of processes, find the following line in settings.json and modify its value:

"num_of_processes": 5,

Customize Compile Commands

Modify values of "compile_commands", "compile_cases" and "default_command" in settings.json with following format to customize compile commands:

"compile_commands": {
        "name of command1": [
            "xelatex -interaction=batchmode $FILE"
            // $FILE will be replaced by the file name without extension
            // $FILE_FULL will be replaced by the full file name
        ],
        "name of command2": [
            "xelatex -interaction=batchmode $FILE",
            "xelatex -interaction=batchmode $FILE"
        ],
        ...
    },
"compile_cases": [
    {
        "match": "regular expression to match case 1",
        "exec": [
            "name of command1",
            "name of command2",
            ...
        ]
    },
    {
        "match": "regular expression to match case 2",
        "exec": [
            "name of command3",
            "name of command4",
            ...
        ]
    },
    ...
],
"default_command": [
    "name of command5",
    "name of command6",
    ...
]

The program will read objects in values of "compile_cases" in order, searching for strings which matches with regular expression given by value of "match".

If such string exists, then the program cease to matching and commands in the corresponding "exec" will be executed.

If nothing in "compile_cases" is matched, then commands in "default_command" will be executed.

Customize Files to Compile or to Delete

Modify values of "compile_format" in settings.json, add type (without .) of the file to compile, then that type of file will be found by the program.

Modify values of "remove_format" in settings.json, add regular expression which match the files you want to remove to its values, then the file will be removed when "Remove temporary files" is executed.

Example

Many tasks can be done by this program once configured correctly.

For example, configuring settings.json as follows enables you to convert markdown, txt and html files to docx, pdf or html using Pandoc.

"compile_format": [
    "md",
    "txt",
    "html"
],
"compile_commands": {
    "docx": [
        "pandoc -f markdown -o '$FILE'.docx '$FILE_FULL'"
    ],
    "pdf": [
        "pandoc -f markdown -o '$FILE'.pdf '$FILE_FULL'"
    ],
    "html": [
        "pandoc -f markdown -o '$FILE'.html '$FILE_FULL'"
    ]
},
"compile_cases": [
    {
        "match": "#### to .docx ####",
        "exec": [
            "docx"
        ]
    },
    {
        "match": "#### to .pdf ####",
        "exec": [
            "pdf"
        ]
    },
    {
        "match": "#### to .html ####",
        "exec": [
            "html"
        ]
    }
],
"default_command": [
    "html"
],
"remove_format": []

To convert files to a specific type, you need to add a comment #### to .(extension of the type) #### in your file.

License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. For more details, visit http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0