[Tex/LaTex] Pure python compiler

compilingdistributionspython

I am writing a Python 2.7 program on Windows that generates LaTeX output.

I would like to make it able to generate PDF output from the LaTeX, but I have only limited leeway to install additional software (I can't install regular *TeX distributions but I can install Python packages with pip).

I would like to know:

Is there a LaTeX compiler in the form of a Python package?
If there is, where can I find it and how can I use it to compile a Python string into a PDF file?

The generated LaTeX output is meant to be used with the regular latex or pdflatex.

Best Answer

Ok, try this:

let Python create a latex document
compile it via the DOS-Cmd shell into a pdf (check Latex doc how to do it)
Python can also call shell commands, so just put the previous command into code

Scripts vs. binaries

Firstly, the good news for you is that scripts are much easier to integrate into TeX distributions than compiled programs. To get the latter into TeX Live or MiKTeX it is best to get in touch with the distribution maintainer(s) through the appropriate mailing list.

Submission to CTAN

You need to decide whether to submit your package to CTAN as a flat .zip archive or in a .tds.zip TDS format (see also TDS submission guidelines). TDS avoids ambiguity in file layout, but be sure to adhere to the specification - a flat .zip with no subdirectories is preferred over messed up .tds.zip. Test your .tds.zip before submitting, e.g., install into TEXMFHOME and see if everything works (see below on how to test the executable scripts). Here's the layout I would suggest for your package pythontex:

doc/
   +-- latex/ 
            +-- pythontex/
                         +-- pythontex.pdf
                         +-- README
scripts/
       +-- pythontex/
                    +-- pythontex.bat
                    +-- pythontex.py
                    +-- pythontex_types.py
                    +-- pythontex_utils.py
source/
      +-- latex/ 
               +-- pythontex/
                            +-- pythontex.dtx
tex/
   +-- latex/ 
            +-- pythontex/
                         +-- pythontex.sty

You should include all package files in the archive, not just the source files (e.g., not only .dtx, but also the .sty file derived from it). You should also include a short and clear README file specifying the purpose of the package, its license (needs to be free to include in TL), its contents (files and their purpose) and any other requirements needed to install and use the package (e.g., external dependencies like Python).

Executable scripts

Directories with executables (i.e., those added to PATH) are not included in TDS specification, but as a package author you don't need to worry about that. Just put your scripts under scripts/<package name> and make clear in the package README, which script is the main program to be executed. TeX distros will then add a symlink (TL on Unix) or a launching wrapper (win32, TL and MiKTeX) in the bin directory.

Whether to include a wrapper for launching the script is up to you. In principle, this is not needed nowadays for TeX Live and MiKTeX - both have their own, specialized wrappers for this purpose. However, some users may need to install your package directly from CTAN (e.g., to use with older TL version), so adding at least a .bat wrapper for Windows (see example below) may be nice. For Unix just start your main script with #!/usr/bin/env python (for system portability /usr/bin/env is recommended over hardcoding interpreter's absolute path).

For windows I can suggest the following wrapper (if saved as pythontex.bat it will execute pythontex.py script).

@echo off
setlocal enableextensions
rem assuming the main script is in the same directory
if not exist "%~dpn0.py" (
  echo %~nx0: main script "%~dpn0.py" not found>&2
  exit /b 1
)
rem check if interpreter is on the PATH
for %%I in (python.exe) do set "PYTHONEXE=%%~$PATH:I"
if not defined PYTHONEXE (
  echo %~nx0: Python interpreter not installed or not on the PATH>&2
  exit /b 1
)
"%PYTHONEXE%" "%~dpn0.py" %*

As I mentioned, TeX Live and MiKTeX use their own methods of launching scripts, though I'm only familiar with TL's side of things. TeX Live uses runscript.tlu utility for this and users can make use of it also for their own custom or manually installed scripts. This can be also used by package authors for testing, e.g., you could test if your .tds.zip works correctly. For details see the output of runscript -h (add -v switch to learn all the gory details of the actual implementation). Here's an excerpt from it:

The following script types and their file extensions are currently
supported and searched in that order:

  Lua      (.tlu;.texlua;.lua) --  included
  Perl     (.pl)               --  included
  Ruby     (.rb)               --  requires installation
  Python   (.py)               --  requires installation
  Tcl      (.tcl)              --  requires installation
  Java     (.jar)              --  requires installation
  VBScript (.vbs)              --  part of Windows
  JScript  (.js)               --  part of Windows
  Batch    (.bat;.cmd)         --  part of Windows

Finally, Unix-style extensionless scripts are searched as last and
the interpreter program is established based on the she-bang (#!)
specification on the very first line of the script.  This can be
an arbitrary program but it must be present on the search path.

It is recommended to write new utilities in Lua, if only possible, since Lua interpreter is now available out of the box on all platforms thanks to LuaTeX. A close second is Perl, which is shipped with TL on win32. Anything else has to be installed separately on Windows.

Finding script/package resources

Complex scripts might be spread over multiple files and there is no silver bullet solution to how to locate such files. The standard way of finding files in TeX Live (which now works in MiKTeX too) is to use Kpathsea and its kpsewhich utility, e.g., kpsewhich -format texmfscripts pythontex_utils.py will output the full path to pythontex_utils.py if it finds it in scripts subdirectory under one of the TEXMF trees. In LuaTeX, Kpathsea library is built-in and can be accessed directly. There might be some other, perhaps better ways, which are specific to Python, Perl, etc., but this should be asked elsewhere.

[Tex/LaTex] Compilation of LaTex in Windows? With TeXnicCenter or other software

Requirements

The preliminary steps can be summarized as follows:

Note that for each installation, just accept the default settings.

Install either TeX Live 2012 or MikTeX (the latest version).
Install Adobe Reader.
Install TeXnicCenter (RC1 is the stable one).

Configurations

Now configure the installed TeXnicCenter as follows:

Run the TeXnicCenter, you will be prompted to specify the path to TeX binary as follows.
Pressing the Next button, you will be prompted to find the TeX binary path. Press the Browse button to locate the path.

For TeX Live the path is as follows,

If you installed MikTeX then the path will be different, please locate it by yourself.
Pressing the Next button will bring up the following window, just accept the default.
Pressing the Next button again will bring up the following window, just click the Finish button.

Override Output Profiles

If you installed Adobe Reader 10 (X in roman) then you need to modify the output profiles. Press Alt+F7 to bring up the Profiles window, choose an item to modify (for example LaTeX => PDF), select Viewer tab. Your edit should look as follows,

enter image description here

Make a try

enter image description here

Create a new blank document by pressing the white icon right below the File menu (I enclosed it with a red rectangle). Type the following dummy text, save it, make sure you choose LaTeX => PDF item (I enclosed it with a red rectangle), then press CTRL+SHIFT+F5.

And congratulation, you will get a PDF output as follows:

enter image description here

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] How to publish a package that includes scripts and/or executables

Scripts vs. binaries

Submission to CTAN

Executable scripts

Finding script/package resources

[Tex/LaTex] Compilation of LaTex in Windows? With TeXnicCenter or other software

Requirements

Configurations

Override Output Profiles

Make a try

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