ssameer / tex-watch Goto Github PK

Automatic continuous recompilation for LaTeX files on change. The PDF viewer is launched or refreshed after compilation. The whole process is fast enough to simulate WYSIWIG.

Features:
---------
- Supports multi-file LaTeX project in multiple directories.
- Supports pdflatex, xelatex, lualatex on TexLive.
- Supports bibtex, bibtex8.
- Supports precompiled preamble with make format.
- Supports launching viewers: mupdf, Okular, evince, xpdf, skim, ghostview. mupdf is sent a refresh signal when a new PDF is available. Other viewers auto-reload.
- Supports using another directory for output and auxiliary files to reduce clutter in main directory.

Requirements:
------------
Linux (file change detection is specific to Linux) with inotify-tools installed, Bash, 
TexLive (texlive-mylatexformat for precompiled preamble)

How to use:
-----------
Launch tex-watch as described below. It will compile the LaTex file and if successful, launch your chosen viewer. Use an editor that saves the file frequently. (See below to set up Vim for this.) Whenever any of the project files is changed, tex-watch will recompile and refresh the viewer on success. mupdf is recommended for speed.

Put this in ~/.vim/ftplugin/tex.vim to save your LaTeX files whenever they are changed:
autocmd TextChanged,TextChangedI <buffer> update
If you prefer to wait till you have finished typing, add this instead:
set autosave=2
Vim will now wait for 2 seconds after the last file change before writing the file (0 disables autosave).
Caution: Please have the undo feature set up properly before using this or you may lose important edits!

Follow this how-to to use a precompiled preamble:
http://www.howtotex.com/tips-tricks/faster-latex-part-iv-use-a-precompiled-preamble/
This is especially useful if you use many packages.

Usage: 
------
tex-watch [-h] [-l LATEX] [-v VIEWER] [-b BIBTEX] [-o OUTPUT_DIR] MAINFILE.tex [FILES] [DIRECTORIES] ...
  Recompile MAINFILE.tex whenever it or FILES or DIRECTOIRES change and update
  (or launch) mupdf to show the output if compilation is successful.

  -h        Display this help and exit
  -v        Alternate viewer [mupdf]
  -l        Alternate latex compiler [pdflatex]
  -b        Alternate bibtex program [bibtex8] Use false to disable bibtex
  -o        Output directory (if not the current directory)
  -p        Use precompiled preamble
  DIRECTORIES   These are added to TEXINPUTS

  Requirements: inotify-tools and optionally mupdf (fast pdf viewer),
  texlive-mylatexformat (precompiled preamble).


Inspiration:
------------
Similar functionality in IDEs:
gummi, kile, etc.

Automatic compilation: 
latexmk: Perl based; too slow for continuous compilation.

Preview:
Emacs + AucTex + preview-latex  (https://www.gnu.org/software/auctex/preview-latex.html)
vim-live-latex-preview (https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=107164)

TODO:
-----
Test with biber
Test with plain LaTeX (dvi output) and ConText.
Automatically get list of dependencies from main LaTeX file.
Port to Windows, Mac OSX.

Bugs:
----
Will not detect changes to preamble (eg: new package) if PRECOMPILE is used. Delete the .fmt file to get it to notice the changes.