Switch from Makefile to Fabric file for Latex projects

While writing my Ph. D. thesis, I procrastinate by customizing my environment. I have managed to reuse Tikitu de Jager LateX setup to compile individual chapters of the manuscript. This is very useful to obtain dated-pdf of a given chapter, with references, which can be send to friends/coworkers for reviewing, without sending the full document.

I also took the time to replace the Makefile I usually use by a fab file, which benefits from the Python syntax and is thus easier to tweak.

Just put a file called fabfile.py in the folder where your .tex files reside. Here is an excerpt of my fabfile :

from fabric.api import local

# variables
SRC = "these"
FIGDIR = "figures"
PDFREADER = "zathura"
LATEXMODE = "pdflatex"
BIBTEX = "bibtex"

def execute(command):
  local(command)
  #local("echo %s"%command)

def move(output,chapter):
  command = "mv %s %s.pdf"%(output,chapter)
  execute(command)

def preview(chapter):
  print("previewing...")
  command1 = 'echo -e "awful.tag.viewmore({tags[1][6],awful.tag.selected(1)})" | awesome-client'
  command2 = PDFREADER +" "+ chapter+".pdf"
  execute(command1)
  execute(command2)

def clean():
  command = "rm -f *.aux *.log *.out *.ps *.toc *.nav *.snm *.dvi *.blg *.bbl *.nlo *.mtc* *.brf *.maf *.tdo"
  execute(command)

def chapter1(bibtex=True,display=True):
  chapter = "chapter1"
  make(chapter,bibtex)
  if display:
    preview(chapter)

def make(chapter,bibtex):
  command = LATEXMODE + " --output-directory=auxiliary " + chapter + "_wrapper.tex"
  bibtexcommand = BIBTEX + " auxiliary/" + chapter + "_wrapper"
  output = "auxiliary/" + chapter + "_wrapper" + ".pdf"
  execute(command)
  if bibtex == True:
    execute(command)
    execute(bibtexcommand)
    execute(command)
  move(output,chapter)

Let’s review the file :

• The execute() function is just an alias for easier readibility of the code
• The clean() function removes all the temporary files produced by a latex compilation
• The make() function lists the sequence of operations required for a full compilation, using a switch whether I need to use bibtex to produce the list of references or not

• The chapter1 function is called after one of my chapter. I can call it with one of the following command:

  $ fab chapter1:bibtex=True,preview=False 
    # full compilation but no preview
  $ fab chapter1:False,True 
    # quick compilation and opens a pdf viewer immediately after
  $ fab chapter1 
    # defaults to bibtex=True and preview=True