[XeTeX] [tex-implementors] Proposal : that TeX engines generating PDF directly should be able to close the output file without terminating.

[Bruno Le Floch]

On 7/3/20 6:50 PM, Jonathan Kew wrote:
> On 03/07/2020 16:26, Philip Taylor wrote:
>> Jonathan Kew wrote:
>>
>>> For your example, I was going to suggest that a simpler solution than "make"
>>> ought to work: all it requires is a two-line batch file or shell script (or
>>> similar: tools like Lua or Python or Perl would be fine) that performs the
>>> two xetex runs you need. Then you'd call that script or batch file as your
>>> "engine" in TeXworks, instead of calling xetex directly.
>>>
>>> But I see that you have been offered a solution anyway now, basically using
>>> (xe)tex as both the scripting language (to call another instance of itself)
>>> and as the typesetting process. I don't normally wield tex in that way, as I
>>> find other scripting languages easier and more flexible, but it should indeed
>>> work.
>>>
>>> As for closing the output PDF mid-job, and allowing you to start a new one:
>>> I'm not sure how I feel about that. Is tex the right language to be using to
>>> define and control complex multi-stage processes? While this *can* be done
>>> (as the \write18 solution demonstrates for a simple case), I tend to think
>>> it's the wrong tool for the job. There are languages that are much more
>>> amenable to manipulating files and managing pipelines of processes; my
>>> inclination would be to use one of those, with (xe)tex being called as
>>> required to perform individual steps, rather than using tex as the overall
>>> control language.
>>
>> Thank you for your comments, Jonathan, which are much appreciated.  While I
>> fully appreciate that [Xe]TeX is not a tool for "manipulating files and
>> managing pipelines of processe", I nonetheless think that the ability to
>> generate two or more distinct PDFs in a single run might be of some benefit. 
>> May I ask if you would agree that that might be the case, without, of course,
>> any committment on your part to implementing such a feature ?
> 
> I would agree that it *might* be the case; I am at the moment some way from
> being convinced that it *is* the case.
> 
> Many potential use-cases, I think, can be equally well addressed by multiple TeX
> invocations under the control of a higher-level script or tool of some kind.
> Perhaps there are compelling examples where this would not be the case, but I'm
> not aware of them at the moment.
> 
> JK
> 

A major use case could be for AucTeX preview of equations, or other wysywyg-like
interfaces where one wants to compile chunks of TeX code always with the same
preamble, and with no relevant changes in macros: one could have an ongoing TeX
run producing pdfs when provided with further input.  A currently-working
variant of this is the following (in bash), which ships out a first page, then
waits 10 seconds, then ships out another one.

$ (echo '\relax Hello world!\vfill\break' && sleep 10 && echo '\relax Another
pdf.\bye') | xetex

One could imagine a primitive \nextpdf that would make xetex produce 2 separate
pdfs (in the present case texput.pdf and secondfile.pdf)

$ (echo '\relax Hello world!\nextpdf{secondfile}' && sleep 10 && echo '\relax
Another pdf.\bye') | xetex

Bruno