Quickstart

Why SpiX?

With SpiX, the compilation process of a .tex file (Is it compiled using latex? pdflatex? xelatex? lualatex? Should I process its bibliography? with bibtex or biber? Is there an index?) is written in the .tex file itself, in a human-readable format (a shell script). That way [1]:

  • when you want to compile two years later, you don’t have to guess the compilation process;

  • you can send the .tex file to someone, and that’s it: no need to send detailed instructions or a Makefile along with it (everything is in the .tex file);

  • the compilation process is human readable: it can be understood by anyone who is able to read a very basic shell script. In particular, one can read it even if she does not know SpiX.

The .tex file

Write the compilation process of your .tex file as a shell script, before the preamble, as lines starting with %$:

% Compile this file twice with lualatex.
%$ lualatex foo.tex
%$ lualatex foo.tex

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Hello, world!
\end{document}

You can also replace the file name with $texname (and $basename, without the extension). That way, you don’t have to worry about the file name when writing your commands.

% Compile this file twice with lualatex.
%$ lualatex $texname
%$ lualatex $texname

Compilation

To compile the .tex file, run SpiX:

spix foo.tex

Spix will parse the .tex file, looking for shell snippets (lines before the preamble starting with %$), and run them.

That’s all!

Footnotes