A simple BASH script to listen to file changes and automatically recompile LaTeX documents (supports Fedora toolbox containerization)

pdflatex-watch

#!/bin/bash

USE_TOOLBOX=0
# Check whether pdflatex command is available
if ! command -v pdflatex &> /dev/null; then
    # If not, test if Fedora toolbox named latex exists
    if command -v toolbox &> /dev/null && toolbox list | grep -q latex; then
        USE_TOOLBOX=1
    else
        echo "pdflatex command not found. Please install it or create a Fedora toolbox named latex."
        exit 1
    fi
fi

compile_latex() {
    pdflatex -shell-escape -synctex=1 -interaction=nonstopmode -file-line-error "$1"
    # Print a message saying that the compilation is unsuccessful if so
    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
        echo -e "\033[31merror\033[0m: compilation unsuccessful (see output up here for details)"
    fi
}

usage() {
    echo "Usage: $0 <file.tex> [<other files to watch for changes>]"
    echo "This script watches for changes in the specified .tex file"
    echo "and its dependencies, and compiles the .tex file whenever"
    echo "a change is detected."
    echo
    echo "When pdflatex is not available, a Fedora toolbox named latex is"
    echo "required."
    echo
    echo "The firs argument should be the \"main\" .tex file."
    echo "Any other arguments will be passed to the inotifywait command"
    echo "just to check if it changes and to trigger the compilation."
    echo "This is useful for example to watch for changes in the bibliography."
}

# Check if no arguments were passed
if [ "$#" -lt 1 ]; then
    echo "error: no file specified." >&2
    usage >&2
    exit 1
fi

# Check if first argument is just "--help" or "-h"
if [ "$1" == "--help" ] || [ "$1" == "-h" ]; then
    usage
    exit 0
fi

# Check if first argument is a tex file
if [ ! -f "$1" ] || [[ ! "$1" =~ \.tex$ ]]; then
    echo "error: first argument must be a .tex file." >&2
    usage >&2
    exit 1
fi

# Execute
if [ "$USE_TOOLBOX" -eq 1 ]; then
    toolbox run -c latex "$0" "$@"
    exit 0
else
    while inotifywait -e close_write "$@"; do compile_latex "$1"; done
    exit 0
fi