Command Line Word Processor with MikTeX and Pandoc

This note expands on a previous one where I have described how Pandoc can create LibreOffice documents from markdown files.

This time, I will try to produce a PDF version of a more complex document, such as a book, from a set of markdown files. Pandoc's markdown syntax can be used to include important document elements not available in plain markdown.

MikTeX Portable

Pandoc requires a PDF engine that can be obtained from the MikTex typesetting system. Installed as portable on a USB stick will save considerable disk space (~ 1 GB).

Set Tex/LaTex Document Class

When Pandoc converts markdown to pdf it passes through an intermediate Tex file. A Tex/Latex file has a section called Preamble made of commands located before the code block:

    \begin{document}
    ...
    \end{document} 
    

To add the built-in book document class inside the preamble, I can set the following Pandoc's command line option:

   -V documentclass=book

Pandoc template

The default Pandoc template for md to tex conversion can be generated from the command line with:

   $ pandoc.exe -D latex > book.tex

and eventually customised, if necessary.

Pandoc YAML header

Several document elements in the preamble, such as the book's cover page can be defined inside a YAML file.

    ---
    title: Word Processor with MikTeX and Pandoc 
    author: seve_py
    papersize: A4
    ---
    

Bash Script

Finally, I can run the bash script below to generate the book in PDF format.

    #!/usr/bin/env bash

    # PDF latex engine from miktex-potable
    PDFLATEX="D:\\miktex-portable\\texmfs\\install\\miktex\\bin\\x64\\pdflatex.exe"

    # Directory containing Markdown files
    source="Project/book"

    pandoc \
        --template=./Project/book/book.tex \
        --from markdown \
        --toc -N \
        -V documentclass=book \
        --listings \
        --lua-filter=C:\\Users\\seve\\.pandoc\\filters\\pagebreak.lua \
        --pdf-engine=$PDFLATEX \
        -o Publish/book.pdf \
        $source/book.yml \
        $source/chapter1.md

    

Macros Preprocessor

GPP macro preprocessor has been installed from Windiction. It allows preprocessing a markdown file with GPP and pass the output to Pandoc.

   gpp -T --include macros.gpp