NAME
perltex - enable LaTeX macros to be defined in terms of Perl code
SYNOPSIS
perltex [--help] [--latex=program] [--[no]safe] [--permit=feature]
[latex options]
DESCRIPTION
LaTeX -- through the underlying TeX typesetting system -- produces
beautifully typeset documents but has a macro language that is
difficult to program. In particular, support for complex string
manipulation is largely lacking. Perl is a popular general-purpose
programming language whose forte is string manipulation. However, it
has no typesetting capabilities whatsoever.
Clearly, Perl's programmability could complement LaTeX's typesetting
strengths. perltex is the tool that enables a symbiosis between the
two systems. All a user needs to do is compile a LaTeX document using
perltex instead of latex. (perltex is actually a wrapper for latex, so
no latex functionality is lost.) If the document includes a
"\usepackage{perltex}" in its preamble, then "\perlnewcommand" and
"\perlrenewcommand" macros will be made available. These behave just
like LaTeX's "\newcommand" and "\renewcommand" except that the macro
body contains Perl code instead of LaTeX code.
OPTIONS
perltex accepts the following command-line options:
--help
Display basic usage information.
--latex=program
Specify a program to use instead of latex. For example,
"--latex=pdflatex" would typeset the given document using pdflatex
instead of ordinary latex.
--[no]safe
Enable or disable sandboxing. With the default of "--safe",
perltex executes the code from a "\perlnewcommand" or
"\perlrenewcommand" macro within a protected environment that
prohibits ``unsafe'' operations such as accessing files or
executing external programs. Specifying "--nosafe" gives the LaTeX
document carte blanche to execute any arbitrary Perl code,
including that which can harm the user's files. See Safe for more
information.
--permit=feature
Permit particular Perl operations to be performed. The "--permit"
option, which can be specified more than once on the command line,
enables finer-grained control over the perltex sandbox. See Opcode
for more information.
These options are then followed by whatever options are normally passed
to latex (or whatever program was specified with "--latex"), including,
for instance, the name of the .tex file to compile.
EXAMPLES
In its simplest form, perltex is run just like latex:
perltex myfile.tex
To use pdflatex instead of regular latex, use the "--latex" option:
perltex --latex=pdflatex myfile.tex
If LaTeX gives a ``"trapped by operation mask"'' error and you trust
the .tex file you're trying to compile not to execute malicious Perl
code (e.g., because you wrote it yourself), you can disable perltex's
safety mechansisms with "--nosafe":
perltex --nosafe myfile.tex
The following command gives documents only perltex's default
permissions (":browse") plus the ability to open files and invoke the
"time" command:
perltex --permit=:browse --permit=:filesys_open
--permit=time myfile.tex
ENVIRONMENT
perltex honors the following environment variables:
PERLTEX
Specify the filename of the LaTeX compiler. The LaTeX compiler
defaults to ``"latex"''. The "PERLTEX" environment variable
overrides this default, and the "--latex" command-line option (see
"OPTIONS") overrides that.
FILES
While compiling jobname.tex, perltex makes use of the following files:
jobname.lgpl
log file written by Perl; helpful for debugging Perl macros
jobname.topl
information sent from LaTeX to Perl
jobname.frpl
information sent from Perl to LaTeX
jobname.tfpl
``flag'' file whose existence indicates that jobname.topl contains
valid data
jobname.ffpl
``flag'' file whose existence indicates that jobname.frpl contains
valid data
jobname.dfpl
``flag'' file whose existence indicates that jobname.ffpl has been
deleted
NOTES
perltex's sandbox defaults to what Opcode calls ``":browse"''.
SEE ALSO
latex(1), pdflatex(1), perl(1), Safe(3pm), Opcode(3pm)
AUTHOR
Scott Pakin, scott+pt@pakin.org