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PDF Compilation

MergDown2TeX compiles LaTeX to PDF using Podman.

How it works

graph TD
    A[Note] --> B[WASM Engine]
    B --> C[.tex File]
    C --> D[Podman Container]
    D --> E[pdflatex x3]
    E --> F[PDF File]

Requirements

  • Podman or Docker
  • TeX Live (inside container)

Build container

Download Dockerfile

# From GitHub release
curl -L -o Dockerfile https://github.com/dvrch/mergdown2tex/releases/download/v1.0.0/Dockerfile

Build image

# With Podman
podman build -t mergdown2tex-env -f Dockerfile .

# With Docker
docker build -t mergdown2tex-env -f Dockerfile .

Verify

# List images
podman images | grep mergdown2tex-env

# Test
podman run --rm mergdown2tex-env pdflatex --version

Compile PDF

Option A: Command Palette

  1. Open command palette (Ctrl/Cmd + P)
  2. Type "MergDown2TeX"
  3. Select "MergDown2TeX: Convertir et compiler en PDF"

Option B: Button

Click the PDF button in the ribbon.

Option C: Bash script

#!/bin/bash
# compile.sh

INPUT="document.tex"
CONTAINER="mergdown2tex-env"

# Copy file to container
podman cp "$INPUT" "$CONTAINER:/vault/"

# Compile
podman exec "$CONTAINER" pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode "$INPUT"
podman exec "$CONTAINER" bibtex "${INPUT%.tex}"
podman exec "$CONTAINER" pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode "$INPUT"
podman exec "$CONTAINER" pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode "$INPUT"

# Copy back
podman cp "$CONTAINER:/vault/${INPUT%.tex}.pdf" .

Compilation process

1. pdflatex (first pass)

pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode document.tex
  • Generates .aux file
  • Resolves references

2. bibtex

bibtex document
  • Processes bibliography
  • Generates .bbl file

3. pdflatex (second pass)

pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode document.tex
  • Incorporates bibliography
  • Updates references

4. pdflatex (third pass)

pdflatex -interaction=nonstopmode document.tex
  • Final pass
  • Resolves all references
graph TD
    A[document.tex] --> B[pdflatex #1]
    B --> C[.aux + .log]
    C --> D[bibtex]
    D --> E[.bbl]
    E --> F[pdflatex #2]
    F --> G[pdflatex #3]
    G --> H[document.pdf]

Output files

File Description
document.pdf Final PDF
document.log Compilation log
document.aux Auxiliary file
document.bbl Bibliography
document.blg BibTeX log
document.out Hyperref links
document.toc Table of contents

Troubleshooting

Container not found

Error: 

Error: no such container: mergdown2tex-env

Solution: - Build container: podman build -t mergdown2tex-env -f Dockerfile . - Or start existing: podman start mergdown2tex-env

Compilation failed

Error: 

pdflatex: command not found

Solution: - Rebuild container with TeX Live - Check Dockerfile includes texlive-latex-base

Permission denied

Error: 

Permission denied

Solution: - Use --privileged flag: 

podman run --rm --privileged mergdown2tex-env pdflatex document.tex

Timeout

Error: 

Compilation timeout

Solution: - Increase timeout in settings - Simplify document - Check for infinite loops

Next steps