Create latex boolean from pythontex

Question

I essentially want to do something like this.

\documentclass{scrartcl}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\usepackage[gobble=auto]{pythontex}
\usepackage{ifthen}
\begin{document}
\newboolean{tex_bool}
\begin{pycode}
    py_bool = 3 == 4
    set_cmd = r'\setboolean{tex_bool}{true}' if py_bool else r'\setboolean{tex_bool}{false}'
    print(set_cmd)
\end{pycode}
The boolean was
\ifthenelse{\boolean{tex_bool}}{%
    true
}{%
    false
}
\end{document}

However, this does not work. Not reliably at least.

I think I should specify the order of expansions here. But I cannot figure out how. Is there a way to make this work?

You should also explain what you mean by "not work reliably". If you mean it cause some error on first compilation, it's by design (you have to run the necessary passes, see doc) — user202729, Jan 06 '22 at 16:09
Sry. I should have been more clear. It does compile but not always with the expected result. In this case actually never. In a different document of mine it sometimes seemed to work that why I came up with "reliably". — Franz, Jan 06 '22 at 19:07

Bahman Mirzakhani · Accepted Answer · 2022-01-06T19:46:14.943

1

Use \pyc for print.

\documentclass{scrartcl}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\usepackage[gobble=auto]{pythontex}
\usepackage{ifthen}
\begin{document}
\newboolean{tex_bool}
\begin{pycode}
py_bool = 3 == 3
set_cmd = r'\setboolean{tex_bool}{true}' if py_bool else r'\setboolean{tex_bool}{false}'
\end{pycode}
\pyc{print(set_cmd)}
The boolean was
\ifthenelse{\boolean{tex_bool}}{%
    true
}{%
    false
}
\end{document}

edited Jan 06 '22 at 19:46

answered Jan 06 '22 at 15:53

Bahman Mirzakhani

737

I don't see how this could work better than the original code. Pycode is already a verbatim environment. – user202729 Jan 06 '22 at 16:09
@user202729 Pycode is not a verbatim environment. It executes the codes. We need pdflatex, pythontex.py and pdflatex for get correct output. For testing you can change the py_bool = 3 == 3 condition to py_bool = 3 == 4 and see the changes. – Bahman Mirzakhani Jan 06 '22 at 16:18
By "verbatim environment" I mean that the content inside is grabbed as verbatim, so I see how csname is useful. – user202729 Jan 06 '22 at 16:20
@user202729Did you mean in the first comment that the output of the answer and the question are the same? Or I misunderstood your mean? – Bahman Mirzakhani Jan 06 '22 at 16:36
I understood from the question that it does not give the correct output. Even when the py_bool is true (3 == 3). ‌But in answer, the output is correct; Both for py_bool=true and for py_bool=false. – Bahman Mirzakhani Jan 06 '22 at 16:40
Thank you it seems to work though I do not fully understand why.
Could you comment more on:
- Why all csname commands need to go in a separate string?
- Why should I not print within the pycode environment?
- How robust is this solution in more complex examples with other packages that require multiple [pdf,lua,xe]latex runs?
– Franz Jan 06 '22 at 18:06
@Franz I edited my answer. Question 1: We did not need to write the commands separately (I understand now). Question 2: See https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/108077/194183. Question 3: No problem! You can use pythontex in [pdf,lua,xe]latex runs. But some packages like fontspec needs [lua,xe]latex. – Bahman Mirzakhani Jan 06 '22 at 19:38
@Franz Question 2 is probably because the environment creates a new group, try \(re)newcommand inside it and see if the result persists outside. Some other environments have the issue as well e.g. luacode luatex - token.set_macro: \directlua vs. luacode* - TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange – user202729 Jan 07 '22 at 00:04

Create latex boolean from pythontex

1 Answers1