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I have a .tex file that uses a specific 5-digit number (that I change in the document whenever I run it) and a .csv file to generate a PDF document. A co-worker of mine wants to use it, but installing MikTeX/Texmaker so she can run just one little script twice a year seems like overkill.

I'd like to convert my .tex file to an executable that takes two input arguments: the 5-digit number and the name of the .csv file, and outputs the PDF based on those. Even better would be something that opens a dialog box asking for the 5-digit number, then opens a window for her to point to the file.

Are either of these possible?

moewe
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FissionChips
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    Welcome to TeX.SX! That is an interesting question. The experts will surly weigh in with a proper answer in due time, but I think it will be quite hard to achieve something like this. It is possible to build custom formats (here). And you can install quite small TeX distributions with only a minimal number of packages. – moewe May 10 '17 at 06:03
  • Could you please elaborate what your document exactly does with that .csv file, e.g. by adding a small code sample? Maybe using LaTeX at all is overkill here and a similar result could be achieved by using some special PDF-related libraries with a standard programming language? Otherwise, I don't see a way to get the wanted binary without bundling the executables from the TeX distribution and invoking them when running the binary. – siracusa May 10 '17 at 06:28
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    http://www.boxedapp.com/exe_bundle.html – Henri Menke May 10 '17 at 06:29
  • With a tex distribution installed you could use vbscript (or any windows scripting you like) to produce a form with a file chooser and serial number box, replace the relevant placeholders in the file, and call pdflatex. You wouldn't need to be familiar with vbscript; this is basic stuff you could learn on the job. – Chris H May 10 '17 at 06:42
  • @siracusa It's really a simple program that takes a person's name from the .csv and a group identifier (the five-digit code) and encodes them into a QR Code, then puts that person's name and QR code on a 3x5 card. I hadn't though to use a standard language, but that makes the most sense. I rarely code anything outside of LaTeX, so every time I have to, I have to re-learn everything, including where I installed my compiler! – FissionChips May 11 '17 at 16:09

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