Latexmk using -jobname and a command line \def

Question

I am having a problem converting this pdflatex command to use latexmk:

pdflatex --file-line-error --shell-escape --synctex=1 \
         -jobname=foobar "\def\MyCustomDef{} \input{file-name.tex}"

I attempt to use this with latexmk as:

latexmk -pdf -silent \
        -pdflatex=/usr/texbin/pdflatex --file-line-error --shell-escape --synctex=1 \
        -jobname=foobar "\def\MyCustomDef{} \input{file-name.tex}"

but this results in

   Latexmk: Could not find file [\def\MyCustomDef{} \input{file-name.tex}].
   -- Use the -f option to force complete processing.

Removing the double quotes in the above results in:

Latexmk: Need to specify at most one filename if jobname specified, 
but 2 were found (after defaults and wildcarding).

---

My earlier attempt was:

latexmk -pdf -silent \
        -pdflatex=/usr/texbin/pdflatex --file-line-error --shell-escape --synctex=1 "\def\MyCustomDef{}" \
        -jobname=foobar file-name.tex 

but after having figured out the syntax to get pdflatex to work, I am assuming that one must use \input{} to specify the file name when defining macros on the command line.

---

Update:

I was able to get the solution form mph working on the command line, but then when I attempt to place that in my script I run into further issues. I suspect these are due to the need to escape things until the right moment that David Carlisle mentioned. Hmmm... This sounds a bit like TeX's expansion related issues -- no wonder I am having trouble. :-)

Here is my shell script :

#!/bin/csh

set LATEX_MAKE                = latexmk 
set PDFLATEX                  = pdflatex

set LATEX_MAKE_OPTIONS        = "-f -silent "
set PDFLATEX_OPTIONS          = "-pdf -pdflatex=$PDFLATEX --file-line-error --shell-escape --synctex=1 "
set PDFLATEX_OPTIONS_WITH_DEF = "$PDFLATEX_OPTIONS %O '\def\MyCustomDef{}\input{%S}'"

set TEX_FILE = "mf2"

echo "----- Normal build:"
$LATEX_MAKE $LATEX_MAKE_OPTIONS $PDFLATEX_OPTIONS $TEX_FILE.tex

echo "----- Custom build (with jobname & def):"
$LATEX_MAKE -jobname=$TEX_FILE-def '$LATEX_MAKE_OPTIONS $PDFLATEX_OPTIONS_WITH_DEF' $TEX_FILE.tex

exit(0)

and test file:

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
hello

\ifdefined\MyCustomDef
    My CustomDef was used.
\else
    My CustomDef was not used.
\fi
\end{document}

Answer 1

Pass a proper Latexmk rule as the argument of the -pdflatex option. Thus:

latexmk -pdf -silent    \
        -jobname=foobar \
        -pdflatex="/usr/texbin/pdflatex --file-line-error --shell-escape --synctex=1 %O '\def\MyCustomDef{}\input{%S}'" file-name.tex

Alternatively, instead of using the -pdflatex option, you could set the $pdflatex variable in one of the Latexmk initialization files (e.g. ./latexmkrc or ./.latexmkrc).

Update:

A working Csh script similar to the one used by the OP:

#!/bin/csh

set LATEX_MAKE                = latexmk
set PDFLATEX                  = pdflatex

set LATEX_MAKE_OPTIONS        = '-f -silent '
set PDFLATEX_OPTIONS          = '-pdf -pdflatex="'"$PDFLATEX --file-line-error --shell-escape --synctex=1 %O %S"'"'
set PDFLATEX_OPTIONS_WITH_DEF = '-pdf -pdflatex="'"$PDFLATEX --file-line-error --shell-escape --synctex=1 %O '\def\MyCustomDef {} \input { %S }'"'"'

set TEX_FILE                  = 'mf2'

echo '----- Normal build:'
eval $LATEX_MAKE $LATEX_MAKE_OPTIONS $PDFLATEX_OPTIONS $TEX_FILE.tex

echo '----- Custom build (with jobname & def):'
eval $LATEX_MAKE -jobname=$TEX_FILE-def $LATEX_MAKE_OPTIONS $PDFLATEX_OPTIONS_WITH_DEF $TEX_FILE.tex

exit(0)

Support for nested quotes is rather limited in Csh. Moreover, it’s not easy to escape braces – you have to surround them with spaces.

Answer 2

You can avoid shell backslash quoting hell and the need to specify -jobname by creating a file called foobar.tex containing your code

\def\MyCustomDef{} 
\input{file-name.tex}

and then running latexmk foobar.tex.

Answer 3

Given this file

\show\mydef
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
hello
\end{document}

The following works for me using bash shell in cygwin as my command line. Note the command line is interpreted for { and \ in different ways in different shells and operating systems, so basically start with the simplest thing and add \\ until it stops complaining.

latexmk -f  -jobname=mf2 "\\\\def\\\\mydef\{a\}\\\\input\{mf2\}"

produces

Latexmk: All targets (mf2.dvi) are up-to-date

but if I remove mf2.dvi and do it again I get

> \mydef=macro:
->a.
l.1 \show\mydef

which shows it worked.

The command line is first parsed by the shell and then by latexmk and then by pdftex itself, and you have to make the \ and { pass through them all. Also you need the -f option to latexmk to force it to do something and stop worrying so much.

---

using tcsh you need a different quoting order

 $ latexmk -f -jobname=mf2 "\\def\\mydef\{a\}\\input\{mf2\}" 

The easiest way to see what you need in any particular shell is to let latexmk do whatever ot does and then look in the TeX log file to see what commandline TeX actually saw

If the log shows

 restricted \write18 enabled.
 %&-line parsing enabled.
**\def\mydefa\inputmf2

You need some more \ to preserve the {