latex

A Docker-based LaTeX distribution with support for BibLaTeX and PythonTeX.

Prerequisites

It is assumed you already have the following packages installed. They area available for pretty much any OS.

• Docker or Podman
• Visual Studio Code
  • LaTeX Workshop Extension

Usage

Open Visual Studio Code and switch to the Settings menu (Ctrl + ,). In the search bar type latex-workshop.docker.enabled and tick the checkbox, that says "Latex-workshop › Docker: Enabled". Next search for latex-workshop.docker.image.latex and enter gokhlayeh/latex in the textbox, that says "Latex-workshop › Docker › Image: Latex". See screenshot below.

Alternatively paste the following lines to your .vscode/settings.json.

{
  /* more settings go here */
  "latex-workshop.docker.enabled": true,
  "latex-workshop.docker.image.latex": "gokhlayeh/latex",
}

Now, whenever you open and save a .tex file, LaTeX Workshop should start building the PDF. Note that first build may take some time, as LaTeX Workshop has to download the image first.

PythonTeX

The Docker image ships with a basic install of Python 3.x to support PythonTeX. If you want to use additional Python libraries you will need to either add them to the image manually, or create your own image based on this one. Your Dockerfile may look like this:

FROM gokhlayeh/latex:latest

RUN dnf install -y --setopt=install_weak_deps=False \
    python3-numpy

For examples on how to use the included PythonTeX in your LaTeX document and other features of this image, refer to the contents of test/ directory.

If you're using LaTeX Workshop, don't forget to tag your image and update "latex-workshop.docker.image.latex": "..." accordingly.

GNU Plot

GNU Plot is a useful tool to quickly render 2D or even 3D graphs. This image comes with gnuplot pre-installed, allowing you to render complex graphs from within your .tex-file. Several LaTeX packages interface with gnuplot, these include the popular tikz package. Below is a small demo you can run yourself. Two files need to be created: .latexmkrc and main.tex.

• .latexmkrc - Configuration file for latexmk, the build tool LaTeX Workshop uses to build your document.

  # Tell latexmk to look for a files with the extension *.gnuplot. Any matching
  # files will be passed to the function, "run_gnuplot", defined below. The output
  # will be a *.table file, which tikz can read.
  add_cus_dep('gnuplot', 'table', 0, 'run_gnuplot');
  
  sub run_gnuplot {
      # When using the gokhlayeh/latex docker image the shell is invoked without
      # locale. This causes the warning:
      #   "line 0: warning: iconv failed to convert degree sign",
      # which latexmk interprets as a failed run. We work around the issue by
      # defining a locale (in this case US) before invoking gnuplot.
      my $ret = system "LC_ALL=en-US gnuplot $_[0].gnuplot";
  
      my ($base, $path) = fileparse($_[0]);
      if ($path && -e "$base.table") {
          rename "$base.table", "$path$base.table";
      }
  
      return $ret;
  }

• main.tex - An example LaTeX document, showcasing how to render GNU Plot images.

  \documentclass{scrartcl}
  
  \usepackage{tikz}
  
  \begin{document}
  
  Demonstrating gnuplot:
  
  \begin{tikzpicture}
      % On first build, Tikz will generate a *.gnuplot file with the given
      % instructions. If the LaTeX engine is invoked with --shell-escape, Tikz
      % will invoke gnuplot to produce a *.table file. On the next build, it will
      % see the *.table file and render it accordingly.
      %
      % Note that in this example we use latexmk to convert *.gnuplot files to
      % *.table. Thus the LaTeX engine does not need to be invoked with
      % --shell-escape. Latexmk will also automatically invoke the second build,
      % producing the desired PDF in one call.
      %
      % Check the Tikz and gnuplot manuals to continue from here.
      \draw plot [id=mygraph] function {sin(x)};
  \end{tikzpicture}
  
  \end{document}

Pull the Image Manually

Check out the Docker Hub page or pull it directly via:

docker pull gokhlayeh/latex