pretext 2.8.1.dev20241031062356

A package to author, build, and deploy PreTeXt projects.

PreTeXt-CLI

A package for authoring and building PreTeXt documents.

• GitHub: https://github.com/PreTeXtBook/pretext-cli/

Documentation and examples for authors/publishers

Most documentation for PreTeXt authors and publishers is available at:

• https://pretextbook.org/doc/guide/html/

Authors and publishers may also find the examples catalog useful as well:

• https://pretextbook.org/examples.html

We have a few notes below (TODO: publish these in the Guide).

Installation

Installing Python

PreTeXt-CLI requires the Python version specified in pyproject.toml.

To check your version, type this into your terminal or command prompt:

python -V

If your version is 2.x, try this instead (and if so, replace all future references to python in these instructions with python3).

python3 -V

If you don't have a compatible Python available, try one of these:

• https://www.python.org/downloads/
  • Windows warning: Be sure to select the option adding Python to your Path.
• https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv#installation (Mac/Linux)
• https://github.com/pyenv-win/pyenv-win#installation (Windows)

Installing PreTeXt-CLI

Once you've confirmed that you're using a valid version of Python, just run (replacing python with python3 if necessary):

python -m pip install --user pretext

(It's possible you will get an error like error: invalid command 'bdist_wheel' — good news, you can ignore it!)

After installation, try to run:

pretext --help

If that works, great! Otherwise, it likely means that Python packages aren't available on your “PATH”. In that case, replace all pretext commands with python -m pretext instead:

python -m pretext --help

Either way, you're now ready to use the CLI, the --help option will explain how to use all the different subcommands like pretext new and pretext build.

External dependencies

We install as much as we can with the pip install command, but depending on your machine you may require some extra software:

• TeXLive
• pdftoppm/Ghostscript

Upgrading PreTeXt-CLI

If you have an existing installation and you want to upgrade to a more recent version, you can run:

python -m pip install --upgrade pretext

Custom XSL

Custom XSL is not encouraged for most authors, but (for example) developers working bleeding-edge XSL from core PreTeXt may want to call XSL different from that which is shipped with a fixed version of the CLI. This may be accomplished by adding an <xsl/> element to your target with a relative (to project.ptx) or absolute path to the desired XSL. (Note: this XSL must only import other XSL files in the same directory or within subdirectories.)

For example:

<target name="html">
  <format>html</format>
  <source>source/main.ptx</source>
  <publication>publication/publication.ptx</publication>
  <output-dir>output/html</output-dir>
  <xsl>../pretext/xsl/pretext-html.xsl</xsl>
</target>

If your custom XSL file needs to import the XSL shipped with the CLI (e.g. pretext-common.xsl), then use a ./core/ prefix in your custom XSL's xsl:import@href as follows:

<xsl:import href="./core/pretext-common.xsl"/>

Similarly, entities.ent may be used:

<!DOCTYPE xsl:stylesheet [
    <!ENTITY % entities SYSTEM "./core/entities.ent">
    %entities;
]>

Note: previously this was achieved with a pretext-href attribute - this is now deprecated and will be removed in a future release.

---

Development

Note. The remainder of this documentation is intended only for those interested in contributing to the development of this project. Anyone who simply wishes to use the PreTeXt-CLI can stop reading here.

From the "Clone or Download" button on GitHub, copy the REPO_URL into the below command to clone the project.

git clone [REPO_URL]
cd pretext-cli

Using a valid Python installation

Developers and contributors must install a version of Python that matching the requirements in pyproject.toml.

Installing dependencies

Optional: use pyenv as a virtual environment

The pyenv tool for Linux automates the process of running the correct version of Python when working on this project (even if you have other versions of Python installed on your system).

• https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv#installation

Run the following, replacing PYTHON_VERSION with your desired version.

pyenv install PYTHON_VERSION

Steps on Windows

In windows, you can either use the bash shell and follow the directions above, or try pyenv-win. In the latter case, make sure to follow all the installation instructions, including the Finish the installation. Then proceed to follow the directions above to install a version of python matching pyproject.toml. Finally, you may then need to manually add that version of python to your path.

The first time you set up your development environment, you should follow these steps:

1. Follow these instructions to install poetry.

   • https://python-poetry.org/docs/#installation
     • Note 2022/06/21: you may ignore "This installer is deprecated". See python-poetry/poetry/issues/4128

2. Install dependencies into a virtual environment with this command.

   poetry install
   

3. Fetch a copy of the core pretext library and bundle templates by running

   poetry run python scripts/fetch_core.py
   

The last command above should also be run when returning to development after some time, since the core commit you develop against might have changed.

Make sure you are in a poetry shell during development mode so that you execute the development version of pretext-cli rather than the system-installed version.

pretext --version # returns system version
poetry shell
pretext --version # returns version being developed

When inside a poetry shell you can navegate to other folders and run pretext commands. Doing so will use the current development environment version of pretext.

Updating dependencies

Show instructions

To add dependencies for the package, run

poetry add DEPENDENCY-NAME

If someone else has added a dependency:

poetry install

Using a local copy of PreTeXtBook/pretext

See docs/core_development.md.

Formatting code before a commit

All .py files are formatted with the black python formatter and checked by flake8. Proper formatting is enforced by checks in the Continuous Integration framework. Before you commit code, you should make sure it is formatted with black and passes flake8 by running the following commands (on linux or mac) from the root project folder (most likely pretext-cli).

poetry run black .
poetry run flake8

Testing

Sets are contained in tests/. To run all tests:

poetry run pytest

To run a specific test, say test_name inside test_file.py:

poetry run pytest -k name

Tests are automatically run by GitHub Actions when pushing to identify regressions.

Packaging

To check if a successful build is possible:

poetry run python scripts/build_package.py

To publish a new alpha release, first add/commit any changes. Then the following handles bumping versions, publishing to PyPI, and associated Git management.

poetry run python scripts/release_alpha.py

Publishing a stable release is similar:

poetry run python scripts/release_stable.py # patch +0.+0.+1
poetry run python scripts/release_stable.py minor # +0.+1.0
poetry run python scripts/release_stable.py major # +1.0.0

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About

PreTeXt-CLI Team

• Oscar Levin is co-creator and lead developer of PreTeXt-CLI.
• Steven Clontz is co-creator and a regular contributor of PreTeXt-CLI.
• Development of PreTeXt-CLI would not be possible without the frequent contributions of the wider PreTeXt-Runestone Open Source Ecosystem.

A note and special thanks

A pretext package unrelated to the PreTeXtBook.org project was released on PyPI several years ago by Alex Willmer. We are grateful for his willingness to transfer this namespace to us.

As such, versions of this project before 1.0 are released on PyPI under the name pretextbook, while versions 1.0 and later are released as pretext.

About PreTeXt

The development of PreTeXt's core is led by Rob Beezer.