How do I reference the main .tex file when writing user-defined commands in TeXworks?

Question

I am trying to create user-defined commands in TeXworks, but am having problems finding the syntax to reference the main .tex file. For instance, creating a .bat-file and then a new "typesetting tool" in TeXworks pointing to that .bat file works fine if the contents is the following line:

pdflatex "mylatexfile.tex"

"mylatexfile.tex" then compiles without problems, and the first line of the compiler output is

C:\mypath>pdflatex "mylatexfile.tex"

The following, however, doesn't work:

pdflatex "%1.tex"

The compiler then starts with the line

C:\mypath>pdflatex ".tex"

and ends with "...File ignored)...". Am I wrong to assume that "%1" references the main latex file? (That's what I understood from http://code.google.com/p/texworks/wiki/AdvancedTypesettingTools#tex_-%3E_dvips_-%3E_ps2pdf.)

In the latex editor LEd, I've successfully created user-defined commands using .bat files. There, however "%2" is supposed to reference the main latex file. I've tried that in TeXworks but to no avail. I get the same result as using "%1".

Any tips?

I'm using MiKTeX 2.9 and Windows 7.

Answer 1

The use of %1, %2 and so on makes sense within a batch file, and picks up the arguments it is supplied at the command line. So if I had a minimal batch file demo.bat:

pdflatex "%1.tex"

I would use it at the Command Line as

demo mylatexfile

What I think you are doing is trying to use %1 to refer to the main file when executing the batch file from TeXworks. However, TeXworks uses the code $fullname to refer to the main TeX file including the extension, and $basename for the name minus the extension. For example, the set up I have for running pdfLaTeX directly is:

So to run my example batch file, which needs one argument, I would have something like

where I'd need one line in the 'Arguments' box for each one the batch file needs (%1, %2, and so on).