AUCTeX write only region file

Question

Since I'm used to use latexmk -pvc I'd like to do the following:

• Run latexmk -pvc (externally) on the _region_.tex file
• Use AUCTeX to just write the region file instead of compiling.

Is there a way to achieve this?

This way I do not block emacs all the time compiling and if an error occurs I use my standard C-c C-c command.

Answer 1

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: I am by no means an elisp hacker, but looking at TeX-command-region I thought that this could help:

(defun TeX-save-region ()
  "Saves the TeX region to the file whose name is defined by TeX-region."
  (interactive)
  (and (or (null TeX-command-region-begin)
       (markerp TeX-command-region-begin))
       (TeX-active-mark)
       (TeX-pin-region (region-beginning) (region-end)))
  (let ((begin (or TeX-command-region-begin (region-beginning)))
    (end (or TeX-command-region-end (region-end))))
    (TeX-region-create (TeX-region-file TeX-default-extension)
               (buffer-substring begin end)
               (file-name-nondirectory (buffer-file-name))
               (TeX-current-offset begin))))

(Not that I exactly understand each and every part of this code, but the general idea should be more or less clear.) Now it remains to bind this to your favorite key.

Notice also that compiling with C-c C-r does not "block" emacs, and in my setup I can hit C-c C-r, continue editing the document, and as soon as the compilation finishes, the pdf viewer updates automatically.