Is it possible to use LaTeX tools with pdf preview?

Question

So I want to use LaTeX in sublime text 2, and I came across the plugin LaTeXTools. It works great, but it requires me to install Skim PDF Viewer. Is it possible to set it up so that when I compile the latex file it opens it in the PDF preview already installed on my mac?

Answer 1

UPDATE: This does not work as advertised.

I undeleted this post after @Bordaigorl posted the same solution. There are still some unresolved issues. Changing viewPDF.py appears to work only if Skim is not installed.

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The PDF-viewer in the LaTeXTools-package is configured in a file called viewPDF.py — as @kgr already pointed out. For OSX you can change the viewer form skim to preview by changing line 44 from:

viewercmd = ["open", "-a", "Skim"]

to:

viewercmd = ["open", "-a", "Preview"]

But I would recommend against it. Skim is an excellent PDF viewer that takes under 10 MiB on your harddisk.

Answer 2

The LaTeXTools plugin invokes the viewer from viewPDF.py.

Line 39 to 44 is the code which is selecting the commands to invoke when running on OSX:

    if s == "Darwin":
        # for inverse search, set up a "Custom" sync profile, using
        # "subl" as command and "%file:%line" as argument
        # you also have to put a symlink to subl somewhere on your path
        # Also check the box "check for file changes"
        viewercmd = ["open", "-a", "Skim"]

As you can see the Skim command is hard-coded in the script so there is no setting you can change to modify it from outside the script itself.

The simplest patch is replacing line 44 with

viewercmd = ["open", "-a", "preview"]

but be aware that if you installed Package Control and LaTeXTool gets updated you loose your patch.

So the best solution would be to open an issue on github suggesting they could read the command to be launched from a setting instead of hard-coding it.

Answer 3

Skim doesn't work currently in OSX Yosemite, so it looks like we're stuck with Preview for the time being.

I'm not sure what line @arjenz is referring to in his comment, since the code may have changed, but I couldn't get his solution to work. Here's what I did:

Find the jumpToPDF.py file, and change the lines (62-70 in commit 517c5a3):

if plat == 'darwin':
        options = ["-r","-g"] if keep_focus else ["-r"]     
        if forward_sync:
            subprocess.Popen(["/Applications/Skim.app/Contents/SharedSupport/displayline"] + 
                            options + [str(line), pdffile, srcfile])
        else:
            skim = os.path.join(sublime.packages_path(),
                            'LaTeXTools', 'skim', 'displayfile')
            subprocess.Popen(['sh', skim] + options + [pdffile])

To this:

    if plat == 'darwin':
        subprocess.Popen(["open", "-a", "Preview"] + [pdffile])

I am also not sure what this breaks, if anything, but the package is working fine so far.

Answer 4

A more updated answer; the best shot for switching to Preview.app is, in viewPDF.py, to set:

    if s == "Darwin":
        viewercmd = ["open", "-a", "Preview"]

With this, after compiling, you should be able to execute window.run_command("view_pdf") in the console and it should open the generated pdf with Preview. Then, in makePDF.py, change:

        if can_switch_to_pdf:
            self.window.active_view().run_command("jump_to_pdf", {"from_keybinding": False})

To:

        if can_switch_to_pdf:
            self.window.run_command("view_pdf")

In do_finish method inside make_pdfCommand class, or just change:

self.output_view.run_command("do_finish_edit")

To:

self.window.run_command("view_pdf")

In the previous line.

Hope it helps, tested it last night and it works!

PS: run_command should be executed on self.window, otherwise it woud not recognize window object.

Answer 5

The latest (2016) answer, following the addition of user-selectable viewers in bug fix #454, is to open your user preferences (Preferences → Package Settings → Latextools → Settings - User), and add the line with your previewer of choice.

In my case I added this to the main body of the preferences (i.e., not in the osx section, that didn't seem to work):

{
"hide_build_panel":"no_errors",
"viewer": "preview",
....
} 

This is documented in the Latextools 'manual' on Viewers. There is also a command viewer which will run your favorite viewer from the command line.

Answer 6

After installing Skim, I used package manager to uninstall LatexTools, then reinstall LatexTools and restarted Sublime. Then go into Skim-->Preferences-->Sync (tab), and click "Check for changes" and choose Sublime Text from the dropdown box. Finally, in Sublime Text when wanting to build you .tex file, click Tools--> Build System and there's one that LatexTools puts in called "LaTex". Use that to build and voila! upon building it opens the pdf in Skim. Also, upon rebuild it rebuilds and Skim doesn't lose your cursor placement upon the refresh.