I managed to find the perfect solution! For some reason, this didn't show up on my previous Google searches. I tailored my version of this solution: http://nimal.info/blog/2010/latex-on-windows-with-miktex-and-notepad/
My version (on a 64-bit Windows 7 machine) is as follows:
- Download and install Basic MiKTeX 2.9 (32-bit)
- Download and install SumatraPDF
- Create a batch file
miktex_to_latex.bat
and place it anywhere- For easy location, place the batch file in the [Notepad++ installation Path]
-
Copy-paste the following into the batch file and save it
:: Called from Notepad++ Run :: [path_to_bat_file] "$(CURRENT_DIRECTORY)" "$(NAME_PART)" :: Change Drive and to File Directory %~d1 cd %1 :: Run Cleanup call:cleanup :: Run pdflatex -> bibtex -> pdflatex -> pdflatex pdflatex %2 bibtex %2 :: If you are using multibib the following will run bibtex on all aux files :: FOR /R . %%G IN (*.aux) DO bibtex %%G pdflatex %2 pdflatex %2 :: Run Cleanup call:cleanup :: Open PDF START "" "C:\Progra~2\SumatraPDF\SumatraPDF.exe" %3 -reuse-instance :: Cleanup Function :cleanup del *.dvi del *.out :: del *.log :: del *.aux :: del *.bbl :: del *.blg :: del *.brf goto:eof
-
Take care of the following:
- All lines beginning with double colon
::
are comments - the
START
command should have the installation path of SumatraPDF - Make sure there are NO spaces in the path (Use
Progra~2
, notProgram Files (X86)
) - The
-reuse-instance
allows us to edit and recompile without quitting the PDF
- All lines beginning with double colon
-
Download (if it does not already exist) the NppExec plugin and place the
.dll
file in [Notepad++ installation path]\plugins -
Open a
.tex
file in Notepad++, click on F6 to execute -
Type the following lines in the window that pops up:
NPP_SAVE "<Path_to_bat_file>" "$(CURRENT_DIRECTORY)" "$(NAME_PART)" "$(NAME_PART).pdf"
In my case, this is:
NPP_SAVE "C:\Progra~2\Notepad++\miktex_to_latex.bat" "$(CURRENT_DIRECTORY)" "$(NAME_PART)" "$(NAME_PART).pdf"
The above lines basically tell NppExec to "save the current
.tex
file, run the batch file, store results in current directory and name it the same as the.tex
file" -
Click on "Save" and type in a recognizable name such as 'PDFLaTex'
-
Go to the menubar, Plugins -> NppExec -> Advanced Options.. Under 'Menu item', choose the script we just created above, and 'Add/Modify' it to the Menu items with a suitable name. This allows us to assign shortcut keys through Settings -> Shortcut Mapper -> Plugin commands
-
Navigate to the script name and choose any shortcut key like F7
-
Press the shortcut key F7 to save and compile the
.tex
file. The SumatraPDF window should pop up and show the compiled PDF. Changes can be made and the file recompiledwithout having to close the PDF.
The BEST parts about this method are:
- There is no need to keep pressing Ctrl+S to save and then compile to PDF. Everything is done in one key press!
- There is no need to keep closing the opened PDF and reopening it on recompiling (as in the case with Adobe Reader)
- It is very easy to cleanup all the junk files generated
- It is completely open-source and can be easily integrated with an existing Notepad++ installation