Recommended build system for latex? [closed]

Answer 1

(This is a work in progress)

I'm trying vim-latexsuite at the moment. It basically turns vim into an IDE for latex.

Learning curve:

• Very unintuitive, but after the tutorial, it seems OK.
• It redefines some keys I like, and I can't seem to fix them.

Autocomplete:

• Makes using some built-in macros simpler
• Adding <<+>> to for user macros is very annoying.
• Replacing " with `` and the like is nice until you want " for some reason, then its an exercise in frustration.
• Its autocomplete can be annoying too. I have to reprogram myself for working in latex.

Build system:

• Awful
• quickfix doesn't work - it often puts me in the wrong file
• When latex reports errors with the result split over 2 lines, it doesn't detect it.

Answer 2

I haven't used it myself, but I've heard of Rubber as a good alternative.

From their website:

Rubber is a program whose purpose is to handle all tasks related to the compilation of LaTeX documents. This includes compiling the document itself, of course, enough times so that all references are defined, and running BibTeX to manage bibliographic references. Automatic execution of dvips to produce PostScript documents is also included, as well as usage of pdfLaTeX to produce PDF documents.

Answer 3

I'm using MikTeX in combination with TeXnicCenter. It works fine for my purposes. I've never ever had the system hiding errors or warnings. Custom build scripts are easy to create and configure.