latex backend can be selected now

src/pyladoc/__init__.py

@@ -673,7 +673,8 @@ class DocumentWriter():
     def to_pdf(self, file_path: str,
                font_family: Literal[None, 'serif', 'sans-serif'] = None,
                table_renderer: TRenderer = 'simple',
-               latex_template_path: str = '') -> bool:
+               latex_template_path: str = '',
+               engine: latex.LatexEngine = 'pdflatex') -> bool:
         """
         Export the document to a PDF file using LaTeX.
 
@@ -683,6 +684,7 @@ class DocumentWriter():
             latex_template_path: Path to a LaTeX template file. The
                 expression <!--CONTENT--> will be replaced by the generated content.
                 If no path is provided a default template is used.
+            engine: LaTeX engine (pdflatex, lualatex, xelatex or tectonic)
 
         Returns:
             True if the PDF file was successfully created
@@ -693,7 +695,7 @@ class DocumentWriter():
 
         if font_family == 'sans-serif':
             latex_code = latex.inject_latex_command(latex_code, '\\renewcommand{\\familydefault}{\\sfdefault}')
-        success, errors, warnings = latex.compile(latex_code, file_path)
+        success, errors, warnings = latex.compile(latex_code, file_path, engine=engine)
 
         if not success:
             print('Errors:')

src/pyladoc/latex.py

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from html.parser import HTMLParser
-from typing import Generator, Any
+from typing import Generator, Any, Literal, get_args
 from pandas.io.formats.style import Styler
 import re
 import os
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ import tempfile
 from .latex_escaping import unicode_to_latex_dict, latex_escape_dict
 
 
+LatexEngine = Literal['pdflatex', 'lualatex', 'xelatex', 'tectonic']
+
+
 def basic_formatter(value: Any) -> str:
     return escape_text(str(value))
 
@@ -248,7 +251,7 @@ def from_html(html_code: str) -> str:
     return ''.join(parser.latex_code)
 
 
-def compile(latex_code: str, output_file: str = '', encoding: str = 'utf-8') -> tuple[bool, list[str], list[str]]:
+def compile(latex_code: str, output_file: str = '', encoding: str = 'utf-8', engine: LatexEngine = 'pdflatex') -> tuple[bool, list[str], list[str]]:
     """
     Compiles LaTeX code to a PDF file.
 
@@ -256,6 +259,7 @@ def compile(latex_code: str, output_file: str = '', encoding: str = 'utf-8') ->
         latex_code: The LaTeX code to compile.
         output_file: The output file path.
         encoding: The encoding of the LaTeX code.
+        engine: LaTeX engine (pdflatex, lualatex, xelatex or tectonic)
 
     Returns:
         A tuple with three elements:
@@ -264,8 +268,13 @@ def compile(latex_code: str, output_file: str = '', encoding: str = 'utf-8') ->
         - A list of warnings.
     """
 
+    assert engine in get_args(LatexEngine), "engine must be pdflatex, lualatex, xelatex or tectonic"
+
     with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_path:
-        command = ['pdflatex', '-halt-on-error', '--output-directory', tmp_path]
+        if engine == 'tectonic':
+            command = ['tectonic', '--outdir', tmp_path, '-']
+        else:
+            command = [engine, '--halt-on-error', '--output-directory', tmp_path]
 
         errors: list[str] = []
         warnings: list[str] = []