Allow passing commands to compiler instead of enforcing an executable

[Alvaro-Kothe]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe it.
Currently, VimTeX's compiler configuration expects the executable field to be a single executable name or path. This prevents users from running compilers through containerized environments, such as toolbox run -c texbox latexmk.

Describe the solution you'd like
I want to have an option in g:vimtex_compiler_latexmk to pass a command (or don't fail when passing a command to executable):

let g:vimtex_compiler_latexmk = {
    \ 'executable' : 'toolbox run -c texbox latexmk', " this currently fails when trying to compile
    \ 'executable' : ['toolbox', 'run', '-c', 'texbox', 'latexmk'], " maybe permit when it's a list 
    \ 'command': 'toolbox run -c texbox latexmk' " another alternative
}

Describe alternatives you've considered
I currently am using options like this:

      vim.g.vimtex_compiler_latexmk = {
        ["executable"] = "toolbox",
        ["options"] = {
          "run",
          "-c",
          "texbox",
          "latexmk",
          "-verbose",
          "-file-line-error",
          "-synctex=1",
          "-interaction=nonstopmode",
        },
      }

Other discussed options are using compiler_generic (vide #1898) and creating a wrapper (vide #3190 (comment))

[lervag]

Other discussed options ... creating a wrapper (vide #3190 (comment))

I'm curious, does creating a wrapper work for you; if not, could you explain why? And if it does work, can you explain why you find this to not be a sufficient solution?

[Alvaro-Kothe]

does creating a wrapper work for you

It works, and I do think it's sufficient. But I just find that this verification is unnecessarily limiting:

function! s:compiler.__check_requirements() abort dict " {{{1
  if !executable(self.executable)
    call vimtex#log#warning(self.executable . ' is not executable')
    let self.enabled = v:false
  endif
endfunction

I also faced 2 problems when creating the wrapper:

1. I named the wrapper latexmk and it ended up creating an infinite loop.
2. Then I created the wrapper with this command: toolbox run -c texbox /usr/bin/latexmk $@, but VimTex couldn't run in continuous mode, until I changed $@ with "$@".

[lervag]

does creating a wrapper work for you

It works, and I do think it's sufficient.

Great, thanks!

But I just find that this verification is unnecessarily limiting:

function! s:compiler.__check_requirements() abort dict " {{{1
  if !executable(self.executable)
    call vimtex#log#warning(self.executable . ' is not executable')
    let self.enabled = v:false
  endif
endfunction

Out of curiousity, does things work for you if you simply remove this check and use the 'executable' : 'toolbox run -c texbox latexmk' variant?

One possibility here could be to only check if the first word in self.executable is executable, i.e. split on spaces and check the first element.

I also faced 2 problems when creating the wrapper:

1. I named the wrapper latexmk and it ended up creating an infinite loop.

That's fascinating. 😅

2. Then I created the wrapper with this command: toolbox run -c texbox /usr/bin/latexmk $@, but VimTex couldn't run in continuous mode, until I changed $@ with "$@".

Ok, I guess that's due to the shells interpretation of arguments and strings.

[Alvaro-Kothe]

Out of curiousity, does things work for you if you simply remove this check and use the 'executable' : 'toolbox run -c texbox latexmk' variant?

Yep. it works without any problems. I can compile in a single shot and compile in continuous mode. But I just tested with latexmk.

One possibility here could be to only check if the first word in self.executable is executable, i.e. split on spaces and check the first element.

This is a valid solution.

nvim-lspconfig provides an example using containers: https://github.com/neovim/nvim-lspconfig/wiki/Running-language-servers-in-containers#general-example-pylsp

They don't show any errors at runtime, but shows problems in checkhealth

vim.lsp: Enabled Configurations ~
- ⚠️ WARNING 'foo' is not executable. Configuration will not be used.
- clangd:
...
  - cmd: { "foo", "--background-index", "--clang-tidy" }
  - filetypes: c, cpp, objc, objcpp, cuda
  - on_attach: <function @/home/alvarojsk/.local/share/nvim/lazy/nvim-lspconfig/lsp/clangd.lua:91>
  - on_init: <function @/home/alvarojsk/.local/share/nvim/lazy/nvim-lspconfig/lsp/clangd.lua:86>
  - root_markers: { ".clangd", ".clang-tidy", ".clang-format", "compile_commands.json", "compile_flags.txt", "configure.ac", ".git" }

[Alvaro-Kothe]

Just checked the neovim lsp implementation.

They do check if the first argument in the list is an executable at runtime.

local function validate_cmd(v)
  if type(v) == 'table' then
    if vim.fn.executable(v[1]) == 0 then
      return false, v[1] .. ' is not executable'
    end
    return true
  end
  return type(v) == 'function'
end

[lervag]

Thanks for the PR! The contribution is much appreciated!