Pandoc Executable Code Block Filter

This Pandoc Lua filter allows you to execute code blocks within a markdown file and include the output in the generated PDF, right after the corresponding code block.

Supported Languages

The filter supports the following languages:

1. Python
2. Javascript
3. Java
4. C++

Prerequisites

To use this filter, you must have the corresponding language runtime or compiler installed and accessible from your system's command line:

• For Javascript, you need to have Node.js installed and the node command should be available.
• For C++, Java, and Python, the g++, java, and python commands should be available respectively.

If these commands are not recognized by your system, the filter will not work.

Usage

To use the filter, add #exec within the {} of the code block, like so:

```{.python #exec}
print("Hello World")
```

You can replace #exec with any other tag such as #execute or #run, but it cannot be left empty like {python #}.

Then, add the filter to your pandoc filters directory and run pandoc with the --lua-filter option:

pandoc input.md -o output.pdf --lua-filter execute.lua

Caution

Ensure that no file in the directory you run your pandoc command from shares the name you've used after the #. For instance, if you've used #execute in {.python #execute}, confirm that there isn't a file named execute.py in the same directory. If such a file exists, the filter will delete it. This occurs because the filter creates a temporary file with the same name, executes it, and then removes it upon completion.

Additionally, ensure there is no file named _output.txt in the working directory. This file will also be overwritten then deleted.

Example

To see a working example of the filter, check the example directory.