AUCTeX and XeTeX

Question

I use Emacs+AUCTeX to write my *-tex. Using the PDF mode, I can run pdfTeX automatically with the C-c C-c command. However, I don't see a way to run XeTeX automatically, or even set up a command option in the drop down window. My LISP skills are very rusty, and I was wondering if someone had a tex.el patch to enable XeTeX support ?

egreg · Accepted Answer · 2021-08-31T21:13:33.830

59

If you have AUCTeX version 11.86, you can set the local variable TeX-engine to xetex. This is what I use:

%%% Local Variables: 
%%% coding: utf-8
%%% mode: latex
%%% TeX-engine: xetex
%%% End:

You have to open the file again for the effect to take place (C-x C-v).

You can check the version you have with

C-h v AUCTeX-version <RET>

edited Aug 31 '21 at 21:13

answered Jun 20 '11 at 20:27

egreg

1,121,712

is there a relatively easy way to check the version of auctex I have ? – Suresh Jun 20 '11 at 20:46
1

Where do we have to put those directives? inside tex files or... – May 13 '13 at 17:48
1

@HarishKumar At the very end of the TeX file. – egreg May 13 '13 at 17:49
3

for some reason these directives didn't change the TeX-engine to xetec using Emacs24.4 on Windows7! – doctorate Dec 31 '14 at 09:25
3

@doctorate The directives are read when you visit (open) the file. Close the file then open it again. – Jas Ter Mar 31 '17 at 07:34
GNU Emacs 25.3.2 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 3.18.9). Tried the above but got no change in error. but CLOSING AND REOPENING WORKS. – Pandian Le Feb 21 '21 at 19:32

score 21 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 12 '14 at 12:25

21

You can add this to your emacs.el:

(setq-default TeX-engine 'xetex)

And add this if you want a PDF output by default:

(setq-default TeX-PDF-mode t)

edited Mar 12 '14 at 12:25

Community

1

answered Aug 24 '11 at 09:20

Jiehong

227

6

Personally, I'd enable PDF output globally (with your syntax) but I'd set the TeX engine locally. – Blaisorblade Mar 16 '13 at 18:22

score 16 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 22 '13 at 18:22

For versions 11.86 and higher,¹ there is also

M-x TeX-engine-set RET xetex RET

which will make AUCTeX compile that particular file with XeTeX (or xelatex if the file is considered a LaTeX file). Note that this 'setting' will only continue to work so long as emacs is visiting that file. Often useful if you forgot to set the local variables, or you want to quickly compare how different engines compile the same document. Since PDFTeX can be much faster than other engines (esp. LuaTeX), I often use it while writing my documents, and only switch to LuaTeX in the final stage(s). Resetting the Local Variables all the time is not ideal for that.

¹ Actually, I'm not sure when this command was added....

Rémi · Answer 4 · 2013-12-22T09:45:53.160

You could customize the Tex Command List:

   M-x customize-variable TeX-command-list

There you can add a new commands to AUCTeX. Alternatively, you can directly modify your emacs init file:

;; set XeTeX mode in TeX/LaTeX
(add-hook 'LaTeX-mode-hook 
          (lambda()
             (add-to-list 'TeX-command-list '("XeLaTeX" "%`xelatex%(mode)%' %t" TeX-run-TeX nil t))
             (setq TeX-command-default "XeLaTeX")
             (setq TeX-save-query nil)
             (setq TeX-show-compilation t)))

AUCTeX and XeTeX

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