This is a helper to run rst2pdf, including serving the final pdf file over python's http.server
If you are like me, you have a linux vm running under VMWare that you use to do things that you wouldn't do under windows; I edit most of my text files in linux, including many rst files that I convert to pdf (using rst2pdf).
This means I have a topology like this:
( public internet )
|
(Firewall + NAT)
|
+---------------+--------------+
| | <--- default gw +--------------------+
| Windows with VMWare Player +-------{ private vnic }------+ ens33 linux vm |
| | 10.0.0.0/24 | 10.0.0.6/24 |
+------------------------------+ +--------------------+
In this topology, I edit files on 10.0.0.6 but consume them in Windows; automagically serving the PDF via http in the linux vm is helpful so I can see the rendered pdf immediately after editing.
Assume I am building a pdf for a document saved as CoverLetter_20230927.rst with an 8-point font, and want to serve it on port 8080....
$ make all
...
$ python rst2pdf_http.py -f ../CoverLetter_20230927.rst -s 8 -i -w 8080
rst2pdf --stylesheet-path=/home/my_user/.rst2pdf/ --stylesheets=rst2pdf_stylesheet.yml CoverLetter_20230927.rst -o CoverLetter_20230927.pdf
/home/my_user/rst2pdf_http.py:284: UserWarning: Source and destination are the same file; no file copy was required.
warnings.warn("Source and destination are the same file; no file copy was required.")
Local URL http://10.0.0.6:8080/
Local URL http://[fe80::20c:29ff:fed9:91f9]:8080/
Serving HTTP on :: port 8080 (http://[::]:8080/) ...
This project can automate parts of your document. My use-case is generating a Restructured-text file with the contents of today's date as words in a file named ~/.rst2pdf/custom_rst_imports/today_as_words.rst. Instead of remembering to manually edit a document with today's date, I can just import a file with:
.. include:: /home/my_user/.rst2pdf/custom_rst_imports/localtime_today_as_words.rst
- Can I copy and run this script outside this git repo? Maybe, but some things will break; you really shouldn't do that.
- Do I need to run 'make all' every time? You only need to run 'make all' once per rst2pdf_http.py version.
- When I use
..include:: fooin my RestructuredText document, why do I see this error:(SEVERE/4) Problems with "include" directive path:? Your RestructuredText import path in your document is wrong. - Is this script supported on a Read-Only file system? No.
- Can you use this with non-RestructuredText files? Yes, but PDF conversion is only implemented for RestructuredText. If a non-RestructuredText file is used with
-f, then the file is served with the HTTP server as it was originally found.
$ python rst2pdf_http.py --help
usage: rst2pdf_http.py [-h] [-f START_FILEPATH] [-w WEBSERVER_PORT] [-i] [-n {Mono,Sans,Serif}] [-s {10,12,14}] [-a {Bold,Italic,Oblique}] [-d STYLESHEET_DIRECTORY]
[-e STYLESHEET_FILENAME] [-t TERMINAL_ENCODING] [-v]
Build a PDF from RestructuredText and serve via Go HTTP
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
required:
-f START_FILEPATH, --start_filepath START_FILEPATH
start filepath.
optional:
-w WEBSERVER_PORT, --webserver_port WEBSERVER_PORT
Start a webserver on this port.
-n {Mono,Sans,Serif}, --font_name {Mono,Sans,Serif}
rst2pdf font name; the default is 'Serif'.
-s {10,12,14}, --font_size {10,12,14}
rst2pdf font size; default is '12'.
-a {Bold,Italic,Oblique}, --font_attrs {Bold,Italic,Oblique}
rst2pdf font attrs; default is no font attributes.
-d STYLESHEET_DIRECTORY, --stylesheet_directory STYLESHEET_DIRECTORY
rst2pdf stylesheet_directory; the default is '/home/mpenning/.rst2pdf/'.
-e STYLESHEET_FILENAME, --stylesheet_filename STYLESHEET_FILENAME
rst2pdf stylesheet_filename; the default is 'rst2pdf_stylesheet.yml'.
-t TERMINAL_ENCODING, --terminal_encoding TERMINAL_ENCODING
.
--no_write_rst_imports
Don't write the canned rst imports.
-v, --version Output the script version number to stdout.