Script to recursively generate PDF files from markdown files in the current directory and its subfolders using "pandoc".

generate-pdf.sh

#!/bin/bash

# The MIT License (MIT)
# 
# Copyright (c) 2013 https://gist.github.com/rbf
# 
# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
# this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in
# the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to
# use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of
# the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
# subject to the following conditions:
# 
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
# copies or substantial portions of the Software.
# 
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS
# FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR
# COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER
# IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
# CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
 
printhelp(){
cat << EOF
Usage:

  $ ./generate-pdf.sh [path-pattern [target-path]]
  $ ./generate-pdf.sh --help

Examples:

  $ ./generate-pdf.sh --help        Prints this help and exits

  $ ./generate-pdf.sh               All .md and .markdown files in the current directory and its
                                    subdirectories are converted in pdf in the  ./target directory,
                                    maintaining its original sub-folder structure

  $ ./generate-pdf.sh api           All .md and .markdown files in the current directory and its
                                    subdirectories containing "api" (case sensitive) in the  file name or
                                    the path are converted in pdf in the  ./target directory, maintaining
                                    its original sub-folder structure

  $ ./generate-pdf.sh ./doc/*api    All .md and .markdown files in the "doc/" subdirectory and its
                                    subdirectories containing "api" (case sensitive) in the  file name or
                                    the path are converted in pdf in the  ./target directory, maintaining
                                    its original sub-folder structure

  $ ./generate-pdf.sh api pdfs      All .md and .markdown files in the current directory and its
                                    subdirectories containing "api" (case sensitive) in the  file name or
                                    the path are converted in pdf in the  ./pdfs directory, maintaining
                                    its original sub-folder structure

  $ ./generate-pdf.sh api .         All .md and .markdown files in the current directory and its
                                    subdirectories containing "api" (case sensitive) in the  file name or
                                    the path are converted in pdf in the  current directory, maintaining
                                    its original sub-folder structure, i.e. next to their .md counterparts

  $ ./generate-pdf.sh . .           All .md and .markdown files in the current directory and its
                                    subdirectories are converted in pdf in the  current directory,
                                    maintaining its original sub-folder structure, i.e. next to their .md
                                    counterparts

EOF
exit 0
}

if [ "${1}" == "--help" ]
then
  printhelp
elif [ "${1:0:2}" == "--" ]
then
  echo "Invalid option: ${1}"
  echo
  printhelp
fi

GP_BASE_DIR="$(pwd)"
GP_TARGET_DIR="${2:-target}"

for file in $(find . -type f -path "*${1}*" \( -iname "*.md" -or -iname "*.markdown" \) -print)
do
  echo -n "[INFO]  Processing file: $file "
  GP_CURRENT_DIR=$(dirname "$file")
  GP_CURRENT_FILENAME=$(basename "$file")
  GP_TARGET_CURRENT_DIR="${GP_TARGET_DIR}/${GP_CURRENT_DIR}"
  GP_TARGET_CURRENT_FILEPATH="${GP_TARGET_CURRENT_DIR}/$(basename "$file" ".md").pdf"
  # Remove unnecessary (but not wrong) "/./" from path for enhanced prompt in stdout
  GP_TARGET_CURRENT_FILEPATH="${GP_TARGET_CURRENT_FILEPATH/\/.\///}"
  GP_TARGET_CURRENT_FILEPATH="./${GP_TARGET_CURRENT_FILEPATH#./}"
  mkdir -p ${GP_TARGET_CURRENT_DIR}
  # Since pandoc look for images relatives to where it is called (https://github.com/jgm/pandoc/issues/917)
  # we have to cd into the directory of the given file before pandoc'ing it,
  # and we have to pass the full path in the -o parameter.
  cd "${GP_CURRENT_DIR}"
  GP_PANDOC_OUTPUT=$(pandoc --toc --number-sections "${GP_CURRENT_FILENAME}" -o ${GP_BASE_DIR}/${GP_TARGET_CURRENT_FILEPATH#./} 2>&1) # to capture pandoc stderr output
  if [ "$?" == 0 ]
  then
    echo "--> ${GP_TARGET_CURRENT_FILEPATH}"
  else
    echo -e "\r[ERROR] Processing file: $file - Detail below"
    GP_ERRORS+=("$(echo -e "[ERROR] ${file} - Failed generation of PDF\n[ERROR] Expected target file: ${GP_TARGET_CURRENT_FILEPATH}\n[ERROR] ${GP_PANDOC_OUTPUT}\n\n\n")")
  fi
  cd "${GP_BASE_DIR}"
done

if [ ${#GP_ERRORS[@]} -eq 0 ]
then
  exit 0
fi

echo
echo "[ERROR] ===================================================================="
echo "[ERROR] pandoc failed to generate PDF for ${#GP_ERRORS[@]} file(s)"
echo "[ERROR] ===================================================================="

for i in "${GP_ERRORS[@]}"
do
  echo
  echo "${i}"
  echo
done

exit 1

Thats's sounds awesome... Do you know how to make a similar thing on Windows?

I like the idea but...

/home/howie/bin/process-md: line 188: syntax error near unexpected token `newline'
/home/howie/bin/process-md: line 188: `  done'