Rakefile for LaTeX from: http://rkj.github.com/LaTeX/rake/2010/01/15/LaTeX-with-Rakefile.html

Rakefile

TEX_FILES = FileList["*.tex", "figures/*", "*.bib", "*.cls"]
MAIN = "thesis" # name of main file without .tex suffix
MAIN_TEX = "#{MAIN}.tex"
OUT_PDF = "#{MAIN}.pdf"

file OUT_PDF => TEX_FILES do
  %x{pdflatex -interaction=batchmode #{MAIN_TEX} >/dev/null 2>&1}
  %x{makeindex #{MAIN} >/dev/null 2>&1}
  %x{bibtex #{MAIN} >/dev/null 2>&1}
  %x{pdflatex -interaction=batchmode #{MAIN_TEX} >/dev/null 2>&1}
  %x{bibtex #{MAIN}.gls >/dev/null 2>&1}
  %x{makeindex #{MAIN} >/dev/null 2>&1}
  %x{pdflatex -interaction=batchmode #{MAIN_TEX} >/dev/null 2>&1}
  %x{makeindex #{MAIN} >/dev/null 2>&1}
  %x{bibtex #{MAIN} >/dev/null 2>&1}
  %x{bibtex #{MAIN}.gls >/dev/null 2>&1}
  %x{pdflatex -interaction=batchmode #{MAIN_TEX} >/dev/null 2>&1}
  sh "pdflatex -interaction=batchmode #{MAIN_TEX} >/dev/null"
  cp "#{MAIN}.pdf"
end

desc "Removes unnecessery files"
task :clean do
  rm FileList["*.aux","*.bak","*.log","*.blg", "*.bbl", "*.toc", "*.out", "*.idx", "*.ilg", "*.ind", "#{THESIS}.pdf", "*.dep", "*.glo", "*.gls"]
end

task :default => [:run]

"Open text editor to edit files"
task :edit do
  ["$EDITOR", "mate", "vim", "emacs"].find do |editor|
    system "#{editor} *tex *bib Rakefile"
  end or puts "Unable to find text editor."
end

task :run do
  t = Rake::Task[OUT_PDF]
  loop do
    begin
      t.reenable
      t.invoke
    rescue => e
      puts "Error: #{e}, sleeping for 15 seconds."
      Kernel.sleep 15
    end
    Kernel.sleep 1      
  end
end

desc "Shows Thesis"
task :view => [OUT_PDF] do
  ["open", "okular", "kpdf", "acroread"].find do |viewer|
    system "#{viewer} #{OUT_PDF}"
  end or
  puts "Unable to find any pdf viewer."
end