Mathematica2tikz an equivalent function

Question

Matlab2tikz is a script which generates native LaTeX/TikZ figures from MATLAB.

I am looking for an equivalent method/function in Mathematica. Obviously the final script may need some manual tinkering as Mathematica has numerous different plotting styles. I am looking for the equivalent of ListLinePlot[]

A similar question was asked on TeX StackExchange.

Further information: TikZ is a native Latex graphics package that produces high quality plots and diagrams. An example along with the source code to showcase the syntax is shown below. (Other examples can be found here.)

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{pgfplots}

\begin{document}

\begin{figure}
\centering
% This file was created by matlab2tikz v0.1.4.
% Copyright (c) 2008--2011, Nico Schlömer <nico.schloemer@gmail.com>
% All rights reserved.
% 
% The latest updates can be retrieved from
%   http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/22022-matlab2tikz
% where you can also make suggestions and rate matlab2tikz.
% 
\begin{tikzpicture}

\begin{axis}[%
scale only axis,
width=3.2877in,
height=2.37695in,
xmin=0, xmax=100,
ymin=0, ymax=100,
xlabel={x label},
ylabel={y label},
xmajorgrids,
ymajorgrids,
legend entries={$y=x$},
legend style={at={(0.97,0.03)},anchor=south east,fill=white,draw=black,nodes=right}]
\addplot [
color=blue,
solid
]
coordinates{
 (1,1)(2,2)(3,3)(4,4)(5,5)(6,6)(7,7)(8,8)(9,9)(10,10)(11,11)(12,12)(13,13)(14,14)(15,15)(16,16)(17,17)(18,18)(19,19)(20,20)(21,21)(22,22)(23,23)(24,24)(25,25)(26,26)(27,27)(28,28)(29,29)(30,30)(31,31)(32,32)(33,33)(34,34)(35,35)(36,36)(37,37)(38,38)(39,39)(40,40)(41,41)(42,42)(43,43)(44,44)(45,45)(46,46)(47,47)(48,48)(49,49)(50,50)(51,51)(52,52)(53,53)(54,54)(55,55)(56,56)(57,57)(58,58)(59,59)(60,60)(61,61)(62,62)(63,63)(64,64)(65,65)(66,66)(67,67)(68,68)(69,69)(70,70)(71,71)(72,72)(73,73)(74,74)(75,75)(76,76)(77,77)(78,78)(79,79)(80,80)(81,81)(82,82)(83,83)(84,84)(85,85)(86,86)(87,87)(88,88)(89,89)(90,90)(91,91)(92,92)(93,93)(94,94)(95,95)(96,96)(97,97)(98,98)(99,99)(100,100) 
};

\end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{figure}

\end{document} 

Answer 1

This is not a full answer, just a starting point:

• I would first write some functions that convert Mathematica graphics to a representation that is really close to the structure TikZ uses (similar to how Mathematica represents C using SymbolicC). I don't know TikZ, so this should be designed by someone who is quite familiar with it.

• Then I'd write a set of functions that can convert this representation to a string that is syntactically correct TikZ code.

---

Examples:

Extracting lines from a Plot:

This will extract the two lines from the plot:

lines = Cases[Plot[{Sin[x], Cos[x]}, {x, 0, 10}], Line[coords_] :> coords, Infinity]

Knowing exactly what sort of Graphics object Plot likes to generate, we can extract the style too:

Cases[Plot[{Sin[x], Cos[x]}, {x, 0, 10}], {style_, _Line}, Infinity]

Converting a symbolic representation to a string:

Looking at your example TikZ input, we can make something like the coordinate section using

coordList2TikZ[data_?MatrixQ] :=
 "coordinates{\n" <>
  StringJoin[
   "(" <> ToString[#1, CForm] <> "," <> ToString[#2, CForm] <> ")" & @@@ data] <>
  "\n};"

(StringForm will be useful here as well.)

This will take a list of coordinates and output some TikZ code:

coordList2TikZ[{{1, 2}, {3, 4}}]

(* ==>
coodinates{
(1,2)(3,4)
};
*)

You can try coordList2TikZ /@ lines as well. I do not know what sort of scientific notation TikZ uses, so I just used the C-style 1.23e-5 one.

Answer 2

I don't know if this can be considered as an answer to your question, but: Do not do that! That would mean learning a new tool (not even talking about programming it), facing singular situations which cannot be dealt with, and all that for a value close to zero.

I recommend the following workflow:

1. Run your Mathematica code
2. Export the results you want to plot as csv, dat, txt or similar.
3. In $\LaTeX$, use tikz and pgfplots to import your data and plot.

This way, you uncouple the "science" (the results) and its visualization. Developers of pgfplots have already spent a lot of time to think about a simple way of dealing with a vast variety of cases. No need to add another redundant layer. Also, it is cleaner: you end up with 1) Mathematica code, 2) data, 3) $\LaTeX$ code, instead of a Mathematica-generated $\LaTeX$ code. Some of my colleagues use matlab2tikz, editing the tex file is tedious and in the end, I think it does not bring a single advantage compared to the above-described workflow.

(It is a bit like using Lyx: the purpose of LaTeX is precisely not to be limited by WYSIWYG, with Lyx you combine the drawbacks of Openoffice (or similar) with the drawbacks of LaTeX, in a way)