Can Latex copy external files around the computer's file system

Question

I have a latex document like the below
documentclass{article}
usepackage{graphicx}
newcommand{plott}[1]{
begin{figure}
        includegraphics{#1}
end{figure}
}

begin{document}
plott{"c:documentschart1.pdf"}
plott{"c:downloadschart2.pdf"}
end{document}

Now as well as chart1.pdf and chart2.pdf I have files chart1.csv and chart2.csv (which live in the same folders as these charts) which contains the data that went into make the chart.
I want to add logic to plott to copy these csvs to a third folder so that when I compile the document I get not only a document but also a folder containing all of the input data. Is it possible for latex to copy external files like this?

Ivan · Accepted Answer

Using immediatewrite18 you can run an external program from a .tex file, so
newcommand{plott}[2][]{
  immediatewrite18{cp #2 plott}
   begin{figure}
    includegraphics[#1]{#2}
   end{figure}
}

(1) will include #2 in the output and
(2) will copy it into the plott folder.
Requirements for this solution:
(1) You are using a Unix-like OS.
(2) A TeX Live distribution is installed on your system.
(3) A folder named plott exists in the same directory of the main .tex file. You can create it automatically with immediatewrite18{mkdir plott} if you prefer.
A minimal working example
I used two images from TeX Live, but you can change the path, of course, and use other files:
documentclass{article}
usepackage{graphicx}

newcommand{plott}[2][]{
immediatewrite18{cp #2 plott}
 begin{figure}
  includegraphics[#1]{#2}
 end{figure}
}

begin{document}
 plott{/usr/local/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/mwe/example-image-a.jpg}
 plott{/usr/local/texlive/2020/texmf-dist/tex/latex/mwe/example-image-b.jpg}
end{document}

Can Latex copy external files around the computer's file system

One Answer

Requirements for this solution:

A minimal working example

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