Hi all,
thank you for the inputs. Now I feel that it is better to have a package
for this purpose. The package is a better idea also as one may
incorporate traditional marathi aspects of drama in it.
This leads to the next question: where can I find a good resource to learn
how to write latex packages? I have, I would say, slightly more than
working knowledge of latex. However, when I looked at the packages, I could
not figure out how to create them.
If community guidelines demand, then I would start a new thread with this
question.
Thank you all very much!
With best regards,
-Rohit.
On Mon, Apr 13, 2020 at 2:51 AM Ross Moore <ross.mo...@mq.edu.au> wrote:
> Hi Zdenek,
>
> On 13/04/2020, at 0:00, "Zdenek Wagner" <zdenek.wag...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
>
> This can be done with \let and \def, not with \newcommand:
>
> \let\savedLabel\label
> \def\label#1{Do something with #1 \SavedLabel{#1}}
>
> The second line could be replaced with
> \renewcommand*\label[1]{Do something with #1 \SavedLabel{#1}}
>
>
> This idea can be extended somewhat.
>
> \makeatletter
> \def\MY@label#1{Do something with #1 \LTX@label{#1}}
> \AtBeginDocument{
> \let\LTX@label\label
> \let\label\MY@label
> }
> \makeatother
>
> This way you retain pointers to both your own version and the original,
> so can change between them if necessary, within different parts of your
> document, or within specially tailored environments.
>
> Delaying the \let rebindings using \AtBeginDocument means that it will
> still work
> if some other package (such as hyperref ) makes its own changes,
> which you also want to incorporate.
>
>
> \providecommand is useful if you assume that a definition exist but you
> want to provide a default definition.
>
>
> Sure.
> It is particularly useful when devising templates that will be filled with
> information
> provided by a database, and command-line shell software that automates
> calls to TeX or LaTeX or other engine.
>
> latex '\def\name{client name} ... \input{mytemplate.tex}'
>
> where mytemplate.tex is the main LaTeX source, having
> \providecommand{\name}{some default}
> and similarly for all the variable data fields.
>
> I use this kind of setup to automate personalised assignment cover-sheets,
> generated online in response to student requests from a web page.
> Sometimes the full question sheet is done this way,
> with versions personalized, or randomized, based upon student ID numbers.
>
>
> The newcommand family is useful because it offers a default first argument
> but if you use arguments with the newcommand family, use always the star
> version so that the macro is not \long. If you forget a right brace after
> an argument, you will get an error message at the end of a paragraph but
> without the star you get an error message at the end of a file hence it is
> difficult the source of the error.
>
> Construct \csname scenename\endcsname expands to the contents of
> \scenename if already defined or is defined to be identical with \relax if
> not yet defined. When checking existence of definition, LaTeX does the
> following:
>
> \expandafter\ifx\csname scenename\endcsname\relax
> code for \scenename not yet defined
> \else
> code for \scenename already defined
> \fi
>
>
> With \csname you can test for all kinds of things,
> and even adjust macros like \begin and \end to patch in extra coding
> for specific environments, whether a package is loaded or not.
>
> The possibilities are endless.
>
>
> Cheers.
> Stay safe.
>
> Ross
>
>
> Of course, the whole \else part can be omitted if you have nothing to put
> there.
>
> Zdeněk Wagner
> http://ttsm.icpf.cas.cz/team/wagner.shtml
> <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/QcrSCnx1Z5UgvO8wS9Msu9?domain=ttsm.icpf.cas.cz>
> http://icebearsoft.euweb.cz
> <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/fkdBCoV1Y2S5EqO9HzWPDx?domain=icebearsoft.euweb.cz>
>
>
> ne 12. 4. 2020 v 12:49 odesílatel Ross Moore <ross.mo...@mq.edu.au>
> napsal:
>
>> Hi Phil, Zdeněk and others.
>>
>> On 12 Apr 2020, at 7:46 pm, Philip Taylor <p.tay...@hellenic-institute.uk>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Zdeněk Wagner wrote:
>>
>> I would not do it. Of course, you cannot use \renewcommand because
>> \scenename is not used in any *.ldf. You could use \def\scenename{दरश्य} […]
>>
>>
>> LaTeX has \providecommand with the same syntax as \newcommand and
>> \renewcommand .
>>
>> It makes the definition *only* if the c-s is not already known.
>> This means that you can always use:
>>
>> \providecommand\mycs{}
>> \renewcommand\mycs{ what I really want }
>>
>> to get around such issues.
>>
>>
>> A thought — if \scenename is not known at the point that the last line of
>> [gloss-]marathi.ldf is read, would there be any point in using \def
>> \scenename {दरश्य}, since such definition would either get over-ridden by
>> whatever subsequent definition of \scename is causing the problem (\def,
>> \renewcommand), or would prevent a subsequent \newcommand from working as
>> \scenename would already be defined. Is this not the case (he asked, as
>> someone who barely understands anything that LaTeX does ...) ?
>>
>>
>> There is always a way to get what you want,
>> whether using Plain TeX or LaTeX or whatever other high-level macro
>> structures.
>>
>> Thus the important thing is how to make it resistant to updates, as
>> Zdeněk said.
>>
>>
>> *Philip Taylor*
>>
>>
>> Hope this helps.
>> Stay safe.
>>
>> Ross
>>
>>
>> Dr Ross Moore
>> Department of Mathematics and Statistics
>> 12 Wally’s Walk, Level 7, Room 734
>> Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
>> T: +61 2 9850 8955 | F: +61 2 9850 8114
>> M:+61 407 288 255 | E: ross.mo...@mq.edu.au
>> http://www.maths.mq.edu.au
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