summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/macros/latex/contrib/mfirstuc/mfirstuc-manual.tex
blob: e741c6d45da10d430232e369807fa4c5037d3982 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
\documentclass[report]{nlctdoc}

\usepackage[a4paper,left=1.75in]{geometry}
\usepackage{alltt}
\usepackage{mfirstuc}
\usepackage{pifont}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\ifpdf
 \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
 \usepackage{metalogo}
\else
 \providecommand{\XeLaTeX}{XeLaTeX}
 \providecommand{\XeTeX}{XeTeX}
\fi
\usepackage{cmap}
\usepackage[colorlinks,
            bookmarks,
            hyperindex=false,
            pdfauthor={Nicola L.C. Talbot},
            pdftitle={mfirstuc.sty: uppercasing first letter},
            pdfkeywords={LaTeX,package,uppercase}]{hyperref}

\IndexPrologue{%
\chapter*{\indexname}\markright{\indexname}
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{\indexname}}

\begin{document}
\MakeShortVerb{|}
 \title{mfirstuc.sty v2.07: 
uppercasing first letter}
 \author{Nicola L.C. Talbot\\[10pt]
Dickimaw Books\\
\url{http://www.dickimaw-books.com/}}

 \date{2021-10-15}
 \maketitle
 \tableofcontents

 \chapter{Introduction}
 \label{sec:intro}

The \styfmt{mfirstuc} package was originally part of the
\styfmt{glossaries} bundle for use with commands like \cs{Gls}, but
as the commands provided by \styfmt{mfirstuc} may be used without
\styfmt{glossaries}, the two have been split into separately
maintained packages.

\begin{important}
The commands described here all have limitations. To minimise
problems, use text-block style semantic commands with one argument
(the text that requires case-changing), and avoid scoped 
declarations.
\end{important}

Here are some examples of semantic commands:
\begin{enumerate}
\item Quoted material:
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand{\qt}[1]{``#1''}
\end{verbatim}
(or use the \styfmt{csquotes} package). With this, the following
works:
\begin{verbatim}
\makefirstuc{\qt{word}}
\end{verbatim}
This produces:
\begin{display}
\makefirstuc{\qt{word}}
\end{display}
Whereas 
\begin{verbatim}
\makefirstuc{``word''}
\end{verbatim}
fails (no case-change and double open quote becomes two single open
quotes):
\begin{display}
\makefirstuc{``word''}
\end{display}

\item Font styles or colours:
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand*{\alert}[1]{\textcolor{red}{#1}}
\end{verbatim}
Now the following is possible:
\begin{verbatim}
\makefirstuc{\alert{word}}
\end{verbatim}
This produces
\begin{display}
\newcommand*{\alert}[1]{\textcolor{red}{#1}}%
\makefirstuc{\alert{word}}
\end{display}
Note that \verb|\makefirstuc{\textcolor{red}{word}}| fails
(with an error) because the case-changing interferes with the label.
\end{enumerate}

Define these semantic commands robustly if you intend using
any of the commands that fully expand their argument
(\cs{emakefirstuc}, \cs{ecapitalisewords} and
\cs{ecapitalisefmtwords}).

\chapter{Capitalising the First Letter of a Word}
\label{sec:makefirstuc}

A simple word can be capitalised just using the standard \LaTeX\
upper casing command. For example,
\begin{verbatim}
\MakeUppercase word
\end{verbatim}
but for commands like \cs{Gls} the word may be embedded within the
argument of another command, such as a~font changing command. This
makes things more complicated for a~general purpose solution, so
the \styfmt{mfirstuc} package provides:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro{\makefirstuc}]
\cs{makefirstuc}\marg{stuff}
\end{definition}
This makes the first object of
\meta{stuff} upper case unless \meta{stuff} starts with a control
sequence followed by a non-empty group, in which case the first
object in the group is converted to upper case.
\textbf{No expansion is performed on the argument.}

If \meta{stuff} starts with punctuation that should be skipped over,
use:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\MFUskippunc]
\cs{MFUskippunc}\marg{punctuation}
\end{definition}

\begin{important}
If \meta{stuff} starts with a control sequence that takes more than
one argument, the case-changing will always be applied to the
\emph{first} argument. If the text that requires the case change is
in one of the other arguments, you must hide the earlier arguments
in a wrapper command. For example, instead of \verb|\textcolor{red}{text}|
you need to define, say, \verb|\red| as \verb|\color{red}| and use
\verb|\red{text}|.
\end{important}

Examples:
\begin{itemize}
\item |\makefirstuc{abc}| produces \makefirstuc{abc}.

\item |\makefirstuc{\emph{abc}}| produces \makefirstuc{\emph{abc}}
(\ics{MakeUppercase} has been applied to the letter \qt{a} rather
than \cs{emph}). Note however that
\begin{verbatim}
\makefirstuc{{\em abc}}
\end{verbatim}
produces \makefirstuc{{\em abc}} (first object is |{\em abc}| so
this is equivalent to |\MakeUppercase{\em abc}|), and
\begin{verbatim}
{\makefirstuc{\em abc}}
\end{verbatim}
produces {\makefirstuc{\em abc}} (|\em| doesn't have an argument
therefore first object is |\em| and so is equivalent to
|{\MakeUppercase{\em}abc}|).

\item |\makefirstuc{{\'a}bc}| produces \makefirstuc{{\'a}bc}.

\item |\makefirstuc{\ae bc}| produces \makefirstuc{\ae bc}.

\item |\makefirstuc{{\ae}bc}| produces \makefirstuc{{\ae}bc}.

\item |\makefirstuc{{ä}bc}| produces \makefirstuc{{ä}bc}.

\item |\makefirstuc{\MFUskippunc{'}tis the season}| produces
\makefirstuc{\MFUskippunc{'}tis the season}.

\end{itemize}

Note that non-Latin or accented characters appearing at the
start of the text should be placed in a group (even if you are
using the \sty{inputenc} package). The reason for this restriction
is detailed in \sectionref{sec:utf8}.

\textbf{New to version 2.04:} There is now limited support for
UTF-8 characters with the \sty{inputenc} package, provided that
you load \sty{datatool-base} (at least v2.24) before
\styfmt{mfirstuc} (\sty{datatool-base} is loaded automatically with newer versions
of \sty{glossaries}). If available
\sty{mfirstuc} will now use \sty{datatool-base}'s
\ics{dtl@getfirst@UTFviii} command which is still experimental.
See the \styfmt{datatool} manual for further details.

\begin{verbatim}
\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\usepackage{datatool-base}[2016/01/12]% v2.24+
\usepackage{mfirstuc}

\begin{document}
\makefirstuc{élite}
\end{document}
\end{verbatim}
(Package ordering is important.)

\begin{important}
In version 1.02 of \styfmt{mfirstuc}, a bug fix resulted in a change
in output if the first object is a control sequence followed by
an empty group. Prior to version 1.02, |\makefirstuc{\ae{}bc}|
produced \ae Bc. However as from version 1.02, it now produces
\AE bc.
\end{important}

Note also that
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand{\abc}{abc}
\makefirstuc{\abc}
\end{verbatim}
produces: ABC. This is because the first object in the argument of
\cs{makefirstuc} is \cs{abc}, so it does |\MakeUppercase{\abc}|.
Whereas:
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand{\abc}{abc}
\expandafter\makefirstuc\expandafter{\abc}
\end{verbatim}
produces: Abc. There is a short cut command which will do this:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro{\xmakefirstuc}]
\cs{xmakefirstuc}\marg{stuff}
\end{definition}
This is equivalent to \cs{expandafter}\cs{makefirstuc}\cs{expandafter}\marg{stuff}. So
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand{\abc}{abc}
\xmakefirstuc{\abc}
\end{verbatim}
produces: 
\newcommand{\abc}{abc}%
\xmakefirstuc{\abc}.

\begin{important}
\cs{xmakefirstuc} only performs one level expansion on the
\emph{first} object in its argument. It does not fully expand the entire
argument.
\end{important}

As from version 1.10, there is now a command that fully expands the
entire argument before applying \cs{makefirstuc}:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\emakefirstuc]
\cs{emakefirstuc}\marg{text}
\end{definition}

Examples:
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand{\abc}{\xyz a}
\newcommand{\xyz}{xyz}
No expansion: \makefirstuc{\abc}.
First object one-level expansion: \xmakefirstuc{\abc}.
Fully expanded: \emakefirstuc{\abc}.
\end{verbatim}
produces: 
\renewcommand{\abc}{\xyz a}%
\newcommand{\xyz}{xyz}
No expansion: \makefirstuc{\abc}.
First object one-level expansion: \xmakefirstuc{\abc}.
Fully expanded: \emakefirstuc{\abc}.

If you use \styfmt{mfirstuc} without the \sty{glossaries} package, 
the standard \cs{MakeUppercase} command is used. If used with
\sty{glossaries}, \ics{MakeTextUppercase} (defined by the \sty{textcase}
package) is used instead. If you are using \styfmt{mfirstuc}
without the \styfmt{glossaries} package and want to use
\ics{MakeTextUppercase} instead, you can redefine
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\glsmakefirstuc]
\cs{glsmakefirstuc}\marg{text}
\end{definition}
For example:
\begin{verbatim}
\renewcommand{\glsmakefirstuc}[1]{\MakeTextUppercase #1}
\end{verbatim}
Remember to also load \sty{textcase} (\styfmt{glossaries} loads this
automatically).

\chapter{Capitalise the First Letter of Each Word in a Phrase or Sentence (Title Case)}
\label{sec:capitalisewords}

New to mfirstuc v1.06:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro{\capitalisewords}]
\cs{capitalisewords}\marg{text}
\end{definition}
This command applies \ics{makefirstuc} to each word in \meta{text}
where the space character is used as the word separator. Note that
it has to be a plain space character, not another form of space,
such as \verb|~| or \cs{space}. Note that no expansion is performed
on \meta{text}. See \sectionref{sec:nocap} for excluding
words (such as \qt{of}) from the case-changing.

The actual capitalisation of each word is done using
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\MFUcapwordfirstuc]
\cs{MFUcapwordfirstuc}\marg{word}
\end{definition}
This just does \cs{makefirstuc}\marg{word} by default.
There's a conditional that determines whether or not to consider a
hyphen a word break:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\ifMFUhyphen]
\cs{ifMFUhyphen}
\end{definition}

If you want to title case each part of
a compound word containing hyphens, you can enable this using
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\MFUhyphentrue]
\cs{MFUhyphentrue}
\end{definition}
or switch it back off again using:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\MFUhyphenfalse]
\cs{MFUhyphenfalse}
\end{definition}
Compare
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisewords{server-side includes}
\end{verbatim}
which produces: 
\begin{display}
\capitalisewords{server-side includes}
\end{display}
with
\begin{verbatim}
\MFUhyphentrue
\capitalisewords{server-side includes}
\end{verbatim}
which produces: 
\begin{display}
\MFUhyphentrue
\capitalisewords{server-side includes}
\end{display}
Note that this won't apply exceptions to each part of the hyphenated
word.

For other punctuation you need to markup the character with:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\MFUwordbreak]
\cs{MFUwordbreak}\marg{punctuation}
\end{definition}
For example:
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisewords{a big\MFUwordbreak{/}small idea}
\end{verbatim}
which produces:
\begin{display}
\capitalisewords{a big\MFUwordbreak{/}small idea}
\end{display}
In this case, exceptions are applied. For example, if
\sty{mfirstuc-english} is loaded then:
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisewords{one and\MFUwordbreak{/}or another}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\MFUnocap{and}\MFUnocap{or}%
\capitalisewords{one and\MFUwordbreak{/}or another}
\end{display}
Note that you can't hide \cs{MFUwordbreak} inside a command or group.

Exceptions aren't applied if \cs{MFUwordbreak} occurs before the
first space. For example:
\begin{verbatim}
\MFUnocap{a}\MFUnocap{the}%
\capitalisewords{a\MFUwordbreak{/}the something}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\MFUnocap{a}\MFUnocap{the}%
\capitalisewords{a\MFUwordbreak{/}the something}
\end{display}

Formatting for the entire phrase must go outside
\cs{capitalisewords} (unlike \cs{makefirstuc}). Compare:
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisewords{\textbf{a sample phrase}}
\end{verbatim}
which produces:
\begin{display}
\capitalisewords{\textbf{a sample phrase}}
\end{display}
with:
\begin{verbatim}
\textbf{\capitalisewords{a sample phrase}}
\end{verbatim}
which produces:
\begin{display}
\textbf{\capitalisewords{a sample phrase}}
\end{display}

As from version 2.03, there is now a command for phrases that may
include a formatting command:
\begin{definition}
\cs{capitalisefmtwords}\marg{phrase}
\end{definition}
where \meta{phrase} may be just words (as with \cs{capitalisewords})
or may be entirely enclosed in a formatting command in the form
\begin{alltt}
\cs{capitalisefmtwords}\{\meta{cs}\marg{phrase}\}
\end{alltt}
or contain formatted sub-phrases 
\begin{alltt}
\cs{capitalisefmtwords}\{\meta{words} \meta{cs}\marg{sub-phrase} \meta{words}\}
\end{alltt}
Avoid scoped declarations.

\begin{important}
\cs{capitalisefmtwords} is only designed for phrases that contain
text-block commands with a single 
argument, which should be a word or sub-phrase. Anything
more complicated is likely to break. Instead, use the
starred form or \cs{capitalisewords}.
\end{important}

The starred form only permits a text-block command at the
start of the phrase.

Examples:
\begin{enumerate}
\item Phrase entirely enclosed in a formatting command:
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisefmtwords{\textbf{a small book of rhyme}}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\capitalisefmtwords{\textbf{a small book of rhyme}}
\end{display}

\item Sub-phrase enclosed in a formatting command:
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisefmtwords{a \textbf{small book} of rhyme}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\capitalisefmtwords{a \textbf{small book} of rhyme}
\end{display}

\item Nested text-block commands:
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisefmtwords{\textbf{a \emph{small book}} of rhyme}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\capitalisefmtwords{\textbf{a \emph{small book}} of rhyme}
\end{display}

\item Indicating words that shouldn't have the case changed
(see \sectionref{sec:nocap}):
\begin{verbatim}
\MFUnocap{of}
\capitalisefmtwords{\textbf{a \emph{small book}} of rhyme}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\MFUnocap{of}
\capitalisefmtwords{\textbf{a \emph{small book}} of rhyme}
\end{display}

\item Starred form:
\begin{verbatim}
\MFUnocap{of}
\capitalisefmtwords*{\emph{a small book of rhyme}}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\MFUnocap{of}
\capitalisefmtwords*{\emph{a small book of rhyme}}
\end{display}

\item The starred form also works with just text (no text-block
command):
\begin{verbatim}
\MFUnocap{of}
\capitalisefmtwords*{a small book of rhyme}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\MFUnocap{of}
\capitalisefmtwords*{a small book of rhyme}
\end{display}

\end{enumerate}

If there is a text-block command within the argument of the
starred form, it's assumed to be at the start of the argument.
Unexpected results can occur if there are other commands.
For example
\begin{verbatim}
\MFUnocap{of}
\capitalisefmtwords*{\emph{a small} book \textbf{of rhyme}}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\MFUnocap{of}
\capitalisefmtwords*{\emph{a small} book \textbf{of rhyme}}
\end{display}
(In this case \verb|\textbf{of rhyme}| is considered a
single word.) Similarly if the text-block command occurs
in the middle of the argument:
\begin{verbatim}
\MFUnocap{of}
\capitalisefmtwords*{a \emph{very small} book of rhyme}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\MFUnocap{of}
\capitalisefmtwords*{a \emph{very small} book of rhyme}
\end{display}
(In this case \verb|\emph{very small}| is considered a
single word.)

Grouping causes interference:
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisefmtwords{{a \emph{small book}} of rhyme}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\capitalisefmtwords{{a \emph{small book}} of rhyme}
\end{display}
As with all the commands described here, avoid declarations.
For example, the following fails:
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisefmtwords{{\bfseries a \emph{small book}} of rhyme}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\capitalisefmtwords{{\bfseries a \emph{small book}} of rhyme}
\end{display}

Avoid complicated commands in the unstarred version. For example,
the following breaks:
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand*{\swap}[2]{{#2}{#1}}
\capitalisefmtwords{a \swap{bo}{ok} of rhyme}
\end{verbatim}
However it works okay with the starred form and the simpler
\cs{capitalisewords}:
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand*{\swap}[2]{{#2}{#1}}
\capitalisefmtwords*{a \swap{bo}{ok} of rhyme}

\capitalisewords{a \swap{bo}{ok} of rhyme}
\end{verbatim}
Produces:
\begin{display}
\newcommand*{\swap}[2]{{#2}{#1}}
\capitalisefmtwords*{a \swap{bo}{ok} of rhyme}

\capitalisewords{a \swap{bo}{ok} of rhyme}
\end{display}
Note that the case change is applied to the first argument.

\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro{\xcapitalisewords}]
\cs{xcapitalisewords}\marg{text}
\end{definition}
This is a short cut for
\cs{expandafter}\cs{capitalisewords}\cs{expandafter}\marg{text}.

As from version 1.10, there is now a command that fully expands the
entire argument before applying \cs{capitalisewords}:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\ecapitalisewords]
\cs{ecapitalisewords}\marg{text}
\end{definition}

There are also similar shortcut commands for the version that allows
text-block commands:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro{\xcapitalisefmtwords}]
\cs{xcapitalisefmtwords}\marg{text}
\end{definition}
The unstarred version is a short cut for
\cs{expandafter}\cs{capitalisefmtwords}\cs{expandafter}\marg{text}.
Similarly the starred version of \cs{xcapitalisefmtwords}
uses the starred version of \cs{capitalisefmtwords}.

For full expansion:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\ecapitalisefmtwords]
\cs{ecapitalisefmtwords}\marg{text}
\end{definition}
Take care with this as it may expand non-robust semantic commands
to replacement text that breaks the functioning of
\cs{capitalisefmtwords}. Use robust semantic commands
where possible. Again this has a starred version that uses
the starred form of \cs{capitalisefmtwords}.

Examples:
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand{\abc}{\xyz\space four five}
\newcommand{\xyz}{one two three}
No expansion: \capitalisewords{\abc}.
First object one-level expansion: \xcapitalisewords{\abc}.
Fully expanded: \ecapitalisewords{\abc}.
\end{verbatim}
produces: 
\begin{display}
\renewcommand{\abc}{\xyz\space four five}%
\renewcommand{\xyz}{one two three}
No expansion: \capitalisewords{\abc}.
First object one-level expansion: \xcapitalisewords{\abc}.
Fully expanded: \ecapitalisewords{\abc}.
\end{display}

(Remember that the spaces need to be explicit. In the second case
above, using \cs{xcapitalisewords}, the space before \qt{four} has
been hidden within \cs{space} so it's not recognised as a word
boundary, but in the third case, \cs{space} has been expanded to an
actual space character.)

Examples:
\begin{enumerate}
\item 
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisewords{a book of rhyme.}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\capitalisewords{a book of rhyme.}

\item
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisewords{a book\space of rhyme.}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\capitalisewords{a book\space of rhyme.}

\item
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand{\mytitle}{a book\space of rhyme.}
\capitalisewords{\mytitle}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\newcommand{\mytitle}{a book\space of rhyme.}
\capitalisewords{\mytitle}
(No expansion is performed on \cs{mytitle}.) Compare with next example:

\item
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand{\mytitle}{a book\space of rhyme.}
\xcapitalisewords{\mytitle}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\xcapitalisewords{\mytitle}

However
\begin{verbatim}
\ecapitalisewords{\mytitle}
\end{verbatim}
produces: 
\ecapitalisewords{\mytitle}
(\cs{space} has been expanded to an actual space character.)

\item 
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand*{\swap}[2]{{#2}{#1}}
\capitalisewords{a \swap{bo}{ok} of rhyme}

\ecapitalisewords{a \swap{bo}{ok} of rhyme}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\newcommand*{\swap}[2]{{#2}{#1}}
\capitalisewords{a \swap{bo}{ok} of rhyme}

\ecapitalisewords{a \swap{bo}{ok} of rhyme}
\end{display}
This is because the argument of \cs{ecapitalisewords} is
fully expanded before being passed to \cs{capitalisewords} so
that last example is equivalent to:
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisewords{a {ok}{bo} of rhyme}
\end{verbatim}
\end{enumerate}

\section{PDF Bookmarks}
\label{sec:pdfbookmarks}

\begin{important}
If you are using \sty{hyperref} and want to use
\cs{capitalisewords}, \cs{capitalisefmtwords}
or \ics{makefirstuc} (or the expanded variants) 
in a section heading, the PDF bookmarks won't be able to use the command 
as it's not expandable, so you will get a warning that looks like:
\begin{verbatim}
Package hyperref Warning: Token not allowed in a PDF string 
(PDFDocEncoding):
(hyperref)                removing `\capitalisewords'
\end{verbatim}
\end{important}

If you want to provide an alternative for the PDF bookmark, you can
use \sty{hyperref}'s \ics{texorpdfstring} command. For example:
\begin{verbatim}
\chapter{\texorpdfstring
  {\capitalisewords{a book of rhyme}}% TeX
  {A Book of Rhyme}% PDF
}
\end{verbatim}
Alternatively, you can use \sty{hyperref}'s mechanism for
disabling commands within the bookmarks. For example:
\begin{verbatim}
\pdfstringdefDisableCommands{%
 \let\capitalisewords\@firstofone
}
\end{verbatim}

See the \sty{hyperref} manual for further details.

\section{Excluding Words From Case-Changing}
\label{sec:nocap}

As from v1.09, you can specify words which shouldn't be capitalised unless they
occur at the start of \meta{text} using:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\MFUnocap]
\cs{MFUnocap}\marg{word}
\end{definition}
This only has a local effect. The global version is:
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\gMFUnocap]
\cs{gMFUnocap}\marg{word}
\end{definition}

For example:
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisewords{the wind in the willows}

\MFUnocap{in}%
\MFUnocap{the}%

\capitalisewords{the wind in the willows}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\capitalisewords{the wind in the willows}

\MFUnocap{in}%
\MFUnocap{the}%

\capitalisewords{the wind in the willows}
\end{display}
The list of words that shouldn't be capitalised can be cleared using
\begin{definition}[\DescribeMacro\MFUclear]
\cs{MFUclear}
\end{definition}

You can also simply place an empty group in front of a word
if you don't want that specific instance to be capitalised.
For example:
\begin{verbatim}
\MFUclear
\capitalisewords{the {}wind in the willows}
\end{verbatim}
produces:
\begin{display}
\MFUclear
\capitalisewords{the {}wind in the willows}
\end{display}
This is also a useful way of protecting commands that
shouldn't be parsed. For example:
\begin{verbatim}
\capitalisewords{this is section {}\nameref{sec:nocap}.}
\end{verbatim}
produces
\begin{display}
\capitalisewords{this is section {}\nameref{sec:nocap}.}
\end{display}
(No case-changing is applied to \verb|\nameref{sec:nocap}|.
It just happens to already be in title case.)

The package \sty{mfirstuc-english} loads \styfmt{mfirstuc} and uses
\cs{MFUnocap} to add common English articles and conjunctions, such
as ``a'', ``an'', ``and'', ``but''. You may want to add other
words to this list, such as prepositions but, as there's some
dispute over whether prepositions should be capitalised, I~don't
intend to add them to this package.

If you want to write a similar package for another language, all you
need to do is create a file with the extension \texttt{.sty}
that starts with
\begin{verbatim}
\NeedsTeXFormat{LaTeX2e}
\end{verbatim}
The next line should identify the package. For example, if you have
called the file \texttt{mfirstuc-french.sty} then you need:
\begin{verbatim}
\ProvidesPackage{mfirstuc-french}
\end{verbatim}
It's a good idea to also add a version in the final optional
argument, for example:
\begin{verbatim}
\ProvidesPackage{mfirstuc-french}[2014/07/30 v1.0]
\end{verbatim}
Next load \styfmt{mfirstuc}:
\begin{verbatim}
\RequirePackage{mfirstuc}
\end{verbatim}
Now add all your \cs{MFUnocap} commands. For example:
\begin{verbatim}
\MFUnocap{de}
\end{verbatim}
At the end of the file add:
\begin{verbatim}
\endinput
\end{verbatim}

Put the file somewhere on \TeX's path, and now you can use this
package in your document. You might also consider 
\href{http://ctan.org/upload}{uploading it to CTAN} in case 
other users find it useful.

\chapter{UTF-8}
\label{sec:utf8}

(See
\href{https://dickimaw-books.com/blog/binary-files-text-files-and-file-encodings/}{Binary
Files, Text Files and File Encodings} if you are confused about how
file encodings such as UTF-8 relate to text files.)

The \cs{makefirstuc} command works by utilizing the fact that, in
most cases, \TeX\ doesn't require a regular argument to be enclosed
in braces if it only consists of a single token. (This is why you
can do, say, \verb|\frac12| instead of \verb|\frac{1}{2}| or
\verb|x^2| instead of \verb|x^{2}|, although some users
frown on this practice.)

A~simplistic version of the \cs{makefirstuc} command is:
\begin{verbatim}
\newcommand*{\FirstUC}[1]{\MakeUppercase #1}
\end{verbatim}
Here
\begin{verbatim}
\FirstUC{abc}
\end{verbatim}
is equivalent to
\begin{verbatim}
\MakeUppercase abc
\end{verbatim}
and since \cs{MakeUppercase} requires an argument, it grabs the
first token (the character ``a'' in this case) and uses that as the
argument so that the result is: Abc.

The \sty{glossaries} package needs to take into account the fact
that the text may be contained in the argument of a formatting
command, such as \cs{acronymfont}, so \cs{makefirstuc} has to be
more complicated than the trivial \cs{FirstUC} shown above, but at
its basic level, \cs{makefirstuc} uses this same method and is the
reason why, in most cases, you don't need to enclose the first
character in braces. So if 
\begin{alltt}
\cs{MakeUppercase} \meta{stuff}
\end{alltt}
works,
then
\begin{alltt}
\cs{makefirstuc}\marg{stuff} 
\end{alltt}
should also work and so should
\begin{alltt}
\cs{makefirstuc}\{\cs{foo}\marg{stuff}\}
\end{alltt}
but if 
\begin{alltt}
\cs{MakeUppercase} \meta{stuff}
\end{alltt}
doesn't work, then neither will
\begin{alltt}
\cs{makefirstuc}\marg{stuff} 
\end{alltt}
nor
\begin{alltt}
\cs{makefirstuc}\{\cs{foo}\marg{stuff}\}
\end{alltt}

Try the following document:
\begin{alltt}
\cs{documentclass}\{article\}

\cs{usepackage}[utf8]\{inputenc\}
\cs{usepackage}[T1]\{fontenc\}

\cs{begin}\{document\}

\cs{MakeUppercase} \~abc

\cs{end}\{document\}
\end{alltt}

This will result in the error:
\begin{verbatim}
! Argument of \UTFviii@two@octets has an extra }.
\end{verbatim}
This is why \verb|\makefirstuc{|\texttt{\~abc}\verb|}| won't work.
It will only work if the character \texttt{\~a} is placed inside a
group.

The reason for this error message is due to \TeX\ having been written before
Unicode was invented. Although \texttt{\~a} may look like a single
character in your text editor, from \TeX's point of view it's \emph{two} 
tokens. So
\begin{alltt}
\cs{MakeUppercase} \~abc
\end{alltt}
tries to apply \cs{MakeUppercase} to just the first octet of \~a.
This means that the second octet has been separated from the first octet,
which is the cause of the error. In this case the argument isn't a
single token, so the two tokens (the first and second octet of \~a)
must be grouped:
\begin{alltt}
\cs{MakeUppercase}\{\~a\}bc
\end{alltt}
Over recent years the \LaTeX\ kernel has changed to allow the use of
UTF-8 characters within labels but the fundamental problem of each
octet been viewed as a separated token remains.

Note that \XeTeX\ (and therefore \XeLaTeX) is a modern
implementation of \TeX\ designed to work with Unicode and therefore
doesn't suffer from this drawback. Now let's look at the \XeLaTeX\
equivalent of the above example:
\begin{alltt}
\cs{documentclass}\{article\}

\cs{usepackage}\{fontspec\}

\cs{begin}\{document\}

\cs{MakeUppercase} \~abc

\cs{end}\{document\}
\end{alltt}

This works correctly when compiled with \XeLaTeX. This means
that \cs{makefirstuc}\verb|{|\texttt{\~abc}\verb|}| will work
\emph{provided you use \XeLaTeX\ and the \sty{fontspec} package}.

Version 2.24 of \sty{datatool-base} added the
command \cs{dtl@getfirst@UTFviii} which attempts to grab both octets.  If this command
has been defined, \sty{mfirstuc} will use it when it tries to split
the first character from the rest of the word. See the
\href{http://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/datatool/datatool-code.pdf}{\styfmt{datatool}
documented code} for further details.

\PrintIndex
\end{document}