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diff --git a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-whatmacros.html b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-whatmacros.html deleted file mode 100644 index e296254d6cb..00000000000 --- a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-whatmacros.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,65 +0,0 @@ -<head> -<title>UK TeX FAQ -- question label whatmacros</title> -</head><body> -<h3>What are (TeX) macros</h3> -<p/>TeX is a <em>macro processor</em>: this is a computer-science-y term -meaning “text expander” (more or less); TeX typesets text as it -goes along, but <em>expands</em> each macro it finds. TeX’s macros -may include instructions to TeX itself, on top of the simple text -generation one might expect. -<p/>Macros are a <em>good thing</em>, since they allow the user to -manipulate documents according to context. For example, the macro -<code>\</code><code>TeX</code> is usually defined to produce “TEX” with the ‘E’ lowered, -but in these FAQs the default definition of the macro is -overridden, and it simply expands to the letters “TeX”. (<em>You</em> -may not think this a good thing, but the author of the macros has his -reasons – see <a href="FAQ-logos.html">TeX-related logos</a>.) -<p/>Macro names are conventionally built from a <code>\</code> -followed by a sequence of letters, which may be upper or lower case -(as in <code>\</code><code>TeX</code>, mentioned above). They may also be -<code>\<<i>any single character</i>></code>, which allows all -sorts of oddities (many built in to most TeX macro sets, all the -way up from the apparently simple ‘<code>\</code><code> </code>’ meaning “insert a space -here”). -<p/>Macro programming can be a complicated business, but at their very -simplest they need little introduction — you’ll hardly need to be -told that: -<blockquote> -<pre> -\def\foo{bar} -</pre> -</blockquote><p> -replaces each instance of <code>\</code><code>foo</code> with the text “bar”. The -command <code>\</code><code>def</code> is Plain TeX syntax for defining commands; -LaTeX offers a macro <code>\</code><code>newcommand</code> that goes some way towards -protecting users from themselves, but basically does the same thing: -<blockquote> -<pre> -\newcommand{\foo}{bar} -</pre> -</blockquote><p> -Macros may have “arguments”, which are used to substitute for marked -bits of the macro expansion: -<blockquote> -<pre> -\def\foo#1{This is a #1 bar} -... -\foo{2/4} -</pre> -</blockquote><p> -or, in LaTeX speak: -<blockquote> -<pre> -\newcommand{\foo}[1]{This is a #1 bar} -... -\foo{3/4} -</pre> -</blockquote><p> -Macro writing can get very complicated, very quickly. If you are a -beginner (La)TeX programmer, you are well advised to read something -along the lines of the <a href="FAQ-books.html">TeXbook</a>; once you’re under -way, <a href="FAQ-ol-books.html">TeX by Topic</a> is possibly a more satisfactory -choice. Rather a lot of the answers in these FAQs tell you -about various issues of how to write macros. -<p/><p>This question on the Web: <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=whatmacros">http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=whatmacros</a> -</body> |