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<head>
<title>UK TeX FAQ -- question label eplain</title>
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<h3>What is Eplain?</h3>
<p>The
<a href="http://www.ccs.neu.edu/~dorai/eplain/index.html">Eplain</a>
macro package expands on and extends the definitions in Plain TeX.
Eplain is not intended to provide "generic typesetting
capabilities", as do LaTeX or 
<a href="FAQ-texinfo.html">Texinfo</a>.  Instead, it
defines macro tools that should be useful whatever commands you choose
to use when you prepare your manuscript.
<p>For example, Eplain does not have a command <code>\</code><code>section</code>,
which would format section headings in an "appropriate" way, as
LaTeX's <code>\</code><code>section</code> does.  The philosophy of Eplain is that
some people will always need or want to go beyond the macro designer's
idea of "appropriate".  Such canned macros are fine - as long as you
are willing to accept the resulting output.  If you don't like the
results, or if you are trying to match a different format, you are out
of luck.
<p>On the other hand, almost everyone would like capabilities such as
cross-referencing by labels, so that you don't have to put actual page
numbers in the manuscript.  Karl Berry, the author of Eplain, says
he is not aware of any generally available macro packages that do
not force their typographic style on an author, and yet provide
such capabilities.
<p>Eplain documentation is 
<a href="http://tug.org/docs/html/eplain">available online</a>, and there's
also a mailing list - sign up, or browse the list archives, via
<a href="http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/tex-eplain">http://tug.org/mailman/listinfo/tex-eplain</a>
<dl>
<dt><tt><i>Eplain distribution</i></tt><dd><a href="ftp://cam.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/eplain.zip">macros/eplain</a> (<a href="ftp://cam.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/eplain.tar.gz">gzipped tar</a>, <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/eplain/">browse</a>)
</dl>
<p><p>This question on the Web: <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=eplain">http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=eplain</a>
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