[OS X TeX] counters and commands

[Ross Moore]

Hello Friedrich,

On 04/03/2006, at 7:23 AM, Rechtsanwalt Friedrich Vosberg wrote:

> Morning.
>
> The example that follows prints the names and the professions of  
> some people. I want to get the profession of each of them each in  
> an other macro \profA, \profB, \profC, .... I tried it the way in  
> the commented lines, but it doesn't work.
>
> What must I do?

You are trying to generate macro-names automatically, according
to what other input is received within your document.
This is certainly possible, but requires TeX constructions with
which you may not be familiar --- yet.

The following variation of your example illustrates 2 slightly
different ways to achieve what I think you want:


\documentclass{article}
\newcounter{member}
\newcommand{\member}[2]{%
     \def\name{#1}%
     \def\prof{#2}%
     \stepcounter{member}%
     \printmember%
}
\makeatletter
\def\printmemberA{%
     \framebox{No.\,\arabic{member}: \name\ (\prof)}%
    \expandafter\edef\csname profno-\the\c at member\endcsname{\prof}%
}
\makeatother

\def\printmemberB{%
     \framebox{No.\,\arabic{member}: \name\ (\prof)}%
     \edef\thismember{\Alph{member}}%
    \expandafter\edef\csname prof\thismember\endcsname{\prof}%
}

\begin{document}
\let\printmember\printmemberA
\noindent
\member{Bush}{President}
\member{Blair}{Prime Minister}
\member{Merkel}{Chancellor}
\par

\bigskip\noindent
The professions are:
%
\begin{itemize}
\item \csname profno-1\endcsname
\item \csname profno-2\endcsname
\item \csname profno-3\endcsname
\end{itemize}

\vspace{2cm}

\setcounter{member}{0}
\let\printmember\printmemberB

\noindent
\member{Bush}{President}
\member{Blair}{Prime Minister}
\member{Merkel}{Chancellor}
\par

\bigskip\noindent
The professions are:
%
\begin{itemize}
\item \profA
\item \profB
\item \profC
\end{itemize}

\end{document}


Note the use of TeX primitive commands:
   \let
   \edef
   \csname .... \endcsname
   \expandafter


BTW, there is no name-clash in using  \member
and  \newcounter{member}  for different things.
This is because TeX refers to the counter internally
as  \c at member .

However, it may lead to confusion in your own mind.
For example, if you mistakenly wrote:  \arabic{\member}
then the error message returned by TeX would almost
certainly be unintelligible to you.

Just this week I debugged a colleague's problem.
He had written  \fnsymbol{\footnote}  and couldn't
see the reason behind TeX's error messages.


Hope this helps,

	Ross


>
> ===== 8>< ====
> \documentclass{minimal}
> \newcounter{member}
> \newcommand{\member}[2]{%
>     \def\name{#1}%
>     \def\prof{#2}%
>     \stepcounter{member}%
>     \printmember%
> }
> \def\printmember{%
>     \framebox{No.\,\arabic{member}: \name\ (\prof)}%
> %   \def\profno\Alpha{member}{\prof}
> }
> \begin{document}
> \member{Bush}{President}
> \member{Blair}{Prime Minister}
> \member{Merkel}{Chancellor}
> \par
> The professions are:
> \begin{itemize}
> %\item \profnoA
> \item prof2
> \item prof3
> \end{itemize}
> \end{document}
> ===== ><8 =====
>
> TIA and kind regards. Friedrich
>
> --
> Rechtsanwalt Friedrich Vosberg
> Alt-Oetzsch 4, 04416 Markkleeberg
> Ruf: 0341 3502074   Mobil: 0174 1602887
> Fax: 0341 3502075   http://www.meinrechtsanwalt.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ross Moore                                         ross at maths.mq.edu.au
Mathematics Department                             office: E7A-419
Macquarie University                               tel: +61 +2 9850 8955
Sydney, Australia  2109                            fax: +61 +2 9850 8114
------------------------------------------------------------------------


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