Questions tagged [plain-tex]
Plain TeX is Knuth's original default format for TeX documents.
950 questions
2
votes
1
answer
60
views
How may I replace the name(s) of definition(s)?
In this example, notes are defined. Here as "FOXName{xy}".
By replacing FOX with another word,I can define as many note-routines as I like, f.e "RABBITName{xy}"
How may I do this ...
- 177
0
votes
4
answers
118
views
How to deal with german umlauts and hyphenation in plain?
Has anyone an idea, how to solve this problem? I know, that plain is oldfashioned..
I will post my solution later, if it works.
\parindent0pt
% \hyphenation{
%Pro-blem
% Mü-he %not working
%Müh-...
- 177
5
votes
2
answers
128
views
How to use lmssdc10 font?
I used to use this font
\font\titlefont=cmssdc10 scaled \magstep 4
in pdfTeX (with PlainTeX format).
Now I want to update my old code to use modern Latin Modern fonts.
\font\titlefont=lmssdc10 scaled ...
- 53
5
votes
1
answer
421
views
Possible bug in TeX?
If paragraph is started implicitly and begins with a group, \everypar is executed inside group. Is it a feature?
\hsize=12em
\parindent=0pt
\everypar={\hangindent=20pt }
\indent{T}he quick brown fox ...
- 7,837
1
vote
2
answers
102
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Get the first character from token register while preserving its catcode
Existed answers either does not work when the first character is a space, or requires expl3.
The idea is to implement a word counting algorithm, an operation that can pop the first character with its ...
- 1,130
8
votes
2
answers
355
views
Why definition of \sett@b was changed in plain.tex?
In the edition of TeXbook from 1991, \sett@b is defined this way:
\def\sett@b{\ifx\next\+ \let\next=\relax % turn off \outerness
\def\next{\afterassignment\s@tt@b\let\next}%
\else\let\next=\s@...
- 7,837
2
votes
2
answers
287
views
Changes for TeX to allow hyphenation of compound words
In the paper "Notes on Compound Word Hyphenation in TeX"
by
Petr Sojka it is said on page 7:
Their implementation in any conservative successor to TEX will be
rather straightforward and ...
- 7,837
4
votes
1
answer
113
views
How to scale an entire table in plain TeX, including the font size and spaces in the table proportionally?
In plain TeX (not LaTeX), how to scale an entire table, including every things in the table proportionally?
For example, how to scale the following table, answered by Skillmon for In plain TeX (not ...
- 41
8
votes
3
answers
303
views
Why is there no expansion of a local let despite using xdef here?
In this example:
{
\let\oldpar=\par
\xdef\par{NEXT UP!\oldpar}
}
Par 1
Par 2
Par 3
\bye
TeX complains that oldpar is not defined.
I do not understand why it tries to look for a definition ...
- 174
9
votes
2
answers
428
views
What are the exact rules about spaces surrounding macro parameters/arguments?
To my surprise, the TeXbook (page 203) mentions that the first argument in
\cs AB {\Look}C${And\$ }{look}\$ 5.
where \cs is defined as
\def\cs AB#1#2C$#3\$ {#3{ab#1}#1 c##\x #2}
is \Look, and not [...
- 174
10
votes
1
answer
238
views
Why does the definition of \newif use a \edef with \noexpand instead of a \def in plain \TeX?
I have been experimenting with the \newif construction in plain \TeX. To keep my experiments from clashing with plain \TeX, I changed the definition slightly to
\outer\def\znewif#1{\count255=\...
- 101
4
votes
2
answers
192
views
Missing \endcsname inside of \edef
I know now that the code I am including here is the wrong way to save the output of a macro because expansion comes before function evaluation (so now I am doing something completely different), but I ...
- 43
4
votes
2
answers
151
views
Figures inserted in plain TeX via \special{psfile=...} not showing up
I'm trying to typeset some old plain TeX documents, created decades ago with the now-obsolete Mac implementation TeXtures, which incorporate eps illustrations via the TeXtures instruction \special{...
- 71
6
votes
1
answer
221
views
In \tt, why do \char92 and \char'134 output the backlash '\', while \char"5c outputs 'Πc'?
\tt
\char`\\ \char92 \char'134 \char "5c
\bye
outputs
\\\Πc
Why does it change using hexadecimal notation? Thanks in advance.
- 409
2
votes
3
answers
222
views
Why \magstep0 break \ifcase structure in the definition of itself?
This is in LuaTeX, Version 1.22.0 (TeX Live 2026/dev/Arch Linux)
This is happened in a macro with \afterassignment
and then assign \magstep0 to a count register.
A shortest description:
\newcount\...
- 147