Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!ucbvax!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!chpf127
From: chpf127@ut-emx.UUCP (John W. Eaton)
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: LaTeX: defining macros with optional arguments?
Keywords: MakeIndex, TeXbook
Message-ID: <15832@ut-emx.UUCP>
Date: 28 Jul 89 16:15:23 GMT
References: <1989Jul28.020403.15263@telotech.uucp>
Reply-To: chpf127@emx.UUCP (John W. Eaton)
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Lines: 37

In article <1989Jul28.020403.15263@telotech.uucp> bsa@telotech.uucp
(Brandon S. Allbery) writes:

> I want to reimplement my troff indexing scheme in LaTeX, now that I
> have it up and running (and found a copy of the manual).

It may be worth looking at MakeIndex first.  Source is available via
anonymous ftp from sun.soe.clarkson.edu

> (BTW, I'm curious as to why LaTeX doesn't have a multilevel-index
> mechanism already.  It seems common enough in many technical books
> I've seen.)

Used with MakeIndex I believe it does.  If this doesn't do what you
want it might still be a good place to start.

> My main problem is that I can't quite get a handle on what magic
> incantations one uses to trap * and optional arguments in LaTeX
> macros.  The manual doesn't go in-depth on hacking LaTeX, and I
> haven't been able to figure out what the stuff in latex.tex is
> doing.

As the LaTeX book is mostly for users, it seems to me that a detailed
explanation of latex.tex is sort of beyond its scope (not that I
haven't ever wanted such a description myself :-).

> Can someone explain to me (in words of one syllable or less ;-) how
> one goes about processing *-commands and optional arguments in
> home-grown LaTeX macros?

Buy the TeXbook.  Read it.  (Oops, a two syllable word snuck in there :-)
-- 
John Eaton
chpf127@emx.utexas.edu
Department of Chemical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas  78712