Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!n8emr!uncle!basho!john
From: john@basho.uucp (John Lacey)
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Subject: TeX preprocessor?
Message-ID: <1991Mar30.215707.649@basho.uucp>
Date: 30 Mar 91 21:57:07 GMT
Organization: Sportsware
Lines: 15

I've been thinking about all these macro sets for TeX, and the increasing 
problems in sending documents around as sites lack sets that other possess.

Is there any way to write a TeX file that will process another TeX file 
and reduce it to primitives and then write it out?  I'm thinking of 
something extremely analogous to the C preprocessor.

If that isn't possible, how hard would altering the structure of TeX to 
conform more closely to that of cc, with separate passed being separate 
executables. Or perhaps switches controlling those passes could be added.

Am I babbling, or would this be useful (or at least interesting)?
-- 
John Lacey         614 436 3773         73730,2250
john@basho.uucp  or  basho!john@cis.ohio-state.edu