[XeTeX] Unicode-named macros in XeTeX

[Arthur Reutenauer]

> I anticipate the problem of having to actually generate the em-dash
> character instead of recursively calling the em-dash macro inside the
> macro, so please mention this if you have a solution for me, but I’m
> already stumped at the “how to call a macro ‘—’” part.

  You need to make the em-dash character active:

	\catcode`\—=13

and then define the macro:

	\def—{\char"2014\discretionary{}{}{}}


  Note that the macro is not called recursively; “\char"2014” simply
inserts the character in the current font.

	Arthur