[XeTeX] XeLaTeX and SIunitx

[Ross Moore]

Hi Bruno,

On 14/05/2012, at 4:04 PM, Bruno Le Floch wrote:

>> If by styles, you mean in a macro definition made within
>> a separate style file, then I agree with you 100%.
>> 
>> But ...
>> 
>>> But it doesn't
>>> solve the problem here as pdftex chokes if it sees more than two ^^:

OK. Mea Culpa.

But this just reinforces the need for having style files,
and engine-dependent subsidiary files.

>>  ... this is not a good example to support this view.
>> 
>>> \documentclass{article}
>>> \begin{document}
>>> ^^^^00b5
>>> \end{document}
>> 
>> The body of your document source should be engine independent,
>> so this should look more like:
>> 
>> 
>> \documentclass{article}
>> \usepackage{ifxetex}
>> 
>> \ifxetex
    \input{mydefs_xetex.def} ...
> 
>> \else
>> \if ...
>>  % \inputs  to handle other engines
>>  ...
>> \fi
>> \fi
>> 
>> \begin{document}
>> \micronChar
>> \end{document}

>> You want to avoid having to find and replace multiple instances
>> of the special characters, when you share your work with colleagues
>> or need to reuse your own work in other contexts.
>> Instead you should simply need to adjust the macro expansions,
>> and all that previous work will adapt automatically.


> You cannot do  " \ifxetex ^^^^00b5 \else ^^c2^^b5 \fi "  because the
> character ^^^ is invalid in pdfTeX (catcode 15), hence pdfTeX chokes
> whenever it sees that character in a line, with the exception of \^^^,
> the command symbol (otherwise it would be difficult to change the
> catcode of ^^^).  On the other hand, you can do
> 
> \ifxetex
>    \expandafter \@gobble \string \^^^^00b5
> \else
>   ...
> \fi

This kind of coding may have a place somewhere, but surely it is 
better to use different input files for different engines.

This is a similar concept to "Content Negotiation" for websites, 
whereby a web server delivers different versions of the content 
according to which web browser is making the request.

> 
> Regards,
> Bruno

Hope this helps,

	Ross

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Ross Moore                                       ross.moore at mq.edu.au 
Mathematics Department                           office: E7A-419      
Macquarie University                             tel: +61 (0)2 9850 8955
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