[texhax] Macros that define other macros

[Uwe Lück]

Am Montag, den 03.12.2012, 17:41 +0100 schrieb Uwe Lück:
> Am Montag, den 03.12.2012, 16:49 +0100 schrieb Uwe Lück:
> > Am Montag, den 03.12.2012, 16:18 +0100 schrieb Uwe Lück:
> > 
> > \newcommand{\setobject}[4]{%    
> >     \@namedef  {propI|#1}{#2}%
> >     \@namedef {propII|#1}{#3}%
> >     \@namedef{propIII|#1}{#4}}
> > 
> > would be okay without the \objectId feature, which would mean 
> > something like that properties do not know whose properties 
> > they are.
> 
> ... thinking of the original idea that the "submacro" actually 
> reports whose submacro (property) it is. I find four possibilities 
> for such an \objectId feature:
> [...]
> (iii) and (iv) that I have in mind use a macro parameter 
> instead of \objectId.

(iii)

    \newcommand{\setAobject}[4]{%    
        \@namedef  {propI|#1}{#2{#1}}%
        \@namedef {propII|#1}{#3{#1}}%
        \@namedef{propIII|#1}{#4{#1}}}

This way \useobjectproperty{O}{propI} "finally prints" {O} 
unless you choose #2 so that it gobbles the argument ahead, 
e.g., #2 may end on \@gobble.

I am not sure what I should tell about my previous idea of (iv). 
It has been some elaboration of (iii), providing macros that 
either gobble {#1} in (iii) indeed or combine it with other 
information about the property, and I have thought of more than 
one way to do this ...

(iii) and (iv) are somewhat more powerful than the following 
simple way:

(v)

    \newcommand{\setobject}[4]{%    
        \@namedef  {propI|#1}{#2}%
        \@namedef {propII|#1}{#3}%
        \@namedef{propIII|#1}{#4}}

... my first way to correct my first mistake. Then to get a 
"report about the object", you can define a general way such 
as

    \newcommand{\reportobjectproperty}[2]{%
        Property `#2' of object `#1' is 
        \useobjectproperty{#1}{#2}.}

Then the report \reportobjectproperty{O}{P} is different from 
the property itself, while, e.g., with 

(vi)

    \newcommand{\setSobject}[4]{%    
        \@nameSdef  {propI}{#1}%
        \@nameSdef {propII}{#1}%
        \@nameSdef{propIII}{#1}}

and 

    \newcommand{\@nameSdef}[2]{%
        \@namedef{#1|#2}{%
             Property `#2' of object `#1' is me.}}

the report about object and property is part of the property.
However, would that be useful?

We can render the self-reference `me' in (vi) more formal 
when we replace `me' by \useobjectproperty{#1}{#2}, 
but I expect that the result is not much different from the 
result of 

    \newcommand{\run}{\run}

I tend to conclude that the original idea

    \def\macromaker#1{%
        \def\submacro#1{I am submacro #1}%
        \def\anothersubmacro#1{I am another submacro #1}}

leads into a bad direction (in just reporting and repeating #1) ...

Cheers,

    Uwe.