[OS X TeX] preamble vs. macro (problem with xy and ps4pdf)

[Roger Hart]

On Apr 7, 2005, at 12:28 AM, Ross Moore wrote:

Dear Ross,

Thank you so very much. Your suggestion,

>  \makeatother
>   \def\mydiagram#1{\PSforPDF{\xymatrix@!=0mm at R-=10mm at C-=6mm@*[c]{#1}}}
>  \makeatletter

solved the problem!  And I was able to find a very nice explanation in  
section 2.3, "Category Codes" of texbytopic.pdf (an extremely helpful  
resource, and again, thanks to Bruno for recommending it).

Again, thanks very much indeed,

Roger

> Hi Roger,
>
> On 07/04/2005, at 2:58 PM, Roger Hart wrote:
>
>> I need to standardize the preambles to numerous files I'm working on,  
>> so it seemed to make sense to me to put all of my packages,  
>> environments, and commands in a single file and use that as a  
>> package, mypackages.sty. This works with the exception of a command  
>> using both ps4pdf and xy. Basically, to simplify a bit to get at the  
>> problem, what I want to do is to put the following command in my file  
>> of commands and packages,
>>
>> \def\mydiagram#1{\PSforPDF{\xymatrix@!=0mm at R-=10mm at C-=6mm@*[c]{#1}}}
>>
>> The problem seems to be with the xymatrix options. That is,
>>
>> \def\mydiagram#1{\PSforPDF{\xymatrix{#1}}}
>>
>> works just fine in mypackages.sty, but if I try to add the xymatrix  
>> options,
>>
>> @!=0mm at R-=10mm at C-=6mm@*[c]
>>
>> which is the whole reason I'm defining \mydiagram, then I get an  
>> "unknown control sequence" error.
>
> Sounds like a category-code error.
> I'd like to see the complete log-message,
> where it shows you which control-sequence is apparently undefined.
>
> It would also help to see the complete .tex file that is being
> processed at the time of the error.
> (You may need to edit a script to prevent it being removed,
> similar to advice given on this list for a different package.)
>
>
> Here is an attempt to solve the problem, without knowing enough
> to be sure that I have it correctly diagnosed:
>
> Presumably you are defining \mydiagram  within the preamble,
> or within a package.
>
> In this case, try:
>
>  \makeatother
>   \def\mydiagram#1{\PSforPDF{\xymatrix@!=0mm at R-=10mm at C-=6mm@*[c]{#1}}}
>  \makeatletter
>
> Or if that doesn't work, try
>
> \def\mydiagram#1{\PSforPDF{{\xycatcodes\xymatrix@!=0mm at R-=10mm at C- 
> =6mm@*[c]{#1}}}}
>
>
>
>>
>> I've spent a few hours, I'm embarrassed to admit, reading and  
>> rereading my LaTeX and TeX books, and trying quite blindly various  
>> combinations of \expand this, \noexpand that, expandafter the other,  
>> etc., with a \edef here, and a \gdef there, but with no success. I've  
>> also looked at the xymatrix documentation, but could not find a  
>> better way to set the options. Any suggestions?
>>
>> Thanks very much,
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> 	Ross
>
>>
>> Roger
>>
>>
>> ********************************
>>
>> Roger Hart
>> Assistant Professor, Departments of History and Asian Studies
>> University of Texas at Austin
>>
>> office: Room 405, Garrison Hall
>> office phone: 512-475-7258
>> department fax: 512-475-7222
>> email: rhart at mail.utexas.edu
>> http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rhart
>>
>> *********************************
>>
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>>
>>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> -
> Ross Moore                                         ross at maths.mq.edu.au
> Mathematics Department                             office: E7A-419
> Macquarie University                               tel: +61 +2 9850  
> 8955
> Sydney, Australia                                  fax: +61 +2 9850  
> 8114
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>
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