[OS X TeX] ifthen

[Nitecki, Zbigniew H.]

I am trying to set up an association between certain numbers (positions in a braid diagram) and colors.

The macro
\newcommand{\strandcolor}[1]{\ifthenelse{\equal{#1}{1}}{orange}
{\ifthenelse{\equal{#1}{2}}{black}
{\ifthenelse{\equal{#1}{3}}{red}
{\ifthenelse{\equal{#1}{4}}{purple}
{\ifthenelse{\equal{#1}{5}}{green}{}
}
}
}
}
}


Seems to work fine: if I follow it with a multi do statement it prints out the names of the colors in order.

However, when I try to use it in the following macro
\newcommand{\colornode}[5]{\rput*(#4,#5){\circlenode[linecolor=white]{V#1#2}{\textcolor{\strandcolor{#3}}{$\boldsymbol{\scriptsize{#3}}$}}}}

I get the error message that \equal is an undefined control sequence.  Is there something about expanding or protecting macros that I am missing, or what other stupid mistake have I made.  Attached is the pared-down total source code and log of the (unfinished) run..



Zbigniew Nitecki
Department of Mathematics
Tufts University
Medford, MA 02155

telephones:
Office    (617)627-3843
Dept.    (617)627-3234
Dept. fax    (617)627-3966
http://www.tufts.edu/~znitecki/




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