[tex-eplain] pdftex and color - any solution?

[Oleg Katsitadze]

On Mon, Jul 10, 2006 at 09:04:28PM +0200, Helmut Jarausch wrote:
> ! Incomplete \iffalse; all text was ignored after line 160.
> <inserted text> 
>                 \fi 
> <to be read again> 
>                    \newdimen 
> l.163   \newdimen
>                  \scratchdimen % 16
> 
> 
> Does anybody know a work around?

This already happened to several users.  Here's the fix:

This is a bug in the newer (but not the latest)
supp-mis.tex.  Your version of supp-mis.tex distinguishes
between plain TeX and LaTeX on the basis of \fmtname, and
whenever \fmtname is not `plain' or `babel-plain',
supp-mis.tex decides it is dealing with LaTeX.  Since Eplain
redefines \fmtname to be `eplain', you end up executing the
code intended for LaTeX.

I reported this to Hans Hagen and he added in the check for
`eplain'.  The fixed supp-mis.tex is at

  ftp://tug.org/pub/tex-archive/macros/pdftex/graphics/supp-mis.tex

You can however just use the following workaround.  Redefine
\fmtname back to `plain' before including the `color'
package:

  \input eplain
  \def\fmtname{plain}% Work around the bug in supp-mis.tex

  \beginpackages
    \usepackage{color}
  \endpackages

Hope this helps,
Oleg

P.S.  Karl, I've only now noticed that the fixed
supp-mis.tex didn't have it's date updated, so both the old
and the new versions are dated 2004.10.26.  Very confusing!
I'll pester Hans again.