Can relax be replaced by a space?












6















LaTeX defines vec as



DeclareMathAccent{vec}{mathord}{letters}{"7E}


which eventually is expanded to



mathaccent"017Erelax


whereas plainTeX defines it as



defvec{mathaccent"017E }


replacing relax with a space.



Is there any practical difference?










share|improve this question





























    6















    LaTeX defines vec as



    DeclareMathAccent{vec}{mathord}{letters}{"7E}


    which eventually is expanded to



    mathaccent"017Erelax


    whereas plainTeX defines it as



    defvec{mathaccent"017E }


    replacing relax with a space.



    Is there any practical difference?










    share|improve this question



























      6












      6








      6


      1






      LaTeX defines vec as



      DeclareMathAccent{vec}{mathord}{letters}{"7E}


      which eventually is expanded to



      mathaccent"017Erelax


      whereas plainTeX defines it as



      defvec{mathaccent"017E }


      replacing relax with a space.



      Is there any practical difference?










      share|improve this question
















      LaTeX defines vec as



      DeclareMathAccent{vec}{mathord}{letters}{"7E}


      which eventually is expanded to



      mathaccent"017Erelax


      whereas plainTeX defines it as



      defvec{mathaccent"017E }


      replacing relax with a space.



      Is there any practical difference?







      macros tex-core






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 3 hours ago







      EuklidAlexandria

















      asked 3 hours ago









      EuklidAlexandriaEuklidAlexandria

      26117




      26117






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

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          3














          The syntax for mathaccent is (TeXbook, p. 291)




          mathaccent⟨15-bit number⟩⟨math field⟩




          A ⟨15-bit number⟩ is an integer (in any denotation allowed by LaTeX) in the range 0–215. What's a ⟨math field⟩? We find it on page 289




          ⟨math field⟩ → ⟨filler⟩⟨math symbol⟩ | ⟨filler⟩{⟨math mode material⟩}




          A ⟨filler⟩ is any sequence of space tokens and relax tokens which are ignored (doing expansion) when processing the input stream looking for something that fits the syntax rule.



          Thus in LaTeX the relax will be gobbled as a ⟨filler⟩, whereas in plain TeX the space terminates the specification for the number and is ignored as well.



          Why does LaTeX use relax? The answer is in the definition of DeclareMathAccent that internally uses set@mathaccent:



          % latex.ltx, line 3596:
          defset@mathaccent#1#2#3#4{%
          xdef#2{mathaccent"mathchar@type#3hexnumber@#1#4relax}}


          The choice might depend on the fact that when writing to an auxiliary file relax is better suited to the job.






          share|improve this answer

























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            1 Answer
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            active

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            active

            oldest

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            active

            oldest

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            3














            The syntax for mathaccent is (TeXbook, p. 291)




            mathaccent⟨15-bit number⟩⟨math field⟩




            A ⟨15-bit number⟩ is an integer (in any denotation allowed by LaTeX) in the range 0–215. What's a ⟨math field⟩? We find it on page 289




            ⟨math field⟩ → ⟨filler⟩⟨math symbol⟩ | ⟨filler⟩{⟨math mode material⟩}




            A ⟨filler⟩ is any sequence of space tokens and relax tokens which are ignored (doing expansion) when processing the input stream looking for something that fits the syntax rule.



            Thus in LaTeX the relax will be gobbled as a ⟨filler⟩, whereas in plain TeX the space terminates the specification for the number and is ignored as well.



            Why does LaTeX use relax? The answer is in the definition of DeclareMathAccent that internally uses set@mathaccent:



            % latex.ltx, line 3596:
            defset@mathaccent#1#2#3#4{%
            xdef#2{mathaccent"mathchar@type#3hexnumber@#1#4relax}}


            The choice might depend on the fact that when writing to an auxiliary file relax is better suited to the job.






            share|improve this answer






























              3














              The syntax for mathaccent is (TeXbook, p. 291)




              mathaccent⟨15-bit number⟩⟨math field⟩




              A ⟨15-bit number⟩ is an integer (in any denotation allowed by LaTeX) in the range 0–215. What's a ⟨math field⟩? We find it on page 289




              ⟨math field⟩ → ⟨filler⟩⟨math symbol⟩ | ⟨filler⟩{⟨math mode material⟩}




              A ⟨filler⟩ is any sequence of space tokens and relax tokens which are ignored (doing expansion) when processing the input stream looking for something that fits the syntax rule.



              Thus in LaTeX the relax will be gobbled as a ⟨filler⟩, whereas in plain TeX the space terminates the specification for the number and is ignored as well.



              Why does LaTeX use relax? The answer is in the definition of DeclareMathAccent that internally uses set@mathaccent:



              % latex.ltx, line 3596:
              defset@mathaccent#1#2#3#4{%
              xdef#2{mathaccent"mathchar@type#3hexnumber@#1#4relax}}


              The choice might depend on the fact that when writing to an auxiliary file relax is better suited to the job.






              share|improve this answer




























                3












                3








                3







                The syntax for mathaccent is (TeXbook, p. 291)




                mathaccent⟨15-bit number⟩⟨math field⟩




                A ⟨15-bit number⟩ is an integer (in any denotation allowed by LaTeX) in the range 0–215. What's a ⟨math field⟩? We find it on page 289




                ⟨math field⟩ → ⟨filler⟩⟨math symbol⟩ | ⟨filler⟩{⟨math mode material⟩}




                A ⟨filler⟩ is any sequence of space tokens and relax tokens which are ignored (doing expansion) when processing the input stream looking for something that fits the syntax rule.



                Thus in LaTeX the relax will be gobbled as a ⟨filler⟩, whereas in plain TeX the space terminates the specification for the number and is ignored as well.



                Why does LaTeX use relax? The answer is in the definition of DeclareMathAccent that internally uses set@mathaccent:



                % latex.ltx, line 3596:
                defset@mathaccent#1#2#3#4{%
                xdef#2{mathaccent"mathchar@type#3hexnumber@#1#4relax}}


                The choice might depend on the fact that when writing to an auxiliary file relax is better suited to the job.






                share|improve this answer















                The syntax for mathaccent is (TeXbook, p. 291)




                mathaccent⟨15-bit number⟩⟨math field⟩




                A ⟨15-bit number⟩ is an integer (in any denotation allowed by LaTeX) in the range 0–215. What's a ⟨math field⟩? We find it on page 289




                ⟨math field⟩ → ⟨filler⟩⟨math symbol⟩ | ⟨filler⟩{⟨math mode material⟩}




                A ⟨filler⟩ is any sequence of space tokens and relax tokens which are ignored (doing expansion) when processing the input stream looking for something that fits the syntax rule.



                Thus in LaTeX the relax will be gobbled as a ⟨filler⟩, whereas in plain TeX the space terminates the specification for the number and is ignored as well.



                Why does LaTeX use relax? The answer is in the definition of DeclareMathAccent that internally uses set@mathaccent:



                % latex.ltx, line 3596:
                defset@mathaccent#1#2#3#4{%
                xdef#2{mathaccent"mathchar@type#3hexnumber@#1#4relax}}


                The choice might depend on the fact that when writing to an auxiliary file relax is better suited to the job.







                share|improve this answer














                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer








                edited 2 hours ago

























                answered 2 hours ago









                egregegreg

                720k8719093208




                720k8719093208






























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