A \(re)newcommand that does not care if a command is already defined

Question

Does there exists a version of \newcommand, something like \extranewcommand{\foo}{bar} which does defines \foo to stand for bar regardless of whether \foo has been previously defined? Of course, if \foo is undefined, one can use \newcommand{\foo}{bar}, and if it is defined, one can use \renewcommand{\foo}{bar}. However, in either case, one has to know which version to use: if one chooses wrong, the document won't compile. What I am interested in is if there exists a similar command (or perhaps a combination of commands, etc.) which will work in either situation.

As a rationalisation for the question, below are two situations in which I would find this command useful. Of course, the change is very minor, but it adds up over time, I think.

1. One doesn't always know what commands are already defined. Sometimes, it happens that a newly defined command happens to also be something defined in some standard package. For instance, one wants to use \operatorname{Im} for the image of a linear operator, so it is convenient to declare \newcommand{\Im}{\operatorname{Im}}. However, \Im is already a fancy symbol for the imaginary part, so a renewcommand is needed instead. I never use the mentioned imaginary part symbol, so it would be nice if I could just forget that it exists (but I can't). (Of course, this issue can be solved by compiling, noticing the error and adding "re" in front of "newcommand"; but, there are a lot of other such clashes that happen.)
2. I use a lot of commands used only "locally" (I'm not sure if it's a good coding practice, but I find it useful). For example, if I have a set S which occurs in many places in the text, I would often declare \newcommand{\Set}{S} or even \newcommand{\S}{S}, so that I can easily change the symbol S to another one if I feel like it. This potentially leads to renewing commands quite frequently, which is not that much of a problem. However, if a block of text with a \newcommand moves, then also a prefix re has to move. (Again, it is not much of a problem, but I find it a nuisance).

Answer 1

There is \providecommand that defines a macro if it is not yet defined. Together with \renewcommand you have your "\extranewcommand":

\providecommand{\foo}{}
\renewcommand{\foo}[1]{bar: #1}

Or you can switch to the plain TeX primitives (other syntax!), e.g.:

\long\def\foo#1{bar: #1}

(\renewcommand and friends without star use \long\def and if the star form is given, \def without \long is used. Also the parameters are specified differently.)

\declarecommand

A definition of the "requested" \declarecommand that calls \providecommand and \renewcommand together:

\documentclass{article}

\makeatletter
\newcommand*{\declarecommand}{%
  \@star@or@long\declare@command
}
\newcommand*{\declare@command}[1]{%
  \provide@command{#1}{}%
  % \let#1\@empty % would be more efficient, but without error checking
  \renew@command{#1}%
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\declarecommand*{\foo}{\typeout{foo 1: \meaning\foo}}
\foo
\declarecommand{\foo}{\typeout{foo 2: \meaning\foo}}
\foo
\declarecommand*{\foo}[1]{\typeout{foo #1: \meaning\foo}}
\foo{3}

\end{document}

Result:

foo 1: macro:->\typeout {foo 1: \meaning \foo }
foo 2: \long macro:->\typeout {foo 2: \meaning \foo }
foo 3: macro:#1->\typeout {foo #1: \meaning \foo }

Answer 2

It's not as crafty as Heiko's answer but another option would be

\ifdefined\foo
\renewcommand{\foo}[1]{bar: #1}
\else
\newcommand{\foo}[1]{bar: #1}
\fi

Note that \ifdefined is part of the e-TeX extension and as such part of any modern LaTeX compiler. No packages required.

Answer 3

You can put

\newcommand{\foo}[1]{to be renewed}

in your preamble and then

\renewcommmand{\foo}[1]{whatever #1}

wherever you like.

If \foo happens to be defined when you start out, you'll find that out and can choose another name, or renew in your preamble.

Answer 4

This is a very old thread, but people find it when they Google so I'll put in my solution:

(Make sure to have \usepackage{suffix} in the preamble)

\long\def \forcecommand #1{\providecommand{#1}{}\renewcommand{#1}}

\WithSuffix\def \forcecommand*#1{\providecommand*{#1}{}\renewcommand*{#1}}

\forcecommand essentially only "grabs" the first parameter passed to it, applies it to \providecommand and \renewcommand, then leaves the rest for \renewcommand.