Globally set a word in Small Caps (or italics)

Question

I am using Lyx with Preamble. I am working on a project where the abbreviation "hon." needs to be set to small caps globally. (/sc). Tried to use \renewcommand, no luck there.

Answer 1

I think I see what you want. In LyX, type the text "LyX" and export to pdf. You will see that it is formatted automatically. Is that what you want?

There is no user-friendly way to add your own special phrase as these (also "TeX", "LaTeX2e", "LaTeX") are hardcoded. However, if you can compile LyX, it's very easy to add your own:

(1) Edit src/Paragraph.cpp and edit the special_phrase array as follows:

special_phrase const special_phrases[] = {
        { "LyX", from_ascii("\\LyX{}"), false },
        { "TeX", from_ascii("\\TeX{}"), true },
        { "LaTeX2e", from_ascii("\\LaTeXe{}"), true },
        { "LaTeX", from_ascii("\\LaTeX{}"), true },
        { "hon.", from_ascii("\\hon{}"), false },
};

(1.5, optional) Note that you should also change src/tex2lyx/text.cpp so that if you import a tex file with "hon." LyX does not try to change it. This is easy -- just add "hon." to the known_phrases and known_coded_phrases arrays.

(2) (re)compile.

(3) Then in your preamble put

\newcommand{\hon}{{\sc hon.}}

The reason it's a good idea to have a middleman, \hon{}, is so that you can easily change it in the preamble and you won't have to recompile.

That should do what you want. I'm not sure it's a good idea though. Note that if you input Mathew is planning to run a marathon., the hon. will still be substituted for. If you're quick enough to catch that would-be error, instead of marathon. put marathon[put an empty ERT box here]. and the output will be as intended.

An alternative way to the above would be to use a python script.

Answer 2

Probably the simplest approach is to use a macro specifically for "hon." wherever it appears.

\documentclass{standalone}
\newcommand\Hon{\textsc{hon.}}
\begin{document}
Surely, if the \Hon\ Member found himself in that position \emph{etc.}
\end{document}

Note the backslash after the macro \Hon. Nearly (but not quite all) macros consume all whitespace after the occur, including any which are defined by \newcommand or \renewcommand under ordinary circumstances. The backslash immediately after the macro preserves the whitespace which occurs immediately afterwards.