# a question about memoir log file

I use the memoir class and in the first section of the log file there are a lot of lines like the following

``````\binding=\skip48
\spinemargin=\skip49
\foremargin=\skip50
\uppermargin=\skip51
\lowermargin=\skip52
\normalrulethickness=\skip54
---------------------------
\lightrulewidth=\dimen115
\cmidrulewidth=\dimen116
\belowrulesep=\dimen117
\belowbottomsep=\dimen118
---------------------------
``````

I understand that the left hand side quantities represent configurable parameters, but what are the right hand side quantities \skipXX, \dimenXXX (as well as many others, as \countXX) and where they are defined?

These are the internal numbers of the registers that are created when `memoir` issues as `\newdimen` or `\newlength` command. Each register has a number. In the original TeX there were only 256 of them, but in modern TeX there are 32768.
• @AthanasiosMargaris they are only useful for debugging, for example if some package doesn't use the official allocation macros (or there is a bug in those allocation macros) you can end up with two names being defined to be the same register which is very confusing without that log information, if `\uppermargin` and `\lowermargin` were both `\skip50` then `\setlength\uppermargin{...}` would also change `\lowermargin` – David Carlisle Oct 29 '17 at 21:15