Questions tagged [plain-tex]
Plain TeX is Knuth's original default format for TeX documents.
607
questions
3
votes
1answer
126 views
\includegraphics not working in Plain TeX after update
I have been using \includegraphics with plain TeX without problems until yesterday, when I updated TeXLive and wrote (minimal)
\input miniltx
\input graphicx.sty
\includegraphics{espec.png}
\bye
The ...
1
vote
2answers
35 views
Redefining the length-related commands to have a decimal coefficient
The macro of \! is defined as: \def\!{\mskip-\thinmuskip} and the command of \thinmuskip is initialized as being \thinmuskip = 3mu (Appendix B: p.349, The TeXBook). I couldn't have found the ...
2
votes
1answer
62 views
In plain TeX, How to make a part of text in two(or multi) columns?
To put it simple, I would like to make a little part of my document appears to be in two columns.
However, As most of that should be in a single column, I have a little doubt that whether tangling ...
0
votes
0answers
22 views
How to insert movie in Palin Tex? [duplicate]
How to insert movie in Palin Tex?
% Plain TeX
\input media9.sty
\includemedia[addresource=cube.mp4,
flashvars={source=cube.mp4&autoPlay=true &loop=true},passcontext
]{\includegraphics[...
2
votes
1answer
47 views
Unequal text height in PlainTeX, no problem in LaTeX
I wrote 2 MWEs, one for LaTeX, one for PlainTeX. When they are compiled you can see, that the output produced by PlainTeX suffers from an unequal text height. There are sometimes less lines than ...
7
votes
2answers
239 views
PlainTeX: Float(s) lost with custom output routine
I use PlainTex because I like its simplicity and because I understand almost all lines of its code. When I look at the output routine of LaTeX I only understand a little bit.
So I trie to add floats ...
0
votes
2answers
63 views
Replicating the Quotation Environment in XeTeX
Our department's template for letters requires that they be compiled using XeTeX. I am writing a letter in which I would like to include an inset quotation. In LaTeX I would write
\begin{quotation}
...
5
votes
1answer
105 views
two sets of hyphenation patterns without a newlanguage
While reading hymaster.tex, part of hyacc-cm, we find the following statement:
It is important to use version 3.xx of TeX, and a version
3.xx of plain.tex. The critical date is autumn 1989, and
...
1
vote
1answer
60 views
Presence of non-plain TeX control sequences in the TeXbook?
I was browsing the TeXbook source file texbook.tex from CTAN. In it, I came across the control word pair \begintt, \endtt (e.g., lines 445–447, looks like for marking up source code). But I couldn't ...
1
vote
1answer
69 views
MWE using edmac
I am trying to evaluate the feasibility of using the plain package for building a volume one part of which is a critical edition set in plain tex using edmac, the other parts are more or less regular ...
1
vote
0answers
86 views
Defining a figure* equivalent for Plain TeX in multicolumn output
Some time ago I tried to define something like figure* for Plain TeX. This resulted in wrong column heights.
(See: Wide figure in twocolumn output in Plain TeX)
There was a hint to memorioze the ...
1
vote
1answer
34 views
How to use the command \hangpun under xetex？
I read the document of font-change-xetex. It says the\hangpuncommand
of font-change-xetex provides a way to employ hanging punctuation. So I have a try, but it doesn't work.
This is my test file:
\...
1
vote
1answer
44 views
e-TeX \hbox to size of glue
I have a piece of glue (\hskip 2.4in plus 2fil specifically) that's flexible, and I want to create an \hbox to the same length, but \hbox to 2.4in plus 2fil doesn't work. Is there a way to achieve a ...
4
votes
1answer
110 views
Testing TeXLive 2019 (MacTeX) with TRIP.TEX
While browsing through Don Knuth's publications on TeX, I was referred to the file tripman.pdf on my MacTeX distribution. As TeXnicians may know, this file explains the purpose of the TRIP test and ...
3
votes
0answers
59 views
ghostscript gives undefined in --execute— when using color.tex with pstricks on plain tex
Assume the following plain TeX file:
\input pstricks
\input color
\pscircle{1.5}
\bye
Compiling using eTeX works fine, dvips too. However the resulting PS file can't be processed using gs, I'll post ...
0
votes
1answer
49 views
How to center pdf image?
I'm using pdftex, and I'm trying to center an image with the rest of my text.
I want to get a result like:
{\hfil \pdfximage{test.png} \pdfrefximage\pdflastximage \hfil}
\bye
gives, but instead I'm ...
2
votes
2answers
67 views
\hfill between lines
In the first paragraph put out by the following programme, dolor is
set at the right margin. In the second, this doesn't happen, presumably
because when the \hfill happens we are still on the first ...
0
votes
1answer
90 views
Why cmmib10 font is not available in stripped down versions of TeX?
In TeXbook p.156 it is said:
Suppose that you want to extend plain TEX by putting
boldface math italic letters in family 9, analogous to the normal math italic letters
in family 1. (Such fonts ...
2
votes
3answers
126 views
Tractatus-style paragraph numbering
How can I keep track of a decimal number that indicates the current
paragraph's place in a logical hierarchy and print it in the margin of
each paragraph? (To yield a numbering in the style of ...
3
votes
2answers
248 views
Why is an empty \line added when \insert is used?
Consider the following example:
\tracingonline=1
\tracingoutput=1
\gdef\makefootline{} \gdef\makeheadline{}
\insert\topins{\vbox to\vsize{\hrule height \vsize width 300pt}}
\end
The log file ...
3
votes
1answer
55 views
How \topinsert differs from \pageinsert?
In TeXbook p.116 it is said:
... suppose you make seven topinserts in a row, of
respective sizes 1, 2, 3, 9, 3, 2, 1 inches; the 9-inch one is actually a \pageinsert.
This wording is very ...
1
vote
0answers
67 views
How to find out why the font search fails?
I migrated my XeTeX PDF generation from a Debian 9 system to the CentOS 7. The Red Hat packages of XeTeX where totally outdated and I had to remove them all, in order to install the latest TeX Live ...
2
votes
2answers
98 views
How to get eth and thorn symbols in Plain tex
Is it possible to create control sequences in plain Tex to produce the (phonetic) symbols for eth and thorn, e.g., as used in the compacted spin-coefficient formalism?
8
votes
2answers
95 views
Using a loop in \halign's preamble
I've been trying to use a macro which abstracts the structure of an \halign object to a number of columns, as mentioned in my previous question
"Can I use a macro in \halign's preamble?." For that ...
6
votes
2answers
73 views
Can I use a macro in \halign's preamble?
I'm using Plain TeX and want to be able to abstract away the preamble of an \halign so that I can just call it with a number of columns in a macro like \customalign, and I want to use a macro to make ...
4
votes
3answers
73 views
Overriding control sequences for accessing TeX's integer-/dimension-/glue-/..-parameters
In TeX there are a lot of parameters which you can adjust for changing the behavior of TeX.
Example 1:
By assigning \baselineskip=... you change distance between lines.
Why TeX's breaking-paragraphs-...
1
vote
1answer
71 views
In what ways can one write a parser in plain TeX or packageless LaTeX?
I want to write my own document class as a literate program with as minimal of a dependency tree as possible as an exercise to test my ability.
I've implemented a stable foreach loop by shredding an ...
3
votes
1answer
86 views
How is space factor calculated?
In the following example, space factor is 1000 everywhere, so \spaceskip must never be used.
But why if we change it to 0pt (after calling \raggedright),
the result is different?
\hsize=2in
\...
5
votes
2answers
184 views
Explanation of TeX’s reading rules in TeXbook
What means the following extract on page 46 of TeXbook?
TeX goes into state S in case (c), or in case (b) with respect to a character of category 10 (space)
Does it mean that space must be skipped ...
5
votes
2answers
141 views
Question about exercise 20.7 in the TeXbook
To which specific examples from answer to exercise 20.7 in TeXbook refers the following part of the answer?
Category codes are not shown, but a character of category 6 always appears twice in
...
2
votes
1answer
106 views
UTF8-based plain TeX
Is there any option among all these LaTeX, XeTeX and so on, that processes input, which is formatted in just the same way, as for Knuth's TeX, but with UTF-8 encoding? I mean, I would like to take a ....
6
votes
1answer
405 views
Emergency stop in plain TeX, pdfTeX, XeTeX and LuaTeX?
I'm using <TeX_Engine> -jobname=TEX_TESTING -halt-on-error -interaction=nonstopmode <my_code> to TeX the one-line code A\bye. It does not work. Here are the logs:
Plain TeX:
This is TeX, ...
3
votes
1answer
33 views
How to avoid indentation on a markerless footnote in plain TeX
I'd like to create a markerless footnote in plain TeX with several lines and no indentation. The closest I've gotten is:
\footnote{}{
\kern -2.3em Line 1\hfil\break
\noindent Line 2\hfil\break
\...
4
votes
4answers
455 views
Where can I find how to tex symbols for different fonts?
I'm aware of fonts such as cmr10, cmex10 and cmsy10. Right now I would like to know how to use TeX to produce symbols in the character tables such as http://www.math.union.edu/~dpvc/jsmath/symbols/...
1
vote
2answers
102 views
verbatim listing with trailing spaces
I'm trying to redefine \verb just for fun. It should act like the LaTeX starred version: \verb<some-char><arbitrary chain of chars not containing it><same char again> should yield ...
2
votes
1answer
26 views
How to stop output generation after the first page?
I need to render labels. My labels are 102mm * 152mm. When the input is too long, TeX creates two pages. But I can not print on two labels. So I would like to throw away everything but the first page.
...
8
votes
1answer
279 views
How to select CMU Sans Serif Bold in XeTeX?
I have the bold font installed:
fc-list | grep CMU | grep Sans | grep Bold
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/cmu/cmunso.ttf: CMU Sans Serif:style=BoldOblique
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/cmu/cmunsx.ttf: CMU ...
1
vote
0answers
62 views
sorting text file in plain TeX
I have seen Latex sort macros (for an index, which is precisely what I want, the index having several thousand entries); but I haven't seen one in plain (or AmS-TeX, for that matter; either is OK). ...
1
vote
1answer
56 views
right aligned \hrule, size based on text above (and below) in Plain TeX
I need an \hrule which is right aligned and the size is exactly equal to the text above it.
And the same for text below it.
Is such a thing possible outside of LuaTeX? I am using XeTeX.
EDIT:
For ...
2
votes
2answers
312 views
How to fill page vertically?
I tried to print labels with UTF-8 input. I have read, that this requires xetex. So I wrote the following example to write 1€ in the four corners of a 102mm x 152mm label:
\pdfpagewidth=102mm
\...
0
votes
1answer
79 views
practical use of `\noexpand` outside`\edef`(`\xdef`) and `\write`(`\messge`)?
After reading (and searching through) TeXbyTopic.pdf I have the impression that practical use of \noexpand falls into one of the following three cases,
Inside \edef or \xdef, including the cases ...
7
votes
2answers
392 views
How to write a macro that is braces sensitive?
In the xparse package, there is the g type of argument which captures things inside a pair of TeX group tokens. This makes it possible to define commands \foo that behaves differently for \foo{a} and \...
5
votes
3answers
171 views
How to write a definition with variants?
In TeX I can define, say
\def\1#1 is #2.{#1 & is & #2.\\}
and
\def\2#1 has #2.{#1 & has & #2.\\}
with an easy usage:
\1 Jim Jones is a fictional character.
and
\2 Tim Smith has ...
0
votes
0answers
45 views
Condensed font showing badly in Firefox
I am using a slightly condensed version of Lucida Typewriter for code listings, obtained with the fontmap line
lbtn LucidaTypewriter "0.85 ExtendFont TeXnANSIEncoding ReEncodeFont"
<texnansi....
5
votes
2answers
214 views
TikZ plot too verbose
I was wondering if there was a more succinct way to express the following plot (I'm using the plain format):
\input tikz
\tikzpicture
\draw[help lines, ystep=.5] (-.2,-10) grid (12.5,15);
\draw[-&...
0
votes
1answer
40 views
How to access `\ninerm` (and some others) font in pdfTeX?
I can only use \tenrm\, \sevenrm, and \fiverm fonts; there are no \ninerm or \sixrm. I would appreciate if you share how to make ALL of those font sequences work.
2
votes
3answers
74 views
Quotes ignored by pdftex
I'm reading the TeXBook by Donald Knuth, exercise 2.1. I have the following input:
Alice said, ‘‘I always use an en-dash instead of a hyphen when specifying page numbers like ‘480--491’ in a bibliog
...
1
vote
1answer
77 views
TeX and how to not output the footline/headline on specific page
The title page, any page, no head/footline using plain+etex+opmac, on a per page basis.
Is there a manual coding solution to a page macro to relax the foot/headline for the page. Below the "idea" not ...
5
votes
3answers
120 views
CWEB, Plain TeX: how to switch from cmr8 to another font that supports foreign language characters?
I'm using egreg's code to use UTF-8 in Plain TeX so I can use Donald Knuth and Silvio Levy's CWEB. However, not every TeX font supports foreign language characters such as \"{y} or ç or ã.
So this ...
0
votes
0answers
65 views
What combination of engine, format and packages can provide for arbitrary single page layout of precise regions of different attributes?
What combination of TeX engine, format and packages can provide for arbitrary single page layout of precise regions of different attributes? Is this reasonably achievable?
Secondarily, if more than ...
