How to expand macro containing another macro

Question

Assume a situation that I have predefined some macros like abc, aotherc, ... etc. The macro is just like a#1c, and #1 is defined by x.

In other words, I don't know which of abc, aotherc, ... to be used, but all these macros have been defined. then how can I write axc with x expanded first, and then the whole macro expands to the correct content?

It is my naming convention that causes this problem. Adjusting the order of the subnames just fix it. But I wonder if there is a way to solve this.

defabc{abc}
defaotherc{aotherc}
defx{b}

My attemp

expandafteracsname xendcsname c

The first comment is right. Write like this

csname ax cendcsname

then it will expand correctly.
My last run came with other problem.

David Carlisle · Accepted Answer

is the output from the plain TeX file:

defabc{abc}
defaotherc{aotherc}

1:
defx{b}
csname ax cendcsname

2:
defx{other}
csname ax cendcsname

bye

Which shows that in each case, first x was expanded to construct the csnames abc (in the first case) or aotherc (in the second) and then that constructed csname was expanded to produce the appropriate text.

How to expand macro containing another macro

One Answer

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question