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I'd like to know how to create a macro that can append new elements/items to a macro list (token list) BUT also adds { and } around each added item.

Example I'd like it to save each new item like this:

\appendtocslist{tokenlist}{newitem}

yields {newitem} in the list.

Why Because I can easily parse the list with \readcslist.

I am not sure if also separating each value with a comma (or some other separator) is necessary.

Append to Command Sequence (CS) List

  • Smart enough to initiate a new macro if none exist iwth does not exist.
  • It uses csname to allow for dynamic macro names.
  • It currently uses a trailing comma character , as a separator/delimiter.

Code

\long\def\appendtocslist#1#2{% #1 = List ID (no backslash) #2=New Item to Append % I chose this complicated csname form of the list-making because it can accept dynamic csnames using counters \expandafter\ifx\csname#1\endcsname\relax\expandafter\xdef\csname#1\endcsname{#2,}\else% Macro Existence Check \expandafter\xdef\csname#1\expandafter\expandafter\expandafter\endcsname \expandafter\expandafter\expandafter {\csname #1\endcsname#2,}\fi%Append expansion of #1 with #2, delimit with ,. ^^J appears as newline in terminal or space when typeset and does not work as a delimiter }%

Code

\documentclass{article} \usepackage{fontspec}% xelatex \makeatletter \long\def\appendtocslist#1#2{% #1 = List ID (no backslash) #2=New Item to Append % I chose this complicated csname form of the list-making because it can accept dynamic csnames using counters \expandafter\ifx\csname#1\endcsname\relax\expandafter\xdef\csname#1\endcsname{#2,}\else% Macro Existence Check \expandafter\xdef\csname#1\expandafter\expandafter\expandafter\endcsname \expandafter\expandafter\expandafter {\csname #1\endcsname#2,}\fi%Append expansion of #1 with #2, delimit with ,. ^^J appears as newline in terminal or space when typeset and does not work as a delimiter }% \long\def\readcslist#1{% \@tempcnta=1% \checknextarg% } \long\def\checknextarg{% % My job is to check for another arg and trigger a recursive cycle. % for \@ifnextchar to check, so we say \bgroup, which means literal { % I am only important if there are exactly two args. \@ifnextchar\bgroup{\recursivecycle}{\advance\@tempcnta1\finalcall}% \@ifnextchar ignores spaces } \long\def\recursivecycle#1{% % My job is to eat each argument recursively until I % cannot find any more { characters. I ignore spaces. % If I reach the end, I run whatever is in false area of \@ifnextchar \advance\@tempcnta by 1% add one for next arg \@ifnextchar\bgroup{\recursivecycle}{\finalcall}} \def\finalcall{Total n of args: \the\@tempcnta} \makeatother \begin{document} Hello. \appendtocslist{mylist}{a} \appendtocslist{mylist}{b} \appendtocslist{mylist}{c} \readcslist{d}{e}{f} % \expandafter\readargs\expandafter{\mylist} % wouldn't this be nice!% \end{document}
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  • Do you want also the comma? Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 15:03
  • @egreg Glad you asked first. What do you recommend from your knowledge of dealing with these things? Is it necessary if I have everything surrounded in braces for future manipulation e.g. element extraction or prepending/appending new elements? Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 15:03
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    I would avoid to reinvent the wheel and use expl3. And definitely not absorb items until no more { are found. This is very dangerous and useless: \readcslist{{a}{b}{c}} is much simpler and safer. Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 15:08
  • @egreg I was trying to avoid expl3, not to undermind the project or your efforts. Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 15:13
  • What's the connection between \appendtocslist and \readcslist? I see none. Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 15:14

2 Answers 2

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\documentclass{article} \makeatletter % syntactic sugar \def\expandtwice{\unexpanded\expandafter\expandafter\expandafter} % append to list (or create it) \newcommand\appendtocslist[2]{% % #1 = Macro Name without \ (list name), #2=New Item to Append \ifcsname#1\endcsname \expandafter\xdef\csname#1\endcsname{% % the previous items \expandtwice{\csname#1\endcsname}% % the new item {#2}% }% \else % the list doesn't exist yet, create it \expandafter\gdef\csname#1\endcsname{{#2}} \fi } % read n-argument types (ignoring spaces) \long\def\readcslist#1{% \@tempcnta=1 \checknextarg } \long\def\checknextarg{% \@ifnextchar\bgroup{\recursivecycle}{\finalcall}% } \long\def\recursivecycle#1{% \advance\@tempcnta by 1 % add one for next arg \checknextarg } \def\finalcall{Total n of args: \the\@tempcnta} \makeatother \begin{document} Hello. \appendtocslist{mylist}{a} \appendtocslist{mylist}{b} \appendtocslist{mylist}{c} \texttt{\expandafter\meaning\csname mylist\endcsname} \readcslist{d}{e}{f} \expandafter\readcslist\mylist \end{document}

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  • I just realized that \xdef should be \protected@xdef to maintain the effect of \protect when appending things like \textit or \textbf. Obviously, you used my minimal example, but I wanted to note this here for posterity. Commented Feb 28, 2018 at 14:49
  • @JonathanKomar Yes, that would be necessary if #2 contains “dangerous” items. Commented Feb 28, 2018 at 17:31
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In response to the question "I'd like to know how to create a macro that can append new elements/items to a macro list (token list) BUT also adds { and } around each added item."

\documentclass{article} \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} \newtoks\mylist \newcommand\addtotoklist[2]{#1\expandafter{\the#1{#2}}} \begin{document} \addtotoklist\mylist{a} \addtotoklist\mylist{b} \addtotoklist\mylist{cde} \detokenize\expandafter{\the\mylist} \end{document}

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  • Good stuff. I think it helps to know that this is shortened form of \newcommand\addtotoklist[2]{#1=\expandafter{\the#1{#2}}} . In other words, skip ahead to expand the list as it is first, then put #2 after it, then the whole line of junk (tokens) will be assigned to #1. Commented Feb 3, 2018 at 17:15

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