This document outlines the agenda for a technical lab meeting on topics in TEX and LATEX. The talk will cover TEX engines, selected LATEX packages including microtype, siunitx, and todonotes, programming tools for TEX/LATEX like conditionals and patching, Overleaf updates, and references. Attendees will learn about typesetting documents, adding notes, formatting numbers and units, programming techniques, and compiling on Overleaf.

1. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Lab meeting—technical talk
Topics in TEX and LATEX
Selected packages, programming, and Overleaf updates
Coby Viner
Hoffman Lab
Wednesday January 31, 2018

2. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Overview
TEX Engines
Selected LATEX Packages
Microtypography: the microtype package
siunitx: SI units & number formatting
todonotes: Todo notes within your document
The xifthen and ifdraft packages
Selected programming tools and methods
Patching other packages or classes
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
ε-TEX programming: csname…endcsname
Overleaf
Overleaf compilation
Overleaf version 2

3. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
TEX Engines
TEX engines
TEX (dvi)
pdfTEX
XETEX
LuaTEX
ConTEXt
S. Kottwitz. (2015), Example: a diagram of tex engines,
http://www.texample.net/tikz/examples/smart-bubbles/.

4. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Microtypography: the microtype package
H. T. Thành, “Micro-typographic extensions of pdfTEX in practice”, TUGboat, vol.
25, no. 1, pp. 35–38, 2004.
S. Khirevich. (2018), Tips on writing a thesis in latex,

5. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Microtypography: the microtype package
H. T. Thành, “Micro-typographic extensions of pdfTEX in practice”, TUGboat, vol.
25, no. 1, pp. 35–38, 2004.
S. Khirevich. (2018), Tips on writing a thesis in latex,

6. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Microtypography: the microtype package
H. T. Thành, “Micro-typographic extensions of pdfTEX in practice”, TUGboat, vol.
25, no. 1, pp. 35–38, 2004.
S. Khirevich. (2018), Tips on writing a thesis in latex,

7. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
siunitx: SI units & number formatting
Use for all quantities that have units: $SI{10}{gpermicrolitre}$
10g/µl

8. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
siunitx: SI units & number formatting
Use for all quantities that have units: $SI{10}{gpermicrolitre}$
10g/µl
Typeset units: $si{dalton} = si{grampermole}$ and
$si{angstrom} = SI{0.1}{nanometer}$ Da = gmol−1 and
Å = 0.1000nm

9. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
siunitx: SI units & number formatting
Use for all quantities that have units: $SI{10}{gpermicrolitre}$
10g/µl
Typeset units: $si{dalton} = si{grampermole}$ and
$si{angstrom} = SI{0.1}{nanometer}$ Da = gmol−1 and
Å = 0.1000nm
Typeset numbers, $num{2.718281828459045}$, $num{200000}$:
2.7183, 200000

10. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
siunitx: SI units & number formatting
Use for all quantities that have units: $SI{10}{gpermicrolitre}$
10g/µl
Typeset units: $si{dalton} = si{grampermole}$ and
$si{angstrom} = SI{0.1}{nanometer}$ Da = gmol−1 and
Å = 0.1000nm
Typeset numbers, $num{2.718281828459045}$, $num{200000}$:
2.7183, 200000
Define new units: DeclareSIUnit[number-unit-product = ;]
basepair{bp}

11. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
siunitx: SI units & number formatting
Use for all quantities that have units: $SI{10}{gpermicrolitre}$
10g/µl
Typeset units: $si{dalton} = si{grampermole}$ and
$si{angstrom} = SI{0.1}{nanometer}$ Da = gmol−1 and
Å = 0.1000nm
Typeset numbers, $num{2.718281828459045}$, $num{200000}$:
2.7183, 200000
Define new units: DeclareSIUnit[number-unit-product = ;]
basepair{bp}
Options: detect-all

12. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
siunitx: SI units & number formatting
Use for all quantities that have units: $SI{10}{gpermicrolitre}$
10g/µl
Typeset units: $si{dalton} = si{grampermole}$ and
$si{angstrom} = SI{0.1}{nanometer}$ Da = gmol−1 and
Å = 0.1000nm
Typeset numbers, $num{2.718281828459045}$, $num{200000}$:
2.7183, 200000
Define new units: DeclareSIUnit[number-unit-product = ;]
basepair{bp}
Options: detect-all

13. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
siunitx: SI units & number formatting
Use for all quantities that have units: $SI{10}{gpermicrolitre}$
10g/µl
Typeset units: $si{dalton} = si{grampermole}$ and
$si{angstrom} = SI{0.1}{nanometer}$ Da = gmol−1 and
Å = 0.1000nm
Typeset numbers, $num{2.718281828459045}$, $num{200000}$:
2.7183, 200000
Define new units: DeclareSIUnit[number-unit-product = ;]
basepair{bp}
Options: detect-all, binary-units

14. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
siunitx: SI units & number formatting
Use for all quantities that have units: $SI{10}{gpermicrolitre}$
10g/µl
Typeset units: $si{dalton} = si{grampermole}$ and
$si{angstrom} = SI{0.1}{nanometer}$ Da = gmol−1 and
Å = 0.1000nm
Typeset numbers, $num{2.718281828459045}$, $num{200000}$:
2.7183, 200000
Define new units: DeclareSIUnit[number-unit-product = ;]
basepair{bp}
Options: detect-all, binary-units, round-mode=places,round-precision=4

15. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
todonotes: Todo notes within your document
The todonotes package lets you mark items that you need to complete…
This note was created with todo[inline].

16. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
todonotes: Todo notes within your document
The todonotes package lets you mark items that you need to complete…
This note was created with todo[inline].
Mark missing figures: missingfigure[fig-
width=6cm,
figheight=4cm]
Missing
figure

17. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
todonotes: Todo notes within your document
The todonotes package lets you mark items that you need to complete…
This note was created with todo[inline].
Mark missing figures: missingfigure[fig-
width=6cm,
figheight=4cm]
Missing
figure
Lots of options…colour combos: blue!20!white

18. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
todonotes: Todo notes within your document
The todonotes package lets you mark items that you need to complete…
This note was created with todo[inline].
Mark missing figures: missingfigure[fig-
width=6cm,
figheight=4cm]
Missing
figure
Lots of options…colour combos: blue!20!white
Load with obeyFinal to remove all notes when passing final to your class.

19. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
The xifthen and ifdraft packages
Use xifthen to provide simple conditional syntax

20. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
The xifthen and ifdraft packages
Use xifthen to provide simple conditional syntax
newboolean{〈boolean〉}

21. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
The xifthen and ifdraft packages
Use xifthen to provide simple conditional syntax
newboolean{〈boolean〉}
setboolean{〈boolean〉}{〈true|false}

22. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
The xifthen and ifdraft packages
Use xifthen to provide simple conditional syntax
newboolean{〈boolean〉}
setboolean{〈boolean〉}{〈true|false}
ifthenelse{〈test expression〉}{〈true code〉}{〈false code〉}

23. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
The xifthen and ifdraft packages
Use xifthen to provide simple conditional syntax
newboolean{〈boolean〉}
setboolean{〈boolean〉}{〈true|false}
ifthenelse{〈test expression〉}{〈true code〉}{〈false code〉}
boolean{〈boolean〉}, 〈value1〉 = 〈value2〉,
equal{〈string1〉}{〈string2〉} AND
endswith{〈string2〉}{〈suffix〉}

24. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
The xifthen and ifdraft packages
Use xifthen to provide simple conditional syntax
newboolean{〈boolean〉}
setboolean{〈boolean〉}{〈true|false}
ifthenelse{〈test expression〉}{〈true code〉}{〈false code〉}
boolean{〈boolean〉}, 〈value1〉 = 〈value2〉,
equal{〈string1〉}{〈string2〉} AND
endswith{〈string2〉}{〈suffix〉}
With the setspace and ifdraft packages:
ifoptionfinal{}{doublespacing}

25. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Patching other packages or classes
Often want to edit a macro in an external package or class

26. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Patching other packages or classes
Often want to edit a macro in an external package or class
regexpatch provides advanced functionality to do so

27. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Patching other packages or classes
Often want to edit a macro in an external package or class
regexpatch provides advanced functionality to do so
Some useful patches for the BioMed Central’s bmcart.cls:

28. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Patching other packages or classes
Often want to edit a macro in an external package or class
regexpatch provides advanced functionality to do so
Some useful patches for the BioMed Central’s bmcart.cls:
Contains: defdoi@base{http://dx.doi.org/}

29. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Patching other packages or classes
Often want to edit a macro in an external package or class
regexpatch provides advanced functionality to do so
Some useful patches for the BioMed Central’s bmcart.cls:
Contains: defdoi@base{http://dx.doi.org/}
patchcmd{doi@base}{http://dx.doi.org}
{https://doi.org}{}{}

30. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Patching other packages or classes
appto{ figure@ setting s}{%
i f @ f i g u r e s t a r
captionsetup { . . . ,
s i n g l e l i n e c h e c k=f a l s e , j u s t i f i c a t i o n=RaggedRight}
f i%
}

31. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Patching other packages or classes
appto{ figure@ setting s}{%
i f @ f i g u r e s t a r
captionsetup { . . . ,
s i n g l e l i n e c h e c k=f a l s e , j u s t i f i c a t i o n=RaggedRight}
f i%
}
def bmcart@hyperref@settings{%
. . .
@ifundefined { hy@title }{}{ p d f s t r i n g d e f
@pdftitle { hy@title }}
}

32. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Patching other packages or classes
appto{ figure@ setting s}{%
i f @ f i g u r e s t a r
captionsetup { . . . ,
s i n g l e l i n e c h e c k=f a l s e , j u s t i f i c a t i o n=RaggedRight}
f i%
}
def bmcart@hyperref@settings{%
. . .
@ifundefined { hy@title }{}{ p d f s t r i n g d e f
@pdftitle { hy@title }}
}
regexpatchcmd { bmcart@hyperref@settings }
{.* @title .*}{}{}{}

33. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
There are typesetting instructions and instructions with other effects
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

34. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
There are typesetting instructions and instructions with other effects
def is like a simpler version of newcommand*, in TEX and not LATEX
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

35. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
There are typesetting instructions and instructions with other effects
def is like a simpler version of newcommand*, in TEX and not LATEX
expandafter is a macro that influences the expansion of macros
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

36. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
There are typesetting instructions and instructions with other effects
def is like a simpler version of newcommand*, in TEX and not LATEX
expandafter is a macro that influences the expansion of macros
defxx{ABC}; replacement text and expansion of xx is ABC
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

37. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
expandafter〈tokene〉〈token1〉〈token2〉…〈tokenn〉
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,

38. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
expandafter〈tokene〉〈token1〉〈token2〉…〈tokenn〉
tokene is saved without expansion
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,

39. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
expandafter〈tokene〉〈token1〉〈token2〉…〈tokenn〉
tokene is saved without expansion
Process 〈token1〉
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,

40. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
expandafter〈tokene〉〈token1〉〈token2〉…〈tokenn〉
tokene is saved without expansion
Process 〈token1〉
〈token1〉 is a macro: it gets expanded.
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,

41. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
expandafter〈tokene〉〈token1〉〈token2〉…〈tokenn〉
tokene is saved without expansion
Process 〈token1〉
〈token1〉 is a macro: it gets expanded.
〈token1〉 is another expandafter: TEX continues performing expandafters
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,

42. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
expandafter〈tokene〉〈token1〉〈token2〉…〈tokenn〉
tokene is saved without expansion
Process 〈token1〉
〈token1〉 is a macro: it gets expanded.
〈token1〉 is another expandafter: TEX continues performing expandafters
〈token1〉 is csname: TEX looks for the matching endcsname and expands
the resulting token
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,

43. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
expandafter〈tokene〉〈token1〉〈token2〉…〈tokenn〉
tokene is saved without expansion
Process 〈token1〉
〈token1〉 is a macro: it gets expanded.
〈token1〉 is another expandafter: TEX continues performing expandafters
〈token1〉 is csname: TEX looks for the matching endcsname and expands
the resulting token
〈token1〉 is an opening curly brace: the opening brace is temporarily
suspended
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,

44. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
expandafter〈tokene〉〈token1〉〈token2〉…〈tokenn〉
tokene is saved without expansion
Process 〈token1〉
〈token1〉 is a macro: it gets expanded.
〈token1〉 is another expandafter: TEX continues performing expandafters
〈token1〉 is csname: TEX looks for the matching endcsname and expands
the resulting token
〈token1〉 is an opening curly brace: the opening brace is temporarily
suspended
〈token1〉 is the: operation is performed, reading the token after it
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,

45. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
expandafter〈tokene〉〈token1〉〈token2〉…〈tokenn〉
tokene is saved without expansion
Process 〈token1〉
〈token1〉 is a macro: it gets expanded.
〈token1〉 is another expandafter: TEX continues performing expandafters
〈token1〉 is csname: TEX looks for the matching endcsname and expands
the resulting token
〈token1〉 is an opening curly brace: the opening brace is temporarily
suspended
〈token1〉 is the: operation is performed, reading the token after it
〈token1〉 is any other primitive: nothing
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,

46. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
tokene is placed back in front of the generated tokens and processing
continues
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

47. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
tokene is placed back in front of the generated tokens and processing
continues
expandafter reverses expansion, not execution
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

48. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
tokene is placed back in front of the generated tokens and processing
continues
expandafter reverses expansion, not execution
Common use case: calling a macro with the result of another
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

49. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
tokene is placed back in front of the generated tokens and processing
continues
expandafter reverses expansion, not execution
Common use case: calling a macro with the result of another
defxx[#1]{...} defyy{[ABC]}
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

50. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
tokene is placed back in front of the generated tokens and processing
continues
expandafter reverses expansion, not execution
Common use case: calling a macro with the result of another
defxx[#1]{...} defyy{[ABC]}
xxyy fails; expandafterxxyy works
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

51. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
tokene is placed back in front of the generated tokens and processing
continues
expandafter reverses expansion, not execution
Common use case: calling a macro with the result of another
defxx[#1]{...} defyy{[ABC]}
xxyy fails; expandafterxxyy works
defzz{yy}. expandafterxxzz fails, since expansion only occurs
once
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

52. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
tokene is placed back in front of the generated tokens and processing
continues
expandafter reverses expansion, not execution
Common use case: calling a macro with the result of another
defxx[#1]{...} defyy{[ABC]}
xxyy fails; expandafterxxyy works
defzz{yy}. expandafterxxzz fails, since expansion only occurs
once
Solved using edeftemp{noexpandxxzz}
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

53. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
Multiple expandafters: ex1ex1ex1aex4bc
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

54. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
Multiple expandafters: ex1ex1ex1aex4bc
ex1 is executed, saving ex2.
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

55. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
Multiple expandafters: ex1ex1ex1aex4bc
ex1 is executed, saving ex2.
ex3 is executed, saving a
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

56. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
Multiple expandafters: ex1ex1ex1aex4bc
ex1 is executed, saving ex2.
ex3 is executed, saving a
Saved token list: ex2· a
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

57. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
Multiple expandafters: ex1ex1ex1aex4bc
ex1 is executed, saving ex2.
ex3 is executed, saving a
Saved token list: ex2· a
ex4 is executed, saving b and expanding c
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

58. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
Multiple expandafters: ex1ex1ex1aex4bc
ex1 is executed, saving ex2.
ex3 is executed, saving a
Saved token list: ex2· a
ex4 is executed, saving b and expanding c
All saved tokens ex2· a · b are reinserted in front of the replacement of
c
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

59. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
Multiple expandafters: ex1ex1ex1aex4bc
ex1 is executed, saving ex2.
ex3 is executed, saving a
Saved token list: ex2· a
ex4 is executed, saving b and expanding c
All saved tokens ex2· a · b are reinserted in front of the replacement of
c
Now ex2 s executed, saving a and expanding b
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

60. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
Multiple expandafters: ex1ex1ex1aex4bc
ex1 is executed, saving ex2.
ex3 is executed, saving a
Saved token list: ex2· a
ex4 is executed, saving b and expanding c
All saved tokens ex2· a · b are reinserted in front of the replacement of
c
Now ex2 s executed, saving a and expanding b
a is reinserted and then expanded
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

61. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
Multiple expandafters: ex1ex1ex1aex4bc
ex1 is executed, saving ex2.
ex3 is executed, saving a
Saved token list: ex2· a
ex4 is executed, saving b and expanding c
All saved tokens ex2· a · b are reinserted in front of the replacement of
c
Now ex2 s executed, saving a and expanding b
a is reinserted and then expanded
Execution continues with the replacement text of a
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

62. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
Reverse expansion of 4 tokens: 7 expandafters, token a, 3
expandafters, token b, expandafter, token c, token d
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

63. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: expandafter
Reverse expansion of 4 tokens: 7 expandafters, token a, 3
expandafters, token b, expandafter, token c, token d
For n tokens, the ith token must be preceded by 2n−i −1 expandafters
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 57–61,
1988.

64. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: csname…endcsname
csname–endcsname are TEX primatives used to define and call macros
A. Hendrickson, “The joy of csname…endcsname”, TUGboat, vol. 33, no. 2,
pp. 219–224, 2012.

65. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: csname…endcsname
csname–endcsname are TEX primatives used to define and call macros
def can only used letters
A. Hendrickson, “The joy of csname…endcsname”, TUGboat, vol. 33, no. 2,
pp. 219–224, 2012.

66. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: csname…endcsname
csname–endcsname are TEX primatives used to define and call macros
def can only used letters
Can do: expandafterdefcsname $&3endcsname{Hi!}
A. Hendrickson, “The joy of csname…endcsname”, TUGboat, vol. 33, no. 2,
pp. 219–224, 2012.

67. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: csname…endcsname
csname–endcsname are TEX primatives used to define and call macros
def can only used letters
Can do: expandafterdefcsname $&3endcsname{Hi!}
Then csname $&3endcsname produces “Hi!”
A. Hendrickson, “The joy of csname…endcsname”, TUGboat, vol. 33, no. 2,
pp. 219–224, 2012.

68. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
ε-TEX programming: csname…endcsname
csname–endcsname are TEX primatives used to define and call macros
def can only used letters
Can do: expandafterdefcsname $&3endcsname{Hi!}
Then csname $&3endcsname produces “Hi!”
Can expand commands within this and use for building dynamic macros
A. Hendrickson, “The joy of csname…endcsname”, TUGboat, vol. 33, no. 2,
pp. 219–224, 2012.

69. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Overleaf compilation
Uses latexmk

70. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Overleaf compilation
Uses latexmk
Configure with a .latexmkrc file

71. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Overleaf compilation
Uses latexmk
Configure with a .latexmkrc file
https:
//www.overleaf.com/help/216-how-does-overleaf-compile-my-project

72. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Overleaf compilation
Uses latexmk
Configure with a .latexmkrc file
https:
//www.overleaf.com/help/216-how-does-overleaf-compile-my-project
To use our local timezone: $ENV{'TZ'}='Canada/Eastern';

73. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Overleaf compilation
Uses latexmk
Configure with a .latexmkrc file
https:
//www.overleaf.com/help/216-how-does-overleaf-compile-my-project
To use our local timezone: $ENV{'TZ'}='Canada/Eastern';
Sandboxed via Docker

74. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Overleaf compilation
Uses latexmk
Configure with a .latexmkrc file
https:
//www.overleaf.com/help/216-how-does-overleaf-compile-my-project
To use our local timezone: $ENV{'TZ'}='Canada/Eastern';
Sandboxed via Docker
Permit shell-escape: $pdflatex = 'pdflatex --shell-escape';

75. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Overleaf version 2

76. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Overleaf version 2
Try it out yourself: v2.overleaf.com
Import of V1 projects available. Not yet for production uses.

77. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Overleaf version 2
Try it out yourself: v2.overleaf.com
Import of V1 projects available. Not yet for production uses.

78. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Overleaf version 2
Try it out yourself: v2.overleaf.com
Import of V1 projects available. Not yet for production uses.

79. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
Overleaf version 2
Try it out yourself: v2.overleaf.com
Import of V1 projects available. Not yet for production uses.

80. Lab meeting—
technical
talk
Coby Viner
Engines
Packages
Microtypography
Siunitx
Todonotes
Conditionals
Patching &
Programming
Patching
Programming
Programming
Programming
Overleaf
Compilation
Upcoming
References
S. Kottwitz. (2015), Example: a diagram of tex engines,
http://www.texample.net/tikz/examples/smart-bubbles/.
H. T. Thành, “Micro-typographic extensions of pdfTEX in practice”,
TUGboat, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 35–38, 2004.
S. Khirevich. (2018), Tips on writing a thesis in latex,
http://www.khirevich.com/latex/microtype/.
S. v. Bechtolsheim, “A tutorial on expandafter”, TUGboat, vol. 9, no. 1,
pp. 57–61, 1988.
A. Hendrickson, “The joy of csname…endcsname”, TUGboat, vol. 33, no. 2,
pp. 219–224, 2012.
J. Wright, “siunitx: a comprehensive (SI) units package”, TUGboat, vol. 32,
no. 1, pp. 95–98, 2011.