3

The compilation of

\documentclass{scrreprt} %or with any other KOMA-Script classes, like scrartcl
%\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[french]{babel}
\begin{document}
test
\end{document}

leads to a warning in the console:

Package frenchb.ldf Warning: The definition of \@makecaption has been changed,
(frenchb.ldf)                frenchb will NOT customise it;

After test, the problem doesn't occur with ngerman, english, and some other languages that I have tested.

The question is: is this warning important? And if yes, what can we do to avoid this problem?

Martin Scharrer
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PHL
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  • A "solution" who doesn't kill the warning, but has the behavior of the \caption command of frenchb is \renewcommand*{\captionformat}{\ --\ } – PHL Feb 08 '11 at 22:53

2 Answers2

3

The warning occurs because the french option for babel redefines how captions are made, as traditional French typography uses a different style to English documents. However, KOMA-Script also uses it's own version of the captioning system, with more flexibility than the LaTeX kernel version. Personally, I'd use the KOMA-Script interface and not worry about the warning.

Joseph Wright
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  • could explain a little more the differences betwenn LaTeX, frenchb and KOMA-Script definition of caption ? Does the KOMA-Script definition respects the french typography ? Thanks – PHL Feb 08 '11 at 21:25
  • @Matsaya. According to babel, captions in French documents should have the 'Table'/'Figure' part in small caps, and this should be separated out from the text of the caption by an en-dash. In contrast, the LaTeX default is to leave the 'Table'/'Figure' part alone and to use a colon as separator. In my experience, English publishers do all sorts of things, so I'm not really sure how solid the rule for French is. I'd say that achieving those setting using KOMA-Script might be best as a separate, focussed, question. – Joseph Wright Feb 08 '11 at 21:49
  • thanks for the supplementary explanations. And I would indeed prefer the en-dash – PHL Feb 08 '11 at 22:13
2

if you want to have the old definition, try this:

\makeatletter
\let\kernel@makecaption\@makecaption
\makeatother
\documentclass{scrreprt} %or with any other KOMA-Script classes, like scrartcl
%\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\makeatletter
\let\@makecaption\kernel@makecaption
\makeatother
\usepackage[french]{babel}
\begin{document}
test
\end{document}

But as Joseph already pointed out, use the one from KOMA-Script

  • thanks for your answer. It's useful, but I think that I would follow Joseph's idea and to look after a solution in KOMA-Script – PHL Feb 08 '11 at 22:15