Using macros as keys for GetTranslation

Question

Why does the following code not produce two lines of text with the single word "baz" each? (Instead there is only one line for the direct call to GetTranslation).

\documentclass{article}

\RequirePackage{translations}

\DeclareTranslationFallback {foo-bar}{baz}
\DeclareTranslation{English}{foo-bar}{baz}

\newcommand{\asdf}[1]{
  \edef\translationkey{foo-#1}%
  \GetTranslation{\translationkey}
}

\begin{document}

\GetTranslation{foo-bar}

\asdf{bar}

\end{document}

I suppose it has something to do with when macros are evaluated.

\expandafter\GetTranslation\expandafter{\translationkey} -- you must expand the \translationkey first before feeding it to \GetTranslation — , Aug 23 '16 at 17:11
I guess your MWE is a simplification of the real use case? Otherwise you get the same thing easier: \newcommand{\asdf}[1]{\GetTranslation{foo-#1}} — cgnieder, Aug 23 '16 at 17:30

Steven B. Segletes · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-23T17:32:42.097

2

Indeed, the argument \translationkey must be expanded in order to be digested by \GetTranslation.

\documentclass{article}

\RequirePackage{translations}

\DeclareTranslationFallback {foo-bar}{baz}
\DeclareTranslation{English}{foo-bar}{baz}

\newcommand{\asdf}[1]{%
  \edef\translationkey{foo-#1}%
  \expandafter\GetTranslation\expandafter{\translationkey}%
}

\begin{document}

\GetTranslation{foo-bar}

\asdf{bar}

\end{document}

edited Aug 23 '16 at 17:32

answered Aug 23 '16 at 17:11

Steven B. Segletes

237,551

1

Even though it was just an internet search away, after reading this answer, a link explaining the why and how: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/TeX/expandafter – Philipp Matthias Schäfer Aug 23 '16 at 17:17
1

The definition of \asdf has two spurious spaces… – cgnieder Aug 23 '16 at 17:31
@clemens Thank you for pointing that out. Fixed. – Steven B. Segletes Aug 23 '16 at 17:32

Using macros as keys for GetTranslation

1 Answers1