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I'm using pdfTeX 3.141592653-2.6-1.40.22 (TeX Live 2022/dev/Debian). In a recent question, I have been provided with two excellent answers that unfortunately both make use of \dimeval. This command is unknown in my version of pdflatex; adding the xfp package does not help. Is there a drop-in replacement for this command that I could use?

vwegert
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    \dimeval exist for pdflatex too, but you need a current latex version, in older latex you can use \dimexpr -\height+\ht\strutbox\relax instead. – Ulrike Fischer Jul 26 '22 at 20:29
  • @UlrikeFischer pdflatex --version tells me I'm using pdfTeX 3.141592653-2.6-1.40.22 (TeX Live 2022/dev/Debian) - that does not appear to be recent enough? – vwegert Jul 26 '22 at 20:40
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    it is the version of latex that matters, not the version of pdftex. It is possible to dump a format as in mylatex using lualatex, just a bit harder to set up as you can not dump Lua state or OpenType fonts. – David Carlisle Jul 26 '22 at 21:03

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For \dimeval in the kernel you need the June 2022 release of LaTeX. For earlier versions (at least 2019, I guess) you can add

\ExplSyntaxOn
\cs_if_exist:NF \dimeval { \cs_set_eq:NN \dimeval \dim_eval:n }
\ExplSyntaxOff

TeX Live 2022/Debian is not recent enough, I'm afraid, because it only has the October 2021 release of LaTeX. Maybe it will be updated, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

egreg
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  • To get \dimeval, which file exactly should date June 2022 or later? Is it latex.ltx or something else? (I use Debian, and in the meantime the packages there might have probably been updated. I simply want to know or to deduce which package to update.) –  Jan 23 '23 at 15:24
  • @AlbertNash Check the release date of LaTeX you see in the log file. – egreg Jan 23 '23 at 15:27
  • Are you referring to a string such as LaTeX2e <2021-11-15> patch level 1? Where is this string generated, i.e., by which executables and data files? –  Jan 23 '23 at 15:31
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    @AlbertNash It's saved at format creation. But you can find it also in latex.ltx, look for \fmtversion. – egreg Jan 23 '23 at 15:46