Symbols with optional parameter in glossaries with \newglossary

Question

I am trying to use the approach given in the solution here Glossary entry with extra parameter (which looks really neat) for an application where i am having more than one glossary; in the original i have only a symbolslist and abbreviations, but here's an mwe adapting the symbolslist to the main list provided in the solution of the link above

\documentclass{scrbook}
%
\usepackage[acronym,toc]{glossaries}
%this line is new
\newglossary[slg]{symbolslist}{syi}{syg}{List of Symbols}
\makeglossaries
\glsnoexpandfields

\newcommand*{\glsarg}{i}

\newglossaryentry{BetragVektor}{
     name=\ensuremath{|\overline{u_i}|},
     text=|\overline{u_{\glsarg}}|,
    description={ABC}}
\newglossaryentry{s:tP}{
    name=\ensuremath{T_p\mathcal M},
    text=T_\glsarg\mathcal M,
    description={},
    type=symbolslist %in own list
}
% modify the entry's format

\defglsentryfmt{%
  \let\orgglsarg\glsarg
  \ifdefempty\glsinsert
  {}%
  {%
    \let\glsarg\glsinsert
    \let\glsinsert\relax
  }%
  \glsgenentryfmt
  \let\glsarg\orgglsarg
}

\begin{document}

$\gls{BetragVektor}[1]$

$\gls{BetragVektor}$

$\gls{BetragVektor}[1]$

$\gls{BetragVektor}[2]$

$\gls{BetragVektor}[]$

$\gls{s:tP}[1]$

$\gls{s:tP}$

$\gls{s:tP}[1]$

$\gls{s:tP}[2]$

$\gls{s:tP}[]$

\printglossaries
\end{document}

As mentioned, the only thing new is that I introduce a second list. The solution still seems to work for the main list as the result shows.

So somehow the new argument gets added in the and and \glsarg stays the same. How can I solve this, such that my new glossary also can have optional parameters on their entries?

Answer 1

Method 1: Specific Glossary

\defglsentryfmt has an optional argument that indicates which glossary this format should govern. If omitted, main is assumed, so you also need to do the same for the new glossary:

\defglsentryfmt[symbolslist]{%
  \let\orgglsarg\glsarg
  \ifdefempty\glsinsert
  {}%
  {%
    \let\glsarg\glsinsert
    \let\glsinsert\relax
  }%
  \glsgenentryfmt
  \let\glsarg\orgglsarg
}

Method 2: All Glossaries

Alternatively, you can just redefine \glsentryfmt to apply to all glossaries. (Individual glossaries may be overridden using \defglsentryfmt, which \newacronym does automatically.)

\documentclass{scrbook}
%
\usepackage[acronym,toc]{glossaries}
%this line is new
\newglossary[slg]{symbolslist}{syi}{syg}{List of Symbols}
\makeglossaries
\glsnoexpandfields

\newcommand*{\glsarg}{i}

\newglossaryentry{BetragVektor}{
     name=\ensuremath{|\overline{u_i}|},
     text=|\overline{u_{\glsarg}}|,
    description={ABC}}
\newglossaryentry{s:tP}{
    name=\ensuremath{T_p\mathcal M},
    text=T_\glsarg\mathcal M,
    description={},
    type=symbolslist %in own list
}
% modify the entry's format

\renewcommand*{\glsentryfmt}{%
  \let\orgglsarg\glsarg
  \ifdefempty\glsinsert
  {}%
  {%
    \let\glsarg\glsinsert
    \let\glsinsert\relax
  }%
  \glsgenentryfmt
  \let\glsarg\orgglsarg
}

\begin{document}

$\gls{BetragVektor}[1]$

$\gls{BetragVektor}$

$\gls{BetragVektor}[1]$

$\gls{BetragVektor}[2]$

$\gls{BetragVektor}[]$

$\gls{s:tP}[1]$

$\gls{s:tP}$

$\gls{s:tP}[1]$

$\gls{s:tP}[2]$

$\gls{s:tP}[]$

\printglossaries
\end{document}

This produces:

Method 3: Specific Category (glossaries-extra)

If you want to use the extension package glossaries-extra, this is a better method:

\documentclass{scrbook}
%
\usepackage[abbreviations]{glossaries-extra}

\newglossary[slg]{symbolslist}{syi}{syg}{List of Symbols}
\makeglossaries
\glsnoexpandfields

\newcommand*{\glsdefaultarg}{i}
\newcommand*{\glsarg}{\glsdefaultarg}

\newglossaryentry{BetragVektor}{
    category=arg,% requires an argument
     name=\ensuremath{|\overline{u_i}|},
     text=|\overline{u_{\glsarg}}|,
    description={ABC}}
\newglossaryentry{s:tP}{
    category=arg,% requires an argument
    name=\ensuremath{T_p\mathcal M},
    text=T_\glsarg\mathcal M,
    description={},
    type=symbolslist %in own list
}
% modify the entry's format

\preto\glsentryfmt{%
  \glsifcategory{\glslabel}{arg}% if category set to "arg"
  {%
    \ifdefempty\glsinsert
    {\let\glsarg\glsdefaultarg}%
    {%
      \let\glsarg\glsinsert
      \let\glsinsert\empty
    }%
  }%
  {}%
}

\begin{document}

$\gls{BetragVektor}[1]$

$\gls{BetragVektor}$

$\gls{BetragVektor}[1]$

$\gls{BetragVektor}[2]$

$\gls{BetragVektor}[]$

$\gls{s:tP}[1]$

$\gls{s:tP}$

$\gls{s:tP}[1]$

$\gls{s:tP}[2]$

$\gls{s:tP}[]$

\printglossaries
\end{document}

Now you just need to tag which entries require an argument by using category=arg in the entry definition. You can also store the default argument, if it should be different for each entry. For example:

\documentclass{scrbook}
%
\usepackage[abbreviations]{glossaries-extra}

\newglossary[slg]{symbolslist}{syi}{syg}{List of Symbols}
\makeglossaries
\glsnoexpandfields

\newcommand*{\glsarg}{}

\newglossaryentry{BetragVektor}{
    category=arg,% requires an argument
    user1={i},
     name=\ensuremath{|\overline{u_i}|},
     text=|\overline{u_{\glsarg}}|,
    description={ABC}}
\newglossaryentry{s:tP}{
    category=arg,% requires an argument
    user1={p},
    name=\ensuremath{T_p\mathcal M},
    text=T_\glsarg\mathcal M,
    description={},
    type=symbolslist %in own list
}
% modify the entry's format

\preto\glsentryfmt{%
  \glsifcategory{\glslabel}{arg}% if category set to "arg"
  {%
    \ifdefempty\glsinsert
    {\glsfieldfetch{\glslabel}{useri}{\glsarg}}%
    {%
      \let\glsarg\glsinsert
      \let\glsinsert\empty
    }%
  }%
  {}%
}

\begin{document}

$\gls{BetragVektor}[1]$

$\gls{BetragVektor}$

$\gls{BetragVektor}[1]$

$\gls{BetragVektor}[2]$

$\gls{BetragVektor}[]$

$\gls{s:tP}[1]$

$\gls{s:tP}$

$\gls{s:tP}[1]$

$\gls{s:tP}[2]$

$\gls{s:tP}[]$

\printglossaries
\end{document}

Method 4: Specific Entry (glossaries-extra)

Here's another method: use \glsxtrfmt for the cases where a parameter is required. This deviates from the concept of an optional parameter, but it's worth considering as it doesn't alter the normal display format.

A designated field (by default user1, but may be changed by redefining \GlsXtrFmtField) stores the name (without the leading backslash) of a command that takes a single mandatory argument that's associated with the formatting of the given entry. Then \glsxtrfmt[options]{label}{parameter} applies that command to parameter (encapsulated by \glslink to index and, if enabled, hyperlink to the glossary).

For example, define:

\newcommand{\vectorlength}[1]{|\overline{u_{#1}}|}
\newcommand{\tP}[1]{T_#1\mathcal{M}}

Then the entries can be defined as:

\newglossaryentry{BetragVektor}{
 user1={vectorlength},
 name=\ensuremath{\vectorlength{i}},
 description={ABC}}

\newglossaryentry{s:tP}{
 user1={tP},
 name=\ensuremath{\tP{p}},
 description={},
 type=symbolslist
}

So now \gls{BetragVektor} uses the value of the first/text field (as normal, which here is obtained from the name field) but \glsxtrfmt{BetragVektor}{1} is essentially like \glslink{BetragVektor}{\vectorlength{1}}.¹

Modified MWE:

\documentclass{scrbook}

\usepackage[automake]{glossaries-extra}

\newglossary[slg]{symbolslist}{syi}{syg}{List of Symbols}

\makeglossaries
\glsnoexpandfields

\newcommand{\BetragVektor}[1]{|\overline{u_{#1}}|}
\newcommand{\tP}[1]{T_#1\mathcal{M}}

\newglossaryentry{BetragVektor}{
 user1={BetragVektor},
 name=\ensuremath{\BetragVektor{i}},
 description={ABC}}

\newglossaryentry{s:tP}{
 user1={tP},
 name=\ensuremath{\tP{p}},
 description={},
 type=symbolslist %in own list
}

\begin{document}

$\glsxtrfmt{BetragVektor}{1}$

$\gls{BetragVektor}$

$\glsxtrfmt{BetragVektor}{1}$

$\glsxtrfmt{BetragVektor}{2}$

$\gls{BetragVektor}$

$\glsxtrfmt{s:tP}{1}$

$\gls{s:tP}$

$\glsxtrfmt{s:tP}{1}$

$\glsxtrfmt{s:tP}{2}$

$\gls{s:tP}$

\printglossaries

\end{document}

There are some more examples in Section 3.1 "Functions" of glossaries-extra and bib2gls: An Introductory Guide (that section is general to glossaries-extra regardless of whether or not you're using bib2gls).

---

¹ It's a little more complicated: \glsxtrfmt[options]{label}{text} effectively does \glslink[default options,options]{label}{\glsxtrfmtdisplay{csname}{text}{}} where csname is the control sequence name obtained from the designated field. (If the field is unset csname defaults to @firstofone.)

The starred version \glsxtrfmt*[options]{label}{text}[insert] is effectively \glslink[default options,options]{label}{\glsxtrfmtdisplay{csname}{text}{insert}}.

Answer 2

I have chosen the third option as mentioned in Nicola's answer and it works like charm!

However there are a few remarks I would like to make regarding the syntax which weren't apparent to me and I had to experiment a little to make it work as expected. So:

1. You can build other glossary entries on top of more primitive ones simply by calling \gls{<primitive entry name>} inside the respective field (see example; i guess that works for the whole glossaries package).
2. You can pass the argument from the more complicated glossary entry to the more primitive one (category=arg has to be set in the complicated entry as well for you to be able to pass the argument).
   • the argument is passed implicitly (see example)
3. And a few other things mentioned in the comments of the example

Example

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[automake]{glossaries-extra}

\makeglossaries
\glsnoexpandfields

\newcommand*{\glsarg}{}

\newglossaryentry{simple}{
    category=arg,% requires an argument
    user1={a},% default argument for \glsarg
    name={\(A_{i}\)},
    text={A_{\glsarg}},
    description={simpler}}
\newglossaryentry{simple2}{
    category=arg,% requires an argument
    user1={b},
    name={\(B_{\glsarg}\)},% \glsarg has no effect here nor does user1=b, it has to be B_{b} to appear that way in the glossary, this will evaluate to just \(B\)
    text={B_{\glsarg}},% \glsarg works as usual here
    description={simpler}}
\newglossaryentry{complex}{
    category=arg,% required to require an argument
    name={\(C_{\gls{simple}[k]}\)},% will evaluate as \(C_{A_k}\) in the glossary
    text={C_{\gls{simple}}},% \glsarg will be passed to \gls{simple} without mentioning it here
    description={more complex. You can use \(\gls{simple2}\) here as well}}

\preto\glsentryfmt{%
    \glsifcategory{\glslabel}{arg}%
    {%
        \ifdefempty\glsinsert
        {\glsfieldfetch{\glslabel}{useri}{\glsarg}}%
        {%
            \let\glsarg\glsinsert
            \let\glsinsert\empty
        }%
    }%
    {}%
}

\begin{document}

\[\gls{simple}\]% shows as A_a
\[\gls{simple}[i]\]% shows as A_i
\[\gls{simple2}[j]\]% shows as B_j
\[\gls{complex}[k]\]% shows as C_{A_k}

    \printglossaries
\end{document}