4

This question ask for a variant of the answer to expl3: lowercase a token list given by Joseph Wright

I want to convert to lowercase a token list that is composed by letter, digits and the control sequence \\ . The method used by Joseph Wright (which is to make robust \\) works fine in normal text, but fails with a compilation error when used inside a TikZ node.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{xparse}
\usepackage{tikz}

\ExplSyntaxOn
\NewDocumentCommand \LowerCase { m }
  {
    \group_begin:
      \cs_set_protected:Npx \\ { \exp_not:o \\ }
      \tl_lower_case:n {#1}
    \group_end:
  }

\tl_new:N \g_metadata_title_tl

\NewDocumentCommand \mytext {m}
  {
    \tl_gset:Nn \g_metadata_title_tl {#1}
  }

\NewDocumentCommand \thetext {}
  {
    \tl_use:N \g_metadata_title_tl
  }

\ExplSyntaxOff


\begin{document}
\mytext{This is my\\ Text}

\noindent\LowerCase{\thetext}

\begin{tikzpicture}[overlay, remember picture]
  \node[align=left] (text1) {\thetext};

  \node[align=left, below of = text1] (text2) {\LowerCase{\thetext}};
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

Note: The text to lowercase is should be taken from a token list variable.

Community
  • 1
TeXtnik
  • 5,853
  • @JosephWright Sorry Guys! I had multiple test line before writong the question and overlooked that the text wasn't lowercased. By the way, I thought that the expl3 functions are expandable if not noted explicity the contrary. – TeXtnik Sep 08 '16 at 05:53
  • @TeXtnik expl3 ones yes, but xparse ones no. If you define with \NewDocumentCommand you get a protected macro. – Manuel Sep 08 '16 at 08:56

1 Answers1

4

The issue here that you can't have \begingroup ... \endgroup around the content of the node if it's aligned: this can be seen with a simple example

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \node[align=left] {\begingroup Hello\\World\endgroup};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Thus we need to save and restore the meaning of \\ without a group. Assuming no nesting is required:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{xparse}
\usepackage{tikz}

\ExplSyntaxOn
\NewDocumentCommand \LowerCase { m }
  {
    \cs_set_eq:NN \__texnik_newline: \\
    \cs_set_protected:Npx \\ { \exp_not:o \\ }
    \tl_lower_case:n {#1}
    \cs_set_eq:NN \\ \__texnik_newline:
  }

\tl_new:N \g_metadata_title_tl

\NewDocumentCommand \mytext {m}
  {
    \tl_gset:Nn \g_metadata_title_tl {#1}
  }

\DeclareExpandableDocumentCommand \thetext {}
  {
    \tl_use:N \g_metadata_title_tl
  }

\ExplSyntaxOff


\begin{document}
\mytext{This is my\\ Text}

\noindent\LowerCase{\thetext}

\begin{tikzpicture}[overlay, remember picture]
  \node[align=left] (text1) {\thetext};

  \node[align=left, below of = text1] (text2) {\LowerCase{\thetext}};
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}
Joseph Wright
  • 259,911
  • 34
  • 706
  • 1,036
  • In case it matters, align key switches the node text to be inserted inside a minipage environment instead of an \hbox. – percusse Sep 08 '16 at 09:17
  • @percusse There's more to the issue than that, as you can put a group inside a minipage (which is a \vbox after all). – Joseph Wright Sep 08 '16 at 09:19
  • Oh yes, I had once read that part. It's not fun. – percusse Sep 08 '16 at 09:20
  • @JosephWright It is working fine within my application. What do you mean with "Assuming no nesting is required"? I don't intend to use \LowerCase{\LowerCase{\thetext}} – TeXtnik Sep 08 '16 at 14:27