conditionals inside newcommand with multiple argument

Question

This question is an extension of conditionals inside newcommand with empty argument

I have a macro that looks like

\newcommand{\pcs}[3]{{#1}_{#2}^{(#3)}}

It is the third input where I would like to perform conditionals. If #3 is empty, I want nothing (not even the round brackets).

A desired output for

\begin{itemize}
\item $\pcs{a}{b}{c}$
\item $\pcs{a}{b}{}$
\end{itemize}

should look like

use etoolbox, then \ifblank{#3}{}{^{(#3)}} might be what you are after. Note that here I'd use ^{\smash{(}#3\smash{)}} as the ^{(...)} often gets excessively large and disturbs line spacing. — daleif, Sep 18 '23 at 14:19
You don't need to load etoolbox with a reasonable up to date LaTeX installation. You can use \IfBlankF{#3}{^{(#3)}} instead. — Skillmon, Sep 18 '23 at 14:28
@Skillmon I know it had something similar, just could not remember if it was public — daleif, Sep 18 '23 at 14:40

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 18 '23 at 14:32

5

If your last argument is only optional you might as well define it as an optional argument.

\documentclass{article}
\NewDocumentCommand \pcs { m m o } {{#1}_{#2}\IfValueT{#3}{^{(#3)}}}
\begin{document}
$\pcs{a}{b}[c]$ and $\pcs{a}{b}$
\end{document}

answered Sep 18 '23 at 14:32

Skillmon

60,462

This is really useful and convenient. Thanks a lot! – Sayan Sep 19 '23 at 14:40

conditionals inside newcommand with multiple argument

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