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Where can I find descriptions for n, N, V, T, F. What are they called ? Generally found after commands.

Alan Munn
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Veak
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    You need to give much more context to your questions. I happen to know what you're talking about, and others who know the answer will know what you're talking about, but if someone doesn't, this question is incomprehensible. – Teepeemm Sep 29 '23 at 02:39
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    I do not know what they are called and cannot do a search just for a single letter as I get a limitless number of matches. I encountered them from page 111 in source2e.pdf. Perhaps you could edit the question so others can know what I am talking about. – Veak Sep 29 '23 at 02:47
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    You've not only had an answer explaining some of these (https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/697107/defining-functions-in-latex3/697108#697108), but you've posted at least one question explaining some of them (https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/697181/code-description-for-tl-if-emptyvtf). In addition to being told some of the terminology, you've also been told the document, section number and page number where you can find the details. So why are you asking again? – cfr Sep 29 '23 at 04:17
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    you were told the section of interface3.pdf where all these are described yesterday on your VTF question. why ask the same thing over and over again? – David Carlisle Sep 29 '23 at 07:47

1 Answers1

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In an expl3 function, the individual letters that specify the arguments of a command are called its argument specifiers. The complete set of them is called the signature of the function.

These are fully described in section 1.1 (p.2,ff) of the interface3 documentation for expl3.

Alan Munn
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  • I fail to comprehend how the documentation has been made so difficult to follow. They are used freely in source2e.pdf without explanation. And the explanation is in interface3.pdf. When normally one starts with soerce2e.pdf. – Veak Sep 29 '23 at 02:51
  • The interface3.pdf makes some sense and is instructive. But source2e.pdf is in a big mess. – Veak Sep 29 '23 at 02:56
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    source2e is literally documented code. It's not intended to be a reference manual. – Alan Munn Sep 29 '23 at 02:56
  • It would help a lot if there was a document called Introduction to programming in Latex. – Veak Sep 29 '23 at 02:57
  • Is there a reference manual for designers ? – Veak Sep 29 '23 at 02:57
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    Indeed, but when all the software is written on a volunteer basis, the development team do what they think serves the most people, which is providing the software itself and its associated reference documentation. I and many others have managed to learn a lot from interface3. – Alan Munn Sep 29 '23 at 02:58
  • Perhaps a group across the world could help them write an introduction. Spend a weekend or something. Use their students and collaborators. Or during their conferences when they do them. – Veak Sep 29 '23 at 03:01
  • Try https://www.alanshawn.com/latex3-tutorial/ – Alan Munn Sep 29 '23 at 03:02
  • I have suggested having a single reference and forget all the source2e.pdf and interface3.pdf. What most people do is endure the terrible documentation job. The team goes berserk when one dares criticise. But I do it anyway. – Veak Sep 29 '23 at 03:06
  • The analysis in the link provided is spot on. It is shameful that the old folks continue to insist that their documentation and presentations are good. Certainly they are not. Certainly not to people who spend much of their time on system complexity. – Veak Sep 29 '23 at 03:09
  • Their attitudes can on my nerves most times as they are quite wrong. – Veak Sep 29 '23 at 03:11
  • Their attitudes get on my nerves most times as they are quite wrong. The curse of university academics. – Veak Sep 29 '23 at 03:23