At 19:23 13/07/2003 +0200, you wrote:
On Sat, Jul 12, 2003 at 07:22:06PM +0200, Hans Hagen wrote:
i have problems with the not that name compatible:
\shellescape \write18
so if a dedicated name would be used, we would either have something:
\shellescape{some command} \shellescapemode == number
This would be the cleanest solution, without that magic nasty "18". But I fear, nobody will have the courage to extend standard TeX in this sense.
An alternative for \shellescapemode could be a \if switch: \ifshellescape
or (considering it a channel)
\write18 \ifeof18
yet another option is to ask peter breitenlohner to add the \shell... commands to etex or if that does not happen, to add them as alternatives to pdftex (in addition to the \ifeof18's) and then discuss the option to add them to etex some time later (there are a few more pdftex features that may be interesting to move to etex) also, since i suppose that you need it for hyperref, you can use the pdftex version number (or just test for another new pdftex primitive that is introduced at the same time as \ifeof18); in a year from now we may expect users who use 'modern things' like write 18 to have updated anyway Hans ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE | pragma@wxs.nl Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands tel: +31 (0)38 477 53 69 | fax: +31 (0)38 477 53 74 | www.pragma-ade.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- information: http://www.pragma-ade.com/roadmap.pdf documentation: http://www.pragma-ade.com/showcase.pdf -------------------------------------------------------------------------