What does nop mean and how to use it
I wonder what does the nop mean, and how does it work? I Googled it but couldn't find a good answer, for example, I found something like:
newcommand{nop}[1]{}
in my .tex file, so what does it mean?
macros
edited Apr 16 '13 at 14:34
Werner
448k709921697
asked Apr 16 '13 at 14:32
daiyuedaiyue
2672512
add a comment |
I wonder what does the nop mean, and how does it work? I Googled it but couldn't find a good answer, for example, I found something like:
newcommand{nop}[1]{}
in my .tex file, so what does it mean?
macros
edited Apr 16 '13 at 14:34
Werner
448k709921697
asked Apr 16 '13 at 14:32
daiyuedaiyue
2672512
add a comment |
I wonder what does the nop mean, and how does it work? I Googled it but couldn't find a good answer, for example, I found something like:
newcommand{nop}[1]{}
in my .tex file, so what does it mean?
macros
edited Apr 16 '13 at 14:34
Werner
448k709921697
asked Apr 16 '13 at 14:32
daiyuedaiyue
2672512
I wonder what does the nop mean, and how does it work? I Googled it but couldn't find a good answer, for example, I found something like:
newcommand{nop}[1]{}
in my .tex file, so what does it mean?
macros
macros
edited Apr 16 '13 at 14:34
Werner
448k709921697
asked Apr 16 '13 at 14:32
daiyuedaiyue
2672512
edited Apr 16 '13 at 14:34
Werner
448k709921697
asked Apr 16 '13 at 14:32
daiyuedaiyue
2672512
edited Apr 16 '13 at 14:34
Werner
448k709921697
edited Apr 16 '13 at 14:34
Werner
448k709921697
edited Apr 16 '13 at 14:34
Werner
448k709921697
448k709921697
asked Apr 16 '13 at 14:32
daiyuedaiyue
2672512
asked Apr 16 '13 at 14:32
daiyuedaiyue
2672512
asked Apr 16 '13 at 14:32
daiyuedaiyue
2672512
2672512
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
In your example, nop is defined to take a single argument and do nothing with it. As such, nop literally translates to "perform no operation", or "gobble your argument". In fact, there exists a similar core macro @gobble (and friends) which does exactly the same (from latex.ltx:
longdef @gobble #1{}
longdef @gobbletwo #1#2{}
longdef @gobblefour #1#2#3#4{}
The first gobbles a single argument, making @gobble{<anything>} expand to nothing. The second gobbles two arguments, making @gobbletwo{<anything>}{<anything>} expand to nothing, and so on.
What's the use case here? Well, perhaps you define a macro that writes something in the margin, like a "to do" note:
newcommand{mymacro}[1]{marginpar{Do #1}}
Now, later in your production, you decide that this operation is no longer valid/useful. So, you can make mymacro act like nop and do nothing, which allows you to leave your code as-is:
letmymacronop
or, at definition in your preamble, change it to a no-op:
newcommand{mymacro}[1]{}
answered Apr 16 '13 at 14:37
WernerWerner
448k709921697
another thing that confused me is that any paragraph that is enclosed in this nop{} command using the macro in the example, is disappeared, so i wonder why.
– daiyue
Apr 16 '13 at 14:46
1
@daiyue -- making anything presented as an argument tonopdisappear is exactly its purpose.
– barbara beeton
Apr 16 '13 at 14:52
Something likenopis also frequently used in conjunction withBibTeXto fix the sorting order.
– mafp
Apr 16 '13 at 15:49
The nop definition in the question, produces an extra space.
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jul 8 '18 at 17:35
@ctrl-alt-delor: you can addignorespacesorunskipor use a trailing%.
– Werner
Jul 8 '18 at 18:41
|
show 1 more comment
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1 Answer
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active
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1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
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active
oldest
votes
In your example, nop is defined to take a single argument and do nothing with it. As such, nop literally translates to "perform no operation", or "gobble your argument". In fact, there exists a similar core macro @gobble (and friends) which does exactly the same (from latex.ltx:
longdef @gobble #1{}
longdef @gobbletwo #1#2{}
longdef @gobblefour #1#2#3#4{}
The first gobbles a single argument, making @gobble{<anything>} expand to nothing. The second gobbles two arguments, making @gobbletwo{<anything>}{<anything>} expand to nothing, and so on.
What's the use case here? Well, perhaps you define a macro that writes something in the margin, like a "to do" note:
newcommand{mymacro}[1]{marginpar{Do #1}}
Now, later in your production, you decide that this operation is no longer valid/useful. So, you can make mymacro act like nop and do nothing, which allows you to leave your code as-is:
letmymacronop
or, at definition in your preamble, change it to a no-op:
newcommand{mymacro}[1]{}
answered Apr 16 '13 at 14:37
WernerWerner
448k709921697
another thing that confused me is that any paragraph that is enclosed in this nop{} command using the macro in the example, is disappeared, so i wonder why.
– daiyue
Apr 16 '13 at 14:46
1
@daiyue -- making anything presented as an argument tonopdisappear is exactly its purpose.
– barbara beeton
Apr 16 '13 at 14:52
Something likenopis also frequently used in conjunction withBibTeXto fix the sorting order.
– mafp
Apr 16 '13 at 15:49
The nop definition in the question, produces an extra space.
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jul 8 '18 at 17:35
@ctrl-alt-delor: you can addignorespacesorunskipor use a trailing%.
– Werner
Jul 8 '18 at 18:41
|
show 1 more comment
In your example, nop is defined to take a single argument and do nothing with it. As such, nop literally translates to "perform no operation", or "gobble your argument". In fact, there exists a similar core macro @gobble (and friends) which does exactly the same (from latex.ltx:
longdef @gobble #1{}
longdef @gobbletwo #1#2{}
longdef @gobblefour #1#2#3#4{}
The first gobbles a single argument, making @gobble{<anything>} expand to nothing. The second gobbles two arguments, making @gobbletwo{<anything>}{<anything>} expand to nothing, and so on.
What's the use case here? Well, perhaps you define a macro that writes something in the margin, like a "to do" note:
newcommand{mymacro}[1]{marginpar{Do #1}}
Now, later in your production, you decide that this operation is no longer valid/useful. So, you can make mymacro act like nop and do nothing, which allows you to leave your code as-is:
letmymacronop
or, at definition in your preamble, change it to a no-op:
newcommand{mymacro}[1]{}
answered Apr 16 '13 at 14:37
WernerWerner
448k709921697
another thing that confused me is that any paragraph that is enclosed in this nop{} command using the macro in the example, is disappeared, so i wonder why.
– daiyue
Apr 16 '13 at 14:46
1
@daiyue -- making anything presented as an argument tonopdisappear is exactly its purpose.
– barbara beeton
Apr 16 '13 at 14:52
Something likenopis also frequently used in conjunction withBibTeXto fix the sorting order.
– mafp
Apr 16 '13 at 15:49
The nop definition in the question, produces an extra space.
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jul 8 '18 at 17:35
@ctrl-alt-delor: you can addignorespacesorunskipor use a trailing%.
– Werner
Jul 8 '18 at 18:41
|
show 1 more comment
In your example, nop is defined to take a single argument and do nothing with it. As such, nop literally translates to "perform no operation", or "gobble your argument". In fact, there exists a similar core macro @gobble (and friends) which does exactly the same (from latex.ltx:
longdef @gobble #1{}
longdef @gobbletwo #1#2{}
longdef @gobblefour #1#2#3#4{}
The first gobbles a single argument, making @gobble{<anything>} expand to nothing. The second gobbles two arguments, making @gobbletwo{<anything>}{<anything>} expand to nothing, and so on.
What's the use case here? Well, perhaps you define a macro that writes something in the margin, like a "to do" note:
newcommand{mymacro}[1]{marginpar{Do #1}}
Now, later in your production, you decide that this operation is no longer valid/useful. So, you can make mymacro act like nop and do nothing, which allows you to leave your code as-is:
letmymacronop
or, at definition in your preamble, change it to a no-op:
newcommand{mymacro}[1]{}
answered Apr 16 '13 at 14:37
WernerWerner
448k709921697
In your example, nop is defined to take a single argument and do nothing with it. As such, nop literally translates to "perform no operation", or "gobble your argument". In fact, there exists a similar core macro @gobble (and friends) which does exactly the same (from latex.ltx:
longdef @gobble #1{}
longdef @gobbletwo #1#2{}
longdef @gobblefour #1#2#3#4{}
The first gobbles a single argument, making @gobble{<anything>} expand to nothing. The second gobbles two arguments, making @gobbletwo{<anything>}{<anything>} expand to nothing, and so on.
What's the use case here? Well, perhaps you define a macro that writes something in the margin, like a "to do" note:
newcommand{mymacro}[1]{marginpar{Do #1}}
Now, later in your production, you decide that this operation is no longer valid/useful. So, you can make mymacro act like nop and do nothing, which allows you to leave your code as-is:
letmymacronop
or, at definition in your preamble, change it to a no-op:
newcommand{mymacro}[1]{}
answered Apr 16 '13 at 14:37
WernerWerner
448k709921697
answered Apr 16 '13 at 14:37
WernerWerner
448k709921697
answered Apr 16 '13 at 14:37
WernerWerner
448k709921697
answered Apr 16 '13 at 14:37
WernerWerner
448k709921697
448k709921697
another thing that confused me is that any paragraph that is enclosed in this nop{} command using the macro in the example, is disappeared, so i wonder why.
– daiyue
Apr 16 '13 at 14:46
1
@daiyue -- making anything presented as an argument tonopdisappear is exactly its purpose.
– barbara beeton
Apr 16 '13 at 14:52
Something likenopis also frequently used in conjunction withBibTeXto fix the sorting order.
– mafp
Apr 16 '13 at 15:49
The nop definition in the question, produces an extra space.
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jul 8 '18 at 17:35
@ctrl-alt-delor: you can addignorespacesorunskipor use a trailing%.
– Werner
Jul 8 '18 at 18:41
|
show 1 more comment
another thing that confused me is that any paragraph that is enclosed in this nop{} command using the macro in the example, is disappeared, so i wonder why.
– daiyue
Apr 16 '13 at 14:46
1
@daiyue -- making anything presented as an argument tonopdisappear is exactly its purpose.
– barbara beeton
Apr 16 '13 at 14:52
Something likenopis also frequently used in conjunction withBibTeXto fix the sorting order.
– mafp
Apr 16 '13 at 15:49
The nop definition in the question, produces an extra space.
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jul 8 '18 at 17:35
@ctrl-alt-delor: you can addignorespacesorunskipor use a trailing%.
– Werner
Jul 8 '18 at 18:41
another thing that confused me is that any paragraph that is enclosed in this nop{} command using the macro in the example, is disappeared, so i wonder why.
– daiyue
Apr 16 '13 at 14:46
another thing that confused me is that any paragraph that is enclosed in this nop{} command using the macro in the example, is disappeared, so i wonder why.
– daiyue
Apr 16 '13 at 14:46
1
1
@daiyue -- making anything presented as an argument to
nop disappear is exactly its purpose.– barbara beeton
Apr 16 '13 at 14:52
@daiyue -- making anything presented as an argument to
nop disappear is exactly its purpose.– barbara beeton
Apr 16 '13 at 14:52
Something like
nop is also frequently used in conjunction with BibTeX to fix the sorting order.– mafp
Apr 16 '13 at 15:49
Something like
nop is also frequently used in conjunction with BibTeX to fix the sorting order.– mafp
Apr 16 '13 at 15:49
The nop definition in the question, produces an extra space.
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jul 8 '18 at 17:35
The nop definition in the question, produces an extra space.
– ctrl-alt-delor
Jul 8 '18 at 17:35
@ctrl-alt-delor: you can add
ignorespaces or unskip or use a trailing %.– Werner
Jul 8 '18 at 18:41
@ctrl-alt-delor: you can add
ignorespaces or unskip or use a trailing %.– Werner
Jul 8 '18 at 18:41
|
show 1 more comment
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