RE: tlug: LaTeX: CJK package: 0212 support

["Frank Bennett" <bennett@example.com>]

>... (eg, the reason that `\' can start a TeX
>macro is because it is an active character whose definition is "read
>the following letters and invoke the corresponding macro", and `$' is
>an active character which invokes the command "toggle-math-mode"---if
>you want to use hiragana in 7-bit JIS, you need that `$' to mean
>"hiragana", not math mode)!

Strictly speaking, the \ character in TeX is not active; it is the command
escape character, which triggers the reading of a following string of
"ordinary" characters (normally defined to be a-zA-Z), swallowing any
trailing whitespace.  Active characters don't swallow following whitespace,
they just expand to whatever they are defined to mean, and let the
interpreter ingest whatever follows them.  You can make an active
character behave a lot like \, no doubt (using \futurelet and a lot of
jiggery-
pokery), but they are different primitive forms within TeX.

Cheers,
Frank B


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