TeX Primitive Control Sequences
(Alphabetical Order)

This is the HTML version of TeX Reference Manual by David Bausum. © Copyright 2002, Kluwer Academic Publishers. All Rights Reserved.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

\] (control space)cinserts a control space.
- (discretionary hyphen)dinserts a discretionary hyphen.
/ (italic correction)cinserts an italic correction.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

abovedis equivalent to `\abovewithdelims..'.
abovedisplayshortskippgis alternate glue placed before a displayed equation.
abovedisplayskippgis normal glue placed before a displayed equation.
abovewithdelimscis a generalized fraction command.
accentcplaces an accent on a character.
adjdemeritspiholds the demerits for visually incompatible adjacent lines.
advancecincreases or decreases a numeric variable.
afterassignmentcsaves a token and inserts it after the next assignment.
aftergroupcsaves a token and inserts it after the current group is complete.
atopdis equivalent to `\atopwithdelims..'.
atopwithdelimsdis a generalized fraction command with an invisible fraction bar.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

badnessiqis 0-10,000 and represents the badness of the glue settings in the last constructed box.
baselineskippgis glue added between lines to keep their baselines consistently spaced.
batchmodecacts like pressing Q in response to an error.
begingroupcstarts a group that must be ended by \endgroup.
belowdisplayshortskippgis alternate glue placed after a displayed equation.
belowdisplayskippgis normal glue placed after a displayed equation.
binoppenaltypiis the penalty for a line break after a binary operation.
botmarkcis the mark text most recently encountered on a page.
boxcputs the box's contents in the current list and empties the box.
boxmaxdepthpdis the maximum possible depth of a vertical box.
brokenpenaltypiis the penalty added after a line ending with an hyphenated word.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

catcodeiqholds the category code for a character.
charcprovides access to one of the 256 characters in a font.
chardefiqprovides an alternate way to define a control sequence that returns a character.
cleaderscinsert centered leaders.
closeinccloses an auxiliary file opened for reading.
closeoutccloses an auxiliary file opened for writing.
clubpenaltypiis the penalty added after the first line in a paragraph.
copycputs the box's contents in the current list but does not empty the box.
countiqassigns an integer to a \count register.
countdefccreates a symbolic name for a \count register.
crcis a visible command which ends one row in a table.
crcrcis an alternate to \cr.
csnamecforms a control sequence name from the characters making up a collection of tokens.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

daypiholds the current day of the month (1-31).
deadcyclesiqis the number of times \output was called since the last \shipout.
defcdefines a macro.
defaulthyphencharpiis the \hyphenchar value to use when a new font is loaded.
defaultskewcharpiis -1 or the \skewchar value for a font when it is loaded.
delcodeiqis -1 or the delimiter code for a character.
delimitercspecifies a delimiter.
delimiterfactorpiis the first parameter used to compute the size of delimeters required by \left and \right.
delimitershortfallpdis the second parameter used to compute the size of delimeters required by \left and \right.
dimeniqassigns a <dimen> to a \dimen register.
dimendefccreates a symbolic name for a \dimen register.
discretionarycspecifies a discretionary break in a paragraph.
displayindentpdis the amount to shift a line holding a displayed equation.
displaylimitscrestores normal conventions for using limits with operators.
displaystylecselects display style: D or D'.
displaywidowpenaltypiis the penalty added after the penultimate line immediately preceeding a display.
displaywidthpdis the width of the line holding a displayed equation.
dividecdivides a register by an integer.
doublehyphendemeritspiholds the demerits added if two consecutive lines end with discretionary breaks.
dpiqis the depth of a box.
dumpcoutputs a format file in INITEX; otherwise it is equivalent to \end.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

edefcis similar to \def, except control sequences in the replacement text are expanded when the definition is made.
elsecbegins the false part of a conditional.
emergencystretchpdis glue used in the third pass made for bad paragraphs.
endcterminates the current job.
endcsnamecis used with \csname to make a control sequence name.
endgroupcends a group that was begun by \begingroup.
endinputcstops input from a file at the end of the current line.
endlinecharpiis the character added to the end of input lines.
eqnocputs an equation number at the right-hand margin.
errhelpptis text displayed on the terminal if h is pressed after an \errmessage.
errmessagecdisplays text on the terminal and interrupts the program.
errorcontextlinespiis the number of lines to display on the terminal at an error.
errorstopmodecswitches to normal interaction for processing errors.
escapecharpiis the character used for category 0 characters when outputting control sequences.
everycrptholds tokens inserted after every \cr or nonredundent \crcr.
everydisplayptholds tokens inserted at the start of every switch to display math mode.
everyhboxptholds tokens inserted at the start of every hbox.
everyjobptholds tokens which are inserted at the start of every job.
everymathptholds tokens inserted at the start of every switch to math mode.
everyparptholds tokens added at the beginning of every paragraph.
everyvboxptholds tokens inserted at the start of every vbox.
exhyphenpenaltypiis the penalty for a line break after an explicit hyphen.
expandafterc`<token1><token2>' is equivalent to `<token1> expansion of <token2>'.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

fampiif 0-15, specifies the font family of class 7 (variable) math symbols.
ficis the concluding command of a conditional.
finalhyphendemeritspiholds the demerits added if the penultimate line in a paragraph ends with a discretionary break.
firstmarkcis the mark text first encountered on a page.
floatingpenaltypiis the penalty for insertions that are split between pages.
fontiqloads information about a font into TeX's memory.
fontdimeniqholds font parameters.
fontnamecreturns the system file name for a font.
futureletc`<cs> <token1> <token2>' is equivalent to `\let <cs> = <token2> <token1> <token2>'.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

gdefdis equivalent to `\global\def'.
globalcis an assignment prefix which makes the assignment transcend its group.
globaldefspiif positive, all assignments are global; if negative, \global is ignored.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

haligncbegins the horizontal alignment of material (i.e., makes a table containing rows).
hangafterpiis the number of lines before hanging indentation changes.
hangindentpdis the amount of hanging indentation.
hbadnesspiis the badness above which bad hboxes are reported.
hboxcconstructs a box holding horizontal material.
hfildinserts first order infinitely stretchable horizontal glue in a horizontal or math list.
hfilldinserts second order infinitely stretchable horizontal glue in a horizontal or math list.
hfilnegdcancels the stretchability of \hfil.
hfuzzpdis the overrun allowed before overfull hboxes are reported.
hoffsetpdis a value added to the default 1-inch left margin.
holdinginsertspiis positive if insertions should remain dormant when \output is called.
hrulecmakes a rule box in vertical mode.
hsizepdis the width of normal lines in a paragraph.
hskipcinserts horizontal glue in a horizontal or math list.
hssdinserts infinitely stretchable and shrinkable horizontal glue in a horizontal or math list.
htiqis the height of a box.
hyphenationcadds words to the hyphenation exception dictionary for the current language.
hyphenchariqholds the current hyphen character used with hyphenation.
hyphenpenaltypiis the penalty for a line break after a discretionary hyphen.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

ifctests if two tokens have the same character codes (i.e., values 0-256).
ifcasecbegins a multi-case conditional.
ifcatctests if two tokens have the same category codes (i.e., values 0-16).
ifdimccompares two dimensions.
ifeofctests for the end of a file.
iffalsecis a conditional which is always false.
ifhboxcis true if a box register contains an \hbox.
ifhmodecis true if TeX is in horizontal or restricted horizontal mode.
ifinnercis true if TeX is in internal vertical, restricted horizontal, or nondisplay math mode.
ifmmodecis true if TeX is in math or display math mode.
ifnumccompares two integers.
ifoddctests for an odd integer.
iftruecis a conditional which is always true.
ifvboxcis true if a box register contains a \vbox.
ifvmodecis true if TeX is in vertical or internal vertical mode.
ifvoidcis true if a box register is void.
ifxctests if two tokens are the same.
ignorespacescmakes TeX read and expand tokens but do nothing until a nonspace token is reached.
immediatecperforms the following output command without waiting for \shipout.
indentcbegins a new paragraph indented by \parindent.
inputcinserts a file at the current position in the source file.
inputlinenoiqholds the line number of the line last read in the current input file.
insertcplaces material into an insertions class.
insertpenaltiesiqis a quantity used by TeX in two different ways.
interlinepenaltypiis the penalty added between lines in a paragraph.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

jobnamecis the underlying file name for a job.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

kerncadds a kern item to the current list.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

languagepiselects a language to use with hyphenation and \patterns.
lastboxcis void or the last hbox or vbox on the current list.
lastkerniqis 0.0 pt or the last kern on the current list.
lastpenaltyiqis 0 or the last penalty on the current list.
lastskipiqis 0.0 pt or the last glue or muglue on the current list.
lccodeiqholds the lowercase value for a character.
leaderscfill space using specified glue with a box or rule.
leftcmakes TeX calculate the size of the delimiter needed at the left of a subformula.
lefthyphenminpiis the minimum number of characters that must appear before the first hyphen in an hyphenated word.
leftskippgis glue added at the left of every line in a paragraph.
leqnocputs an equation number at the left-hand margin.
letcgives a control sequence a token's current meaning.
limitscdisplays limits above and below large operators (class 1).
linepenaltypiis an amount added to the \badness calculated for every line in a paragraph.
lineskippgis alternate interline glue used if the \baselineskip glue is not feasible.
lineskiplimitpdis the cutoff used to select between \baselineskip and \lineskip.
longcis a prefix for definitions which require multi-paragraph arguments.
loosenesspitells TeX to try and increase or decrease the number of lines in a paragraph.
lowercshifts a box down and appends it to the current horizontal or math list.
lowercasecconverts tokens to lowercase.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

magpiholds the magnification ratio times 1000.
markcspecifies text which should be marked.
mathaccentcmakes an accent atom from the mathchar and the following item.
mathbincassigns class 2 (binary operation) to the following character or subformula.
mathcharcspecifies a math character by giving its class, family, and font position.
mathchardefdprovides an alternate way to define a control sequence that returns a math character.
mathchoicecspecifies specific subformulas for the 4 main styles.
mathclosecassigns class 5 (closing) to the following character or subformula.
mathcodeiqholds the math character (15-bit number) for each of the 256 characters with which TeX works.
mathinnercmakes an inner atom holding the math field.
mathopcassigns class 1 (large operator) to following character or subformula.
mathopencassigns class 4 (opening) to following character or subformula.
mathordcassigns class 0 (ordinary) to following character or subformula.
mathpunctcassigns class 6 (punctuation) to following character or subformula.
mathrelcassigns class 3 (relation) to following character or subformula.
mathsurroundpdis extra space added when switching in and out of math mode.
maxdeadcyclespiis the maximum allowed value of \deadcycles before an error is generated.
maxdepthpdis the maximum depth of boxes on the main page.
meaningcadds characters describing a token to the output stream.
medmuskippmis ``medium'' math glue inserted into formulas.
messagecwrites an expanded token list on the terminal and to the log file.
mkerncadds a math kern item to the current math list.
monthpiholds the current month of the year (1-12).
moveleftcshifts a box left and appends it to the current vertical list.
moverightcshifts a box right and appends it to the current vertical list.
mskipcadds math glue to the current math list.
multiplycmultiplies a register by an integer.
muskipiqassigns <muglue> to a \muskip register.
muskipdefccreates a symbolic name for a \muskip register.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

newlinecharpiis the character which begins a new line of output.
noaligncinserts vertical mode material after a \cr in a table.
noboundarycif present, breaks ligatures and kerns.
noexpandcprevents the expansion of the following token.
noindentcbegins a new paragraph that is not indented.
nolimitscdisplays limits to the right of large operators (class 1).
nonscriptcignores immediately following glue or kern in script and scriptscript styles.
nonstopmodecacts like pressing R in response to an error.
nulldelimiterspacepdis the width of a null or missing delimiter.
nullfontiqis a predefined font with no characters.
numbercproduces the decimal equivalent of numbers.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

omitcis used in the body of a table to change an entry's template from the one in the preamble.
openincopens an auxiliary file for reading.
openoutcopens an auxiliary file for writing.
orcseparates cases in an \ifcase conditional.
outercis a prefix for a definition which restricts where the definition may be used.
outputptholds the token list used to typeset one page.
outputpenaltypiholds the penalty from the current page break.
overdis equivalent to `\overwithdelims..'.
overfullrulepdis the width of the rule appended to an overfull box.
overlinecputs a line over the following character or subformula.
overwithdelimsdis a generalized fraction command with preset fraction bar thickness.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

pagedepthiqis the actual depth of the last box on the main page.
pagefilllstretchiqis the amount of third-order infinite stretchability in the current page.
pagefillstretchiqis the amount of second-order infinite stretchability in the current page.
pagefilstretchiqis the amount of first-order infinite stretchability in the current page.
pagegoaliqis the desired height of the current page.
pageshrinkiqis the amount of finite shrinkability in the current page.
pagestretchiqis the amount of finite stretchability in the current page.
pagetotaliqis the accumulated height of the current page.
parcis an explicit command to end a paragraph.
parfillskippgis glue which finishs the last line of a paragraph.
parindentpdis the width of indentation at the beginning of a paragraph.
parshapeiqspecifies an arbitrary paragraph shape.
parskippgis extra glue put between paragraphs.
patternscis used in INITEX to add patterns to the pattern dictionary for the current language.
pausingpiif positive, the program halts after every line is read from the input file and waits for a response from the user.
penaltycadds a penalty to the current list.
postdisplaypenaltypiis the penalty added immediately after a math display.
predisplaypenaltypiis the penalty added immediately before a math display.
predisplaysizepdis the effective width of the line preceeding a displayed equation.
pretolerancepiis the acceptable \badness of lines in a paragraph before hyphenation is attempted.
prevdepthiqis the depth of the last box added to the current vertical list.
prevgrafiqis the number of lines in the paragraph most recently completed or partially completed.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

radicalcmakes a radical atom from the delimiter (27-bit number) and the math field.
raisecshifts a box up and appends it to the current horizontal or math list.
readcreads one or more lines from an auxiliary file.
relaxcis a control sequence which typesets nothing.
relpenaltypiis the penalty for a line break after a relation.
rightcmakes TeX calculate the size of the delimiter needed at the right of a subformula.
righthyphenminpiis the minimum number of characters that must appear after the last hyphen in an hyphenated word.
rightskippgis glue added at the right of every line in a paragraph.
romannumeralcconverts a number to lowercase roman numerals.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

scriptfontiqspecifies the script font for a family.
scriptscriptfontiqspecifies the scriptscript font for a family.
scriptscriptstylecselects scriptscript style: SS or SS'.
scriptspacepdis extra space added after a subscript or a superscript.
scriptstylecselects script style: S or S'.
scrollmodecacts like pressing S in response to an error.
setboxcassigns an hbox, vbox, or vtop to a box register.
setlanguagecinserts a language whatsit in restricted horizontal mode.
sfcodeiqholds the space factor value for a character.
shipoutcsends the contents of a box to the dvi file.
showcwrites a token's definition on the terminal and to the log file.
showboxcwrites the contents of a box to the log file.
showboxbreadthpiis the maximum number of items per level written by \showbox and \showlists.
showboxdepthpiis the maximum level written by \showbox and \showlists.
showlistscwrites information about current lists to the log file.
showthecwrites a value on the terminal and to the log file and interrupts the program.
skewchariqis -1 or the character used to fine-tune the positioning of math accents.
skipiqassigns <glue> to a \skip register.
skipdefccreates a symbolic name for a \skip register.
spacefactoriqcontrols interword spacing.
spaceskippgis alternate interword glue.
spanccombines adjacent entries in a table into a single entry.
specialcsends material to the dvi file for special processing.
splitbotmarkcis the mark text of the last mark in the most recent \vsplit operation.
splitfirstmarkcis the mark text of the first mark in the most recent \vsplit operation.
splitmaxdepthpdis the maximum depth of boxes created by \vsplit.
splittopskippgis special glue placed inside the box created by \vsplit.
stringcconverts a control sequence to characters.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

tabskippgis optional glue put between columns in a table.
textfontiqspecifies the text font for a family.
textstylecselects text style: T or T'.
thecreturns character tokens for an internal quantity's or parameter's current value.
thickmuskippmis ``thick'' math glue inserted into formulas.
thinmuskippmis ``thin'' math glue inserted into formulas.
timepiholds the current time in minutes after midnight (0-1439).
toksiqassigns <replacement text> to a \toks register.
toksdefccreates a symbolic name for a \toks register.
tolerancepiis the acceptable \badness of lines after hyphenation.
topmarkcis the value of \botmark on the previous page.
topskippgis special glue added before the first box on each page.
tracingcommandspiif positive, writes commands to the log file.
tracinglostcharspiif positive, writes characters not in the current font to the log file.
tracingmacrospiif positive, writes to the log file when expanding macros and arguments.
tracingonlinepiif positive, writes diagnostic output to the terminal as well as to the log file.
tracingoutputpiif positive, writes contents of shipped out boxes to the log file.
tracingpagespiif positive, writes the page-cost calculations to the log file.
tracingparagraphspiif positive, writes a summary of the line-breaking calculations to the log file.
tracingrestorespiif positive, writes save-stack details to the log file.
tracingstatspiif positive, writes memory usage statistics to the log file.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

uccodeiqholds the uppercase value for a character.
uchyphpiprevents hyphenation of uppercase words unless this is positive.
underlinecputs a line under the following character or subformula.
unhboxcputs unwrapped hbox contents in the current list and empties the box.
unhcopycputs unwrapped hbox contents in the current list but does not empty the box.
unkerncremoves a kern from the current list.
unpenaltycremoves a penalty from the current list.
unskipcremoves a glue item from the current list.
unvboxcputs unwrapped vbox contents in the current list and empties the box.
unvcopycputs unwrapped vbox contents in the current list but does not empty the box.
uppercasecconverts tokens to uppercase.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

vadjustcinserts a vertical list between two lines in a paragraph.
valigncbegins the vertical alignment of material (i.e., makes a table containing columns).
vbadnesspiis the badness above which bad vboxes are reported.
vboxcconstructs a box holding vertical material.
vcenterccenters material with respect to the axis.
vfildinserts first order infinitely stretchable vertical glue in a vertical list.
vfilldinserts second order infinitely stretchable vertical glue in a vertical list.
vfilnegdcancels the stretchability of \vfil.
vfuzzpdis the overrun allowed before overfull vboxes are reported.
voffsetpdis a value added to the default 1-inch top margin.
vrulecmakes a rule box in horizontal mode.
vsizepdis the desired height of the current page.
vskipcinserts vertical glue in a vertical list.
vsplitcremoves a specified amount of material from a box register.
vssdinsert infinitely stretchable and shrinkable vertical glue in a vertical list.
vtopcis an alternate way to construct a box holding vertical material.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

wdiqis the width of a box.
widowpenaltypiis the penalty added after the penultimate line in a paragraph.
writecwrites material to an auxiliary file.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

xdefdis equivalent to `\global\edef'.
xleaderscinsert expanded leaders.
xspaceskippgis alternate intersentence glue.

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Control Sequences

Type

Description

yearpiholds the current year (e.g., 2000).

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TeX Primitive Control Sequences
(Family Order)

This is the HTML version of TeX Reference Manual by David Bausum. © Copyright 2002, Kluwer Academic Publishers. All Rights Reserved.

Control Sequences
FamilyNULLTypeDescription
BoxLogic-cCommand
CharacterMacro-dDerived Command
DebuggingMarks-iqInternal Quantity
File I/OMath-piParameter (integer)
FontsPage-pdParameter (dimen)
GlueParagraph-pgParameter (glue)
HyphenationPenalties-pmParameter (muglue)
InsertsRegisters-ptParameter (token)
JobTables---
Kern----

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Box

Type

Description

badnessiqis 0-10,000 and represents the badness of the glue settings in the last constructed box.
boxcputs the box's contents in the current list and empties the box.
boxmaxdepthpdis the maximum possible depth of a vertical box.
cleaderscinsert centered leaders.
copycputs the box's contents in the current list but does not empty the box.
dpiqis the depth of a box.
everyhboxptholds tokens inserted at the start of every hbox.
everyvboxptholds tokens inserted at the start of every vbox.
hbadnesspiis the badness above which bad hboxes are reported.
hboxcconstructs a box holding horizontal material.
hfuzzpdis the overrun allowed before overfull hboxes are reported.
hrulecmakes a rule box in vertical mode.
htiqis the height of a box.
lastboxcis void or the last hbox or vbox on the current list.
leaderscfill space using specified glue with a box or rule.
overfullrulepdis the width of the rule appended to an overfull box.
prevdepthiqis the depth of the last box added to the current vertical list.
setboxcassigns an hbox, vbox, or vtop to a box register.
unhboxcputs unwrapped hbox contents in the current list and empties the box.
unhcopycputs unwrapped hbox contents in the current list but does not empty the box.
unvboxcputs unwrapped vbox contents in the current list and empties the box.
unvcopycputs unwrapped vbox contents in the current list but does not empty the box.
vbadnesspiis the badness above which bad vboxes are reported.
vboxcconstructs a box holding vertical material.
vfuzzpdis the overrun allowed before overfull vboxes are reported.
vrulecmakes a rule box in horizontal mode.
vtopcis an alternate way to construct a box holding vertical material.
wdiqis the width of a box.
xleaderscinsert expanded leaders.

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Character

Type

Description

\] (control space)cinserts a control space.
accentcplaces an accent on a character.
catcodeiqholds the category code for a character.
charcprovides access to one of the 256 characters in a font.
chardefiqprovides an alternate way to define a control sequence that returns a character.
endlinecharpiis the character added to the end of input lines.
escapecharpiis the character used for category 0 characters when outputting control sequences.
lccodeiqholds the lowercase value for a character.
lowercasecconverts tokens to lowercase.
newlinecharpiis the character which begins a new line of output.
numbercproduces the decimal equivalent of numbers.
romannumeralcconverts a number to lowercase roman numerals.
sfcodeiqholds the space factor value for a character.
stringcconverts a control sequence to characters.
uccodeiqholds the uppercase value for a character.
uppercasecconverts tokens to uppercase.

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Debugging

Type

Description

batchmodecacts like pressing Q in response to an error.
errhelpptis text displayed on the terminal if h is pressed after an \errmessage.
errmessagecdisplays text on the terminal and interrupts the program.
errorcontextlinespiis the number of lines to display on the terminal at an error.
errorstopmodecswitches to normal interaction for processing errors.
meaningcadds characters describing a token to the output stream.
messagecwrites an expanded token list on the terminal and to the log file.
nonstopmodecacts like pressing R in response to an error.
pausingpiif positive, the program halts after every line is read from the input file and waits for a response from the user.
scrollmodecacts like pressing S in response to an error.
showcwrites a token's definition on the terminal and to the log file.
showboxcwrites the contents of a box to the log file.
showboxbreadthpiis the maximum number of items per level written by \showbox and \showlists.
showboxdepthpiis the maximum level written by \showbox and \showlists.
showlistscwrites information about current lists to the log file.
showthecwrites a value on the terminal and to the log file and interrupts the program.
tracingcommandspiif positive, writes commands to the log file.
tracinglostcharspiif positive, writes characters not in the current font to the log file.
tracingmacrospiif positive, writes to the log file when expanding macros and arguments.
tracingonlinepiif positive, writes diagnostic output to the terminal as well as to the log file.
tracingoutputpiif positive, writes contents of shipped out boxes to the log file.
tracingpagespiif positive, writes the page-cost calculations to the log file.
tracingparagraphspiif positive, writes a summary of the line-breaking calculations to the log file.
tracingrestorespiif positive, writes save-stack details to the log file.
tracingstatspiif positive, writes memory usage statistics to the log file.

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File I/O

Type

Description

closeinccloses an auxiliary file opened for reading.
closeoutccloses an auxiliary file opened for writing.
endinputcstops input from a file at the end of the current line.
immediatecperforms the following output command without waiting for \shipout.
inputcinserts a file at the current position in the source file.
inputlinenoiqholds the line number of the line last read in the current input file.
openincopens an auxiliary file for reading.
openoutcopens an auxiliary file for writing.
outputptholds the token list used to typeset one page.
readcreads one or more lines from an auxiliary file.
shipoutcsends the contents of a box to the dvi file.
specialcsends material to the dvi file for special processing.
writecwrites material to an auxiliary file.

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Fonts

Type

Description

/ (italic correction)cinserts an italic correction.
fontiqloads information about a font into TeX's memory.
fontdimeniqholds font parameters.
fontnamecreturns the system file name for a font.
nullfontiqis a predefined font with no characters.

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Glue

Type

Description

hfildinserts first order infinitely stretchable horizontal glue in a horizontal or math list.
hfilldinserts second order infinitely stretchable horizontal glue in a horizontal or math list.
hfilnegdcancels the stretchability of \hfil.
hskipcinserts horizontal glue in a horizontal or math list.
hssdinserts infinitely stretchable and shrinkable horizontal glue in a horizontal or math list.
lastskipiqis 0.0 pt or the last glue or muglue on the current list.
unskipcremoves a glue item from the current list.
vfildinserts first order infinitely stretchable vertical glue in a vertical list.
vfilldinserts second order infinitely stretchable vertical glue in a vertical list.
vfilnegdcancels the stretchability of \vfil.
vskipcinserts vertical glue in a vertical list.
vssdinsert infinitely stretchable and shrinkable vertical glue in a vertical list.

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Hyphenation

Type

Description

- (discretionary hyphen)dinserts a discretionary hyphen.
defaulthyphencharpiis the \hyphenchar value to use when a new font is loaded.
discretionarycspecifies a discretionary break in a paragraph.
hyphenationcadds words to the hyphenation exception dictionary for the current language.
hyphenchariqholds the current hyphen character used with hyphenation.
languagepiselects a language to use with hyphenation and \patterns.
lefthyphenminpiis the minimum number of characters that must appear before the first hyphen in an hyphenated word.
patternscis used in INITEX to add patterns to the pattern dictionary for the current language.
righthyphenminpiis the minimum number of characters that must appear after the last hyphen in an hyphenated word.
setlanguagecinserts a language whatsit in restricted horizontal mode.
uchyphpiprevents hyphenation of uppercase words unless this is positive.

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Inserts

Type

Description

holdinginsertspiis positive if insertions should remain dormant when \output is called.
insertcplaces material into an insertions class.
insertpenaltiesiqis a quantity used by TeX in two different ways.
splitbotmarkcis the mark text of the last mark in the most recent \vsplit operation.
splitfirstmarkcis the mark text of the first mark in the most recent \vsplit operation.
splitmaxdepthpdis the maximum depth of boxes created by \vsplit.
splittopskippgis special glue placed inside the box created by \vsplit.
vsplitcremoves a specified amount of material from a box register.

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Job

Type

Description

daypiholds the current day of the month (1-31).
deadcyclesiqis the number of times \output was called since the last \shipout.
dumpcoutputs a format file in INITEX; otherwise it is equivalent to \end.
endcterminates the current job.
everyjobptholds tokens which are inserted at the start of every job.
jobnamecis the underlying file name for a job.
magpiholds the magnification ratio times 1000.
maxdeadcyclespiis the maximum allowed value of \deadcycles before an error is generated.
monthpiholds the current month of the year (1-12).
timepiholds the current time in minutes after midnight (0-1439).
yearpiholds the current year (e.g., 2000).

top Box Character Debugging File I/O Fonts Glue Hyphenation Inserts Job Kern Logic Macro Marks Math Page Paragraph Penalties Registers Tables (alpha order)

Kern

Type

Description

kerncadds a kern item to the current list.
lastkerniqis 0.0 pt or the last kern on the current list.
lowercshifts a box down and appends it to the current horizontal or math list.
moveleftcshifts a box left and appends it to the current vertical list.
moverightcshifts a box right and appends it to the current vertical list.
raisecshifts a box up and appends it to the current horizontal or math list.
unkerncremoves a kern from the current list.

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Logic

Type

Description

elsecbegins the false part of a conditional.
ficis the concluding command of a conditional.
ifctests if two tokens have the same character codes (i.e., values 0-256).
ifcasecbegins a multi-case conditional.
ifcatctests if two tokens have the same category codes (i.e., values 0-16).
ifdimccompares two dimensions.
ifeofctests for the end of a file.
iffalsecis a conditional which is always false.
ifhboxcis true if a box register contains an \hbox.
ifhmodecis true if TeX is in horizontal or restricted horizontal mode.