🚀 go-pugleaf

asnd@reg.triumf.ca (Donald Arseneau) writes:

>In article <repasky.715398745@sun.bdc.ubc.ca>, repasky@bdc.ubc.ca (Dick Repasky) writes...
>>I would like to write a macro that reserves registers and assigns them 
>>names using pararmeters passed to the macro. For example, a call such
>>as \doit{zork} would be expanded so that the result was \newinsert\bigzork.
>>I've made the following attempt:
>> 
>>    \def\doit#1{\expandafter\newinsert\csname big#1\endcsname}
>> 
>>and I receive the error that \newinsert is a forbidden command sequence in
>>a macro definition.  Does anyone have advice?

>The problem is that \newinsert etc are defined "\outer".  There are two 
>solutions:
The reason that the \new-commands are outer is that they are only needed
for global variables. If you do it locally (inside a new group) you can
use ANY numeric register (save those used by the output routine) and assign
any values to them, since they will be restored on end of the group.