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Invoking Macros

After a macro is defined (see the previous section), you can use (invoke) it in your document like this:

@macroname {arg1, arg2, ...}

and the result will be just as if you typed the body of macroname at that spot. For example:

@macro foo {p, q}
Together: \p\ & \q\.
@end macro
@foo{a, b}

produces:

Together: a & b.

Thus, the arguments and parameters are separated by commas and delimited by braces; any whitespace after (but not before) a comma is ignored. The braces are required in the invocation (but not the definition), even when the macro takes no arguments, consistent with all other Texinfo commands. For example:

@macro argless {}
No arguments here.
@end macro
@argless{}

produces:

No arguments here.

To insert a comma, brace, or backslash in an argument, prepend a backslash, as in

@macname {\\\{\}\,}

which will pass the (almost certainly error-producing) argument `\{},' to macname.

If the macro is defined to take a single argument, and is invoked without any braces, the entire rest of the line after the macro name is supplied as the argument. For example:

@macro bar {p}
Twice: \p\ & \p\.
@end macro
@bar aah

produces:

Twice: aah & aah.

If the macro is defined to take a single argument, and is invoked with braces, the braced text is passed as the argument, regardless of commas. For example:

@macro bar {p}
Twice: \p\ & \p\.
@end macro
@bar{a,b}

produces:

Twice: a,b & a,b.


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