Publications by topic: The LaTeX3 Programming Language (expl3)

The dashundergaps package

• Frank Mittelbach
• TUGboat 39:3, 2018
• Abstract

  The dashundergaps package offers the possibility to replace material in running text with white space in order to build up forms that can be filled in at a later time.

  By default the gaps are underlined and followed by a gap number in parentheses, but many other designs are possible, e.g., dashes or dots instead of the underline, no gap numbers or a different format for them, gap widening for easier fill-in, etc. There is also a teacher’s mode which shows the normally hidden text in a special (customizable) format.

  This is another article in a series of TUGboat articles describing small packages to introduce coding practices using the expl3 programming language. See The widows-and-orphans package for the first article in the series. For more details on expl3 refer to the expl3 topic page.

The widows-and-orphans package

• Frank Mittelbach
• TUGboat 39:3, 2018
• Abstract

  The widows-and-orphans package checks page or column breaks for issues with widow or orphan lines and issues warnings if such problems are detected. In addition, it checks and complains about breaks involving hyphenated words and warns about display formulas directly after a page break —– if they are allowed by the document parameter settings, which by default isn’t the case.

  A general discussion of the problem of widows and orphans and suggestions for resolution is given in Managing forlorn paragraph lines (a.k.a. widows and orphans) in LaTeX.

Supporting color and graphics in expl3

• Joseph Wright
• Paper published in TUGboat 39:2, 2018
• Abstract:

The expl3 language has grown over the past decade to cover a wide range of programming tasks. However, at present there are a number of areas where expl3 offers little or no ‘core’ support and which will need functionality at this level. Here, I’ll be focussing on one in particular: color and graphics support.

See also video of the conference talk recorded by IMPA on YouTube: Through the looking glass, and what Joseph found there

From the TUG Conference 2018 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Through the looking glass, and what Joseph found there (slides)

• Joseph Wright
• TUG Conference 2018 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
• Abstract:

The LaTeX3 programming language, expl3, has grown over the past decade to form a strong and stable environment for solving problems in TeX. A key aim is to grow this work to cover a wider range of areas. In recent work, the team have been building on the existing code, and in particular the expandable FPU, to develop approaches to color, drawing and image support. In this talk, I will look at why this work is useful, what models we can work from and where the work has taken us so far.

Conference paper published in TUGboat 39:2, 2018: Supporting color and graphics in expl3

Video of the talk recorded by IMPA on YouTube: Through the looking glass, and what Joseph found there

TeX.StackExchange cherry picking: expl3

• Enrico Gregorio
• Paper published in TUGboat 39:1, 2018

In this article Gregorio presents some examples of macros built with expl3 in answer to users’ problems presented on tex.stackexchange.com to give a flavor of the language and describe its possibilities. Topics include list printing, string manipulation, macro creation, and graphics.

Exploring \romannumeral and expansion

• Joseph Wright
• Published paper, TUGboat, Volume 37 (2016), No. 1

An article by Joseph Wright on a clever use of \romannumeral to trigger controlled expansion. This is used extensively in the expl3 sources.

From the TUG Conference 2015 (Darmstadt, Germany)

Recollections of a spurious space catcher

• Enrico Gregorio

• Published paper, TUGboat, Volume 36 (2015), No. 2

• TUG Conference 2015 (Darmstadt, Germany)
• Video of the talk: Recollections of a spurious space catcher (via River Valley TV)

Programming key-value in expl3

• Joseph Wright
• Published paper, TUGboat, Volume 31 (2010), No. 1

In this paper Joseph Wright discusses the key-value implementation that is provided as part of the LaTeX3 programming language expl3.

From the TUG Conference 2009 (Notre Dame, Indiana, USA)

Consolidation of expl3 (slides)

• Morten Høgholm
• TUG Conference 2009 (Notre Dame, Indiana, USA)
• Video of the talk: Consolidation of expl3 (via River Valley TV)
• A code example: boolexpr code example (pdf, see page 14 of the slides for context)

LaTeX3 programming: External perspectives

• Joseph Wright
• Published paper, TUGboat, Volume 30 (2009), No. 1

An introduction by Joseph Wright on the current implementation of the expl3 programming extensions for LaTeX3, highlighting recent changes and improvements.

From the TUG Conference 2007 (San Diego, USA)

LaTeX3 project update

• Morten Høgholm
• TUG Conference 2007 (San Diego, USA)
• Video of the talk: LaTeX3 project update (via River Valley TV)

The LaTeX3 Programming Language—A syntax proposal for TeX macro programming

• David Carlisle, Chris Rowley and Frank Mittelbach
• Published paper, 1997
• Keywords: general research, proposed model for LaTeX programming

An article giving a brief overview of the first release of expl3: a proposed LaTeX3 programming language. The article appeared in TUGboat volume 18, number 4. These days expl3 is part of the LaTeX format named “L3 programming layer”.