> Since TeX is "8 bits", the tex file must have characters encoded in > 8 bits, with the not control positions of the first half being, after > perhaps mapping defined at compile time (can be remapped at user level > but with apparently "strange" macro commands), conforming to ASCII--- > used as litterals but also for the primitives.
Is it possible to change the representation of a character from an 8 bits char to, say, a 32 bits integer? If those integers are still mapped to the existing 8 bits font metrics, wouldn't the basic engine be kept the same? This probably means extending the syntax of a few control sequences denoting characters, though. Best, Maurício
