Thanks, David. With the code you suggested, running with tex produces
==================================
C:\DOCUME~1\Don\MYDOCU~1\PMX\musixtex115>tex bigjunq
This is TeX, Version 3.141592 (MiKTeX 2.6)
(bigjunq.tex (musixtex.tex
MusiXTeX(c) T.115-beta2 <24 June 2010>
maxinstruments=6 max128beams=6 maxgroups=3 maxslurs=6 maxtrills=6
maxoctlines=6)
("C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\MiKTeX\2.6\tex\generic\p
mx\pmx.tex"
PMX, a Preprocessor for MusiXTeX, Version 2.502a <29 March 04>
)
! Sources compiled with PMX require e-TeX.
\body ...{Sources compiled with PMX require e-TeX}
\iftrue
\iterate ->\body
\let \next \iterate \else \let \next \relax \fi \next
l.13 \repeat
?
==================================
which I'm afraid is pretty ugly. If I leave out the loop and the repeat, I
get
==================================
C:\DOCUME~1\Don\MYDOCU~1\PMX\musixtex115>tex bigjunq
This is TeX, Version 3.141592 (MiKTeX 2.6)
(bigjunq.tex (musixtex.tex
MusiXTeX(c) T.115-beta2 <24 June 2010>
maxinstruments=6 max128beams=6 maxgroups=3 maxslurs=6 maxtrills=6
maxoctlines=6)
("C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\MiKTeX\2.6\tex\generic\p
mx\pmx.tex"
PMX, a Preprocessor for MusiXTeX, Version 2.502a <29 March 04>
)
! Sources compiled with PMX require e-TeX.
l.11 ...e{Sources compiled with PMX require e-TeX}
?
==================================
which is much closer to what I'd prefer, but still not quite it. It's
probably good that it pauses, so if running from a batch script the operator
would know the error had occurred. But can I (1) just have the message
printed once, and (2) precede the message with a blank line?
--Don
>-----Original Message-----
>From: [email protected]
>[mailto:[email protected]]
>On Behalf Of David Allsopp
>Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 11:34 PM
>To: Werner Icking Music Archive
>Subject: Re: [TeX-Music] PMX upgrade philosophy
>
>Don Simons wrote:
>> There have been some interesting suggestions and in my last posting I
>even got
>> sucked a bit into "gee whiz yeah we can do that" mode. But I still
>haven't seen
>> any convincing arguments about why the next version of PMX shouldn't
>REQUIRE
>> eTeX and the expanded MusiXTeX. (Cornelius stated that "installing the
>new
>> MusiXTeX involves some work", and that's true if simply replacing 5
>files counts
>> as work). I think what it really comes down to is whether there are
>any users
>> with computers that are too small to handle the increased capacity. I
>can't
>> imagine there are, but if you're out there, please speak up, and if
>there are
>> any other good reasons for continuing to play "small ball" I'd really
>like to hear them.
>
>The LaTeX team (or perhaps it's the LaTeX3 team, I can't remember)
>changed the requirement for the default TeX engine to be e-TeX a few
>years ago (at that point the idea was that the kernel would continue to
>use vanilla TeX only but that the requirement for e-TeX would assist
>package authors). I agree that it seems perfectly reasonable to assume
>that anyone who wants to stay up-to-date with TeX is now using a distro
>that has e-TeX - I hope anyone still using a machine on a regular basis
>that can't run e-TeX has a soldering iron and a good supply of spare
>diodes and capacitors 'cos those machines' motherboards aren't gonna
>work for much longer! At least 286/386/486 machines are slow enough that
>silicon drift in the CPU isn't an issue :o)
>
>However, regardless of whether you include eTeX or not, you must have
>code to detect its presence and display a clean error message because in
>all distributions there is a difference between running tex and etex
>even though there is no difference between running pdftex and pdfetex:
>
>\ifx\undefined\eTeXversion
> \errhelp={Consult your Local Guide for details on using e-TeX}
> \loop
> \errmessage{Sources compiled with PMX require e-TeX}
> \iftrue
> \repeat
>\fi
>
>The inclusion of the \loop depends on whether you want the user to be
>able to press enter to ignore the error (and presumably just be stopped
>by another error further down the input file)
>
>
>David
>
>_______________________________________________
>[email protected] mailing list
>If you want to unsubscribe or look at the archives, go to
>http://mailman.nfit.au.dk/mailman/listinfo/icking-music-archive.org-tex-
>music
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