On 22/03/2021 15:58, Don Hosek wrote: > fontdef.dtx defines the various series, family and style defaults using \newcommand, e.g. > > \newcommand\itdefault{it} > \newcommand\sldefault{sl} > \newcommand\scdefault{sc} > \newcommand\updefault{up} > > This gives defines them as \long However, the commands \fontfamily, \fontseries and \fontshape define \f@family, \f@series and \f@shape using \edef which maked the resulting values not \long > > This means that code that would do something like, e.g., \ifx\f@shape\itdefaultā¦\fi will not work as expected. > > The simplest fix would be to use the starred form of \newcommand for setting the various \XXdefault values. I would imagine that this should not break anything > > -dh > They have been like this *for ever*: it's a feature I would say. Joseph