Hans Aberg wrote: > The whole problem is more complicated, because it is not only a question > of expansion, but also when things should be expanded: Sometimes > immediately, sometimes later. The correct way around this would be to > define a stricter input syntax which separates the elements authoring > semantics, typesetting style elements and typesetting fine-tuning, but This is basically what I was thinking of. I couln't find an argument for needing more than 2 tiers in the expansion process, but what I was describing is certainly generalizable. So precisely why do you think one needs to distinguish "authoring semantics", "typesetting style" and "fine-tuning"? > there is no way to enforce such a syntax in TeX. This is clear. Question: how difficult would it be to extend TeX to allow for dual/multiple tier expansion? What are the draw-backs? Marcel