[texhax] \newcommand*

[Reinhard Kotucha]

>>>>> "Sorin" == Sorin Marti <mas at semafor.ch> writes:

  > Michael Barr wrote:
  >> While trying to figure out how the toc works, I came on some
  >> macros defined with \newcommand*.  I find nothing about it in the
  >> Latex Companion (1994 version at least).  How does it differ from
  >> \newcommand?
  >> 
  >> _______________________________________________
  >> 
  >> 
  > This causes that this item is not numbered in the toc.  You also
  > can do that, with \section*

The meaning of the star depends on the command which it is attached
to.  The star in \newcommand* has a different meaning than the star in
\section*.  It only provides an alternative form of the particular
command.

As far as \newcommand is concerned, suppose you have someting like
\mycommand{myargument}.  Usually there is no difference whether
\mycommand has been defined by \newcommand or \newcommand*, but if you
forget the closing curly brace, you get an error message (runaway
argument) at the end of the paragraph if \mycommand was defined by
\newcommand*, otherwise the error message will appear at the end of
the file.

Therefore use \newcommand* unless the argument contains more than one
paragraph. 

>>>>> "Lars" == Lars Madsen <daleif at imf.au.dk> writes:

  > the *-ed version saves memory

Yes, but only if your input file is buggy.

Regards,
  Reinhard

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