(eplain.info)Introduction

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1 Introduction
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The "Eplain" macro package expands on and extends the definitions in
plain TeX.  Its home on the web is <http://tug.org/eplain>.

   This manual describes the definitions that you, as either an author
or a macro writer, might like to use.  It doesn't discuss the
implementation; see comments in the source code ('xeplain.tex') for
that.

   Eplain is not intended to provide typesetting capabilities, as does
LaTeX (originally written by Leslie Lamport) and Texinfo (Originally
written by Richard Stallman).  Instead, it provides definitions that are
intended to be useful regardless of the high-level commands that you use
when you actually prepare your manuscript.

   For example, Eplain does not have a command '\section' to format
section headings in an "appropriate" way, such as LaTeX's '\section'.
The philosophy of Eplain is that some people will always need or want to
go beyond the macro designer's idea of "appropriate".  Such canned
macros are fine--as long as you are willing to accept the resulting
output.  If you don't like the results, or if you are trying to match a
different format, you have to put in extra work to override the
defaults.

   On the other hand, almost everyone would like capabilities such as
cross-referencing by labels, so that you don't have to put actual page
numbers in the manuscript.  The author of Eplain is not aware of any
generally available macro packages that (1) do not force their
typographic style on an author, and yet (2) provide such capabilities.

   Besides such generic macros as cross-referencing, Eplain contains
another set of definitions: ones that change the conventions of plain
TeX's output.  For example, math displays in TeX are, by default,
centered.  If you want your displays to come out left-justified, you
have to plow through 'The TeXbook' to find some way to do it, and then
adapt the code to your own needs.  Eplain tries to take care of the
messy details of such things, while still leaving the detailed
appearance of the output up to you.

   Finally, numerous definitions turned out to be useful as Eplain was
developed.  They are also documented in this manual, on the chance that
people writing other macros will be able to use them.

   You can send bug reports or suggestions to <tex-eplain@tug.org>.  The
current version number of Eplain is defined as the macro '\fmtversion'
at the end of the source file 'eplain.tex'.  When corresponding, please
refer to it.

   To get on this mailing list yourself, email
<tex-eplain-request@tug.org> with a message whose body contains a line

     subscribe YOU@YOUR.PREFERRED.ADDRESS

or visit <http://lists.tug.org/tex-eplain>.

   David Walden had reported his experience with Eplain as a new user.
The article is available online at
<http://tug.org/pracjourn/2005-4/walden>.  An introductory article
(written for TUGboat) is also available online at
<http://tug.org/eplain/misc/tb84katsi.pdf>.