(eplain.info)Setting group options

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5.5.3 Setting group options
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Option values for each group are stored as a list of option assignments.
This list does not have to contain every supported option. Values for
options missing from this list are taken from the default option values.

   To manipulate the list of option values for the groups, you use the
'\hlopts' and '\hldestopts' commands with an optional argument:

     \hlopts[GROUPS]{OPTIONS}
     \hldestopts[GROUPS]{OPTIONS}
     \hlopts![GROUPS]{OPTIONS}
     \hldestopts![GROUPS]{OPTIONS}

where GROUPS is a comma-separated list of groups and OPTIONS is a
comma-separated list of option assignments. The two special "groups",
the empty group and the star ('*') group, have the same meaning as for
'\hltype' and '\hldesttype'. When used without the exclamation mark,
'\hlopts' and '\hldestopts' preserve the current list of options for the
groups, and only update the options listed in OPTIONS. If you add the
exclamation mark, the current list of options for each group in GROUPS
is discarded and the new list is set to OPTIONS.

   The "overriding" nature of the '!' is appropriate when you give a
complete specification of the options for a group, e.g., at the
beginning of your document. On the other hand, when you want to adjust
some option(s) and leave others intact, you should use the macros
without the '!'.

   For example, with displayed mathematical formulas, you often need to
adjust the 'raise' option for the 'eq' destgroup, because the formulas
often contain large parentheses and brackets. But when doing so, you
want to leave the other settings unchanged. To achieve this, call
'\hldestopts' without the '!', for example:

     $$\hldestopts[eq]{raise=2.5\normalbaselineskip}
     ...
     $$

The display commands ('$$') implicitly put the entire formula inside a
(TeX) group ('\begingroup...\endgroup'), so you do not need to isolate
the setting of the 'raise' option--it will be restored after the closing
'$$'.

   Initially, Eplain sets the option lists for almost all groups to
empty, so that the groups fall back on the default values for all
options. The one exception to this rule is the 'eq' destgroup, whose
initial option list contains one setting:

     raise=1.7\normalbaselineskip

This setting usually accommodates the large operators, which often
appear in displayed math.