[Tex/LaTex] How to build a macro that return the absolute value of an argument of another macro

macros

How can I build a macro that return the absolute value of an argument of another macro? I would like that the \abs macro return the absolute value of the its argument.

\RequirePackage{tikz}
\newcommand{\abs}[1]{<implementation>}
\newcommand{\command}[2]{\raisebox{\numexpr\abs{#1}*#1\relax\baselineskip}[0pt][0pt]{}{}}

So whether I use a positive or negative number as argument, the expression \abs{#1} will always be positive.

Best Answer

--1 is legal in \numexpr, equivalent to 1. So

\newcommand{\absval}[1]{\ifnum#1<0 -\fi#1}

is what you're looking for. Then

\newcommand{\command}[2]{%
  \raisebox{\numexpr\absval{#1}\relax\baselineskip}[0pt][0pt]{}{}}

will do.

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] How to use one argument as the default value for another

You can't accomplish this with one \newcommand. There you can define one optional parameter, and it has to be the first one. There is the twoopt package that defines \newcommandtwoopt for two optional parameters, but I don't think it can handle what you want to achieve. I first thought you would need to use TeX's \def, but here's a solution that's completely free of any \defs and @s:

\documentclass[12pt]{report}
\newcommand\storefirst{}
\newcommand\storesecond{}
\newcommand\codefrom[1]{\renewcommand\storefirst{#1}\codefromi}
\newcommand\codefromi[1][\storefirst]{\renewcommand\storesecond{#1}\codefromii}
\newcommand\codefromii[1][Matlab]{\storefirst, \storesecond, #1}
\begin{document}
\codefrom{first}\par
\codefrom{first}[second]\par
\codefrom{first}[second][third]
\end{document}

Best Answer

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[Tex/LaTex] How to use one argument as the default value for another

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