Hi, \def\tsvar#key#default% undocumented and unofficial {\expandafter\ifx\csname\??ts#key\endcsname\empty \csname\??ts#key\endcsname \else #default% \fi} has to be (#default in the empty branch) \def\tsvar#key#default% undocumented and unofficial {\expandafter\ifx\csname\??ts#key\endcsname\empty #default% \else \csname\??ts#key\endcsname \fi} Wolfgang