If I understand it correctly, you may need something like this...? % Protection is key \protected\def\inner[#1]{\empty} % \outer is (or was) already defined in \CONTEXT % Please use another name \def\Outer{\inner[123] and \inner[some text] etc.} \startluacode local implement = interfaces.implement local argument = tokens.scanners.argument local function parseinner() local r = {} local str = argument() str = str:gsub("\\inner%s*(%b[])",function(s)r[#r+1] = s:sub(2,#s-1)end) context(table.concat(r," ")) -- Change " " by another spacer if needed end implement{name = "parseinner", public = true, actions = parseinner} \stopluacode \starttext \parseinner{\Outer} \stoptext However, this will only work with very simple cases (no nesting, etc.). Hope this helps. Best regards, Jairo El mar, 16 de nov. de 2021 a la(s) 14:22, Joey McCollum via ntg-context ( ntg-context@ntg.nl) escribió:

As the subject of this question suggests, this is really more of a question about expansion control (a topic that is still a bit obscure to me). Suppose I have a macro \inner that expects a single argument or an assignment of parameters in brackets. For my purposes, I don't want this macro to do anything when it is typeset, so I'll just define it as empty:

``` \def\inner[#1]\empty ```

Now suppose I have another macro \outer that invokes this macro with some specific input and sets some plain text after it:

``` \def\outer{\inner[123] etc.} ```

What I'd like to do is parse the argument of \inner in \outer. I was hoping that a string search in Lua would work, but I'm not having any luck. A minimal (non)-working example is included below:

```

\def\inner[#1]\empty

\def\outer{\inner[123] etc.}

\startluacode

local userdata = userdata or {}

function userdata.parseinner(str)

local innerparams = ""

if string.find(str, "\\inner(%b[])") then

i, j = string.find(str, "\\inner(%b[])")

innerparams = string.sub(str, i+1, j-1) -- we just want the content inside the brackets

end

context(innerparams)

return

end

\stopluacode

\def\parseinner#1{\ctxlua{userdata.parseinner([==[#1]==])}}

\starttext

Testing:\blank

\parseinner{\outer}

\stoptext ```

My problem is that when I pass \outer to the \parseinner macro, it gets fully expanded, so there isn't anything left to match "\\inner%b[]". Is there a way to expand \outer when I pass it to the \parseinner macro without also expanding the \inner macro inside it? Or is there some other preferred way of doing this?

Joey

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On 11/16/2021 8:22 PM, Joey McCollum via ntg-context wrote:

As the subject of this question suggests, this is really more of a question about expansion control (a topic that is still a bit obscure to me). Suppose I have a macro \inner that expects a single argument or an assignment of parameters in brackets. For my purposes, I don't want this macro to do anything when it is typeset, so I'll just define it as empty:

``` \def\inner[#1]\empty ```

Now suppose I have another macro \outer that invokes this macro with some specific input and sets some plain text after it:

``` \def\outer{\inner[123] etc.} ```

What I'd like to do is parse the argument of \inner in \outer. I was hoping that a string search in Lua would work, but I'm not having any luck. A minimal (non)-working example is included below:

```

\def\inner[#1]\empty

\def\outer{\inner[123] etc.}

\startluacode

local userdata = userdata or {}

function userdata.parseinner(str)

local innerparams = ""

    if string.find(str, "\\inner(%b[])") then

      i, j = string.find(str, "\\inner(%b[])")

      innerparams = string.sub(str, i+1, j-1) -- we just want the content inside the brackets

    end

    context(innerparams)

    return

end

\stopluacode

\def\parseinner#1{\ctxlua{userdata.parseinner([==[#1]==])}}

\starttext

Testing:\blank

\parseinner{\outer}

\stoptext

```

My problem is that when I pass \outer to the \parseinner macro, it gets fully expanded, so there isn't anything left to match "\\inner%b[]". Is there a way to expand \outer when I pass it to the \parseinner macro without also expanding the \inner macro inside it? Or is there some other preferred way of doing this?

One can always abuse native tex: \starttext \def\MyOuter#1% {\beginlocalcontrol % hides the next \let\Indeed\empty \def\MyInner[##1]{\gdef\Indeed{##1}}% \setbox\scratchbox\hpack{#1}% \endlocalcontrol % but only if needed \Indeed} whatever: \MyOuter{\MyInner[oeps]}% \edef\ItWorks{\MyOuter{\MyInner[oeps]}} whatever: \meaningless\ItWorks \stoptext -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands tel: 038 477 53 69 | www.pragma-ade.nl | www.pragma-pod.nl -----------------------------------------------------------------