This is pdfeTeXk, Version 3.141592-1.30.0-rc2-2.2 (Web2C 7.5.4) (INITEX) 22 JUL 2005 00:22 \write18 enabled. %&-line parsing enabled. **z.tex (./z.tex ! Undefined control sequence. l.3 \edef\z{\the\eTeXversion } Clues? Sorry, for the moment I can't try on rc3.

It seemes that } is forbidden after \the in the case of \edef: pdfetex --ini '*z.tex' This is pdfeTeX, Version 3.141592-1.30.0-rc3-2.2 (Web2C 7.5.5) (INITEX) (./z.tex ! Undefined control sequence. l.3 \edef\z{\the\eTeXversion } ? ! You can't use `end-group character }' after \the. l.3 \edef\z{\the\eTeXversion} -- Akira Kakuto