Bug#264394: tetex-bin: e-TeX is broken on registers > 255

[Hilmar Preusse <hille42@web.de>]

On 08.08.04 Benjamin BAYART (bayartb@edgard.fdn.fr) wrote:

Hi,

> On a document of mine, too complex to be sent as a minimal example,
> e-TeX seems broken with registers after 255. The following input:
> 
minimal exmaple (just took your one and reduced it):

\documentclass{minimal}
\begin{document}
\makeatletter
\dimendef\z@=263\relax
\z@=0pt\relax
\show\z@
\end{document}

root@drachi:~# latex etex1.tex
This is e-TeX, Version 3.14159-2.1 (Web2C 7.4.5)
entering extended mode
(./etex1.tex
LaTeX2e <2001/06/01>
Babel <v3.7h> and hyphenation patterns for american, french, german, ngerman, russian, nohyphenation, loaded.
(/usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/base/minimal.cls
Document Class: minimal 2001/05/25 Standard LaTeX minimal class
) (./etex1.aux)
> \z@=\dimen263.
l.7 \show\z@

?

same bug with Knuth TeX. So why do you think this is an e-TeX
problem?

> My guess is that one of the "magical stuff" done to \z@ by amsmath
> (and seems to be by other packages, and perhaps even by the LaTeX
> kernel itself) makes e-TeX wrong.
> 
> Of course, the same example just runs fine in lambda (omega)
> which also allows registers >255 (but have other bugs elsewhere).
> 
Hmm: same code as above.

root@drachi:~# lambda etex1.tex
This is Omega, Version 3.14159--1.23.2.1 (Web2C 7.4.5)
Copyright (c) 1994--2000 John Plaice and Yannis Haralambous
(etex1.tex
LaTeX2e <2001/06/01> patch level 1
Babel <v3.7h> and hyphenation patterns for english, spanish, russian, greek, inuit, dumylang, nohyphenation, loaded.
(/usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/base/minimal.cls
Document Class: minimal 2001/05/25 Standard LaTeX minimal class
) (etex1.aux)
> \z@=\dimen263.
l.7 \show\z@

?

unfortunately I don't understand so much about (La)TeX internal
registers and their limitations...

H. 
-- 
sigmentation fault