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\varnothing vs. \emptyset

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filox

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Nov 21, 2006, 3:04:35 PM11/21/06
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which of the two is the "right" way to write an empty set (\varnothing or
\emptyset)? what are your arguments for your choice?

--
You're never too young to have a Vietnam flashback


Heiko Oberdiek

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Nov 21, 2006, 3:17:23 PM11/21/06
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"filox" <filox_rea...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> which of the two is the "right" way to write an empty set (\varnothing or
> \emptyset)? what are your arguments for your choice?

It's a matter of taste.

Yours sincerely
Heiko <ober...@uni-freiburg.de>

Karl Ove Hufthammer

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Nov 22, 2006, 5:34:06 PM11/22/06
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filox skreiv:

> which of the two is the "right" way to write an empty set (\varnothing or
> \emptyset)? what are your arguments for your choice?

Well, \emptyset is *extremely* ugly in many fonts, so I would go for
\varnothing. On the other hand, \varnothing is not defined for all fonts,
so \emptyset is a 'safer' choice.

--
Karl Ove Hufthammer
E-post/Jabber: ka...@huftis.org

Rasmus Villemoes

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Nov 23, 2006, 4:15:26 AM11/23/06
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Karl Ove Hufthammer <ka...@huftis.org> writes:

> filox skreiv:
>
>> which of the two is the "right" way to write an empty set (\varnothing or
>> \emptyset)? what are your arguments for your choice?
>
> Well, \emptyset is *extremely* ugly in many fonts, so I would go for
> \varnothing. On the other hand, \varnothing is not defined for all fonts,
> so \emptyset is a 'safer' choice.

Would something like

\let\OLDemptyset\emptyset
\ifundefined{\varnothing}
\def\emptyset{\OLDemptyset}
\else
\def\emptyset{\varnothing}
\fi

solve this problem?

--
Rasmus Villemoes
<http://home.imf.au.dk/burner/>

Heiko Oberdiek

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Nov 23, 2006, 5:10:22 AM11/23/06
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Rasmus Villemoes <burner...@imf.au.dk> wrote:

> \let\OLDemptyset\emptyset
> \ifundefined{\varnothing}
> \def\emptyset{\OLDemptyset}
> \else
> \def\emptyset{\varnothing}
> \fi

\makeatletter
\newcommand*{\OLDemtpyset}{}% check
\let\OLDemptyset\emptyset
\@ifundefined{varnothing}{%
% nothing to do
}{%
\renewcommand*{\emptyset}{\varnothing}%
}
\makeatother

or without side effect of \@ifundefined to define
an undefined \varnothing with meaning \relax:

\newcommand*{\OLDemptyset}{}
\let\OLDemptyset\emptyset
\begingroup\expandafter\expandafter\expandafter\endgroup
\expandafter\ifx\csname varnothing\endcsname\relax
\else
\let\emptyset\varnothing
\fi

Yours sincerely
Heiko <ober...@uni-freiburg.de>

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