[comp.text.tex] Can Latex Float Answers to End of Document?

miller@cogsci.ucsd.EDU (Jeff Miller) (01/18/91)

Hello Texperts.  I would like to make up a problem set with answers.
Ideally, the answers should be next to the problems in the file,
but should all print together at the end of the document.

What I have in mind is a file like this:

\problem{What is the capital of the US?}
\answer{Washington, D. C.}
\problem{What is 2+2?}
\answer{4}

that prints out like this:

Problems:
What is the capital of the US?
What is 2+2?
Answers:
Washington, D. C.
4.

Is this possible? Should I just write a little program to preprocess
the file before I give it to Latex (seems crude, but easy).
Thanks for any pointers you can give me.

Jeff Miller
Psychology, UCSD
jomiller@ucsd.edu

eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Victor Eijkhout) (01/18/91)

miller@cogsci.ucsd.EDU (Jeff Miller) writes:

>\problem{What is the capital of the US?}
>\answer{Washington, D. C.}
>\problem{What is 2+2?}
>\answer{4}

insert \printanswers here

>that prints out like this:

>Problems:
>What is the capital of the US?
>What is 2+2?
>Answers:
>Washington, D. C.
>4.

\newbox\answerscollect 
\setbox\answerscollect{\vbox{Answers:\par}
\def\answer#1\par
   {\setbox\answerscollect=
    \vbox{\unvbox\answerscollect
          #1\par}}
\def\printanswers{\unvbox\answerscollect}

Add some bells and whistles.

Victor.

hudson@ug.cs.dal.ca (Bruce Hudson) (01/18/91)

In article <1991Jan18.002152.5212@csrd.uiuc.edu> eijkhout@s41.csrd.uiuc.edu (Victor Eijkhout) writes:
>
>\newbox\answerscollect 
>\setbox\answerscollect{\vbox{Answers:\par}
>\def\answer#1\par
>   {\setbox\answerscollect=
>    \vbox{\unvbox\answerscollect
>          #1\par}}
>\def\printanswers{\unvbox\answerscollect}
>

    I have a somewhat related question. When I needed something like this,
this is pretty-much the solution I came up with. But I was collecting a
series of tables so I checked to see if the next table would fit and added
a pagebreak if it would not, with "\vfill\eject". For some reason, the
vertical fill was being lost so that I would get an underfull vbox during
output for each page of tables (except the last). 

    Can someone tell me how to avoid these error messages? Thanks.


-- 
Bruce A. Hudson			| HUDSON@AC.DAL.CA
UCIS, Facilities and Operations	| HUDSON@DALAC	(Bitnet)
Dalhousie University		| HUDSON@DALCS	(UUCP)
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adrian@mti.mti.com (Adrian McCarthy) (01/19/91)

In article <252@cogsci.ucsd.EDU> miller@cogsci.ucsd.EDU (Jeff Miller) writes:
>Hello Texperts.  I would like to make up a problem set with answers.
>Ideally, the answers should be next to the problems in the file,
>but should all print together at the end of the document.

Knuth did just that in the TeXbook.  It's all explained in Appendix E:
Example Formats, p. 422.  The basic idea is to have all of your answers
written out to a file, then at the appropriate place near the end, you
close the file and \input it into the document.

Aid.  (adrian@gonzo.mti.com)