Subject: Re: bug#44799: 28.0.50; Calc: Meter not printed as \text in latex output

From: Mattias Engdegård <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2020 14:52:25 +0100

23 nov. 2020 kl. 13.16 skrev Michael Heerdegen <[email-masked]>:

> Would it be possible to make output syntax depend on how the symbol is
> actually interpreted by Calc in the given context?

Not sure if that is even possible. For example, adding 2 m and 3 m gives 5 m, and Calc doesn't care whether m is a variable or unit here.

>>> BTW, do you know (Bug#30231) why allowed characters in units are
>>> restricted?
>> 
>> No idea, but isn't it just the restriction of variable symbols in
>> general?
> 
> You mean, in Calc?  Then I wonder why we have that restriction.

Again, it's probably a matter of history. Calc is old and may even predate full Unicode support in Emacs.

Latin and Greek letters suffice for the vast majority of units; the only major exceptions I can think of are Å and ° (for the angle and °C). Same goes for variables, although diacritics could be useful. Then there are currencies, but as mentioned, $ has special meaning and cannot be used.