glossaries package FAQ

Why doesn’t the new glossaries package create command names for the acronyms like the old glossary package? 🔗

There are a number of reasons:

The new way of accessing terms using commands like \gls is more compatible with standard LaTeX syntax.
Each term would require a command for the single as well as plural term, as well as commands to generate the upper case versions. For a large glossary that can amount to a lot of extra commands.
Provision would also be needed to allow for the optional arguments, which is awkward as commands such as \gls have 2 optional arguments, one before and one after the mandatory argument. Without the mandatory argument, you would need to use an empty optional first argument if you want to use the second argument, which is a nuisance.
You need to explicitly add a space after a command name that doesn’t have a mandatory argument. (Don’t rely on xspace, there are issues with that package that have led David Carlisle, the package author, to deprecate its use.)

If you really want to, as from v1.18, you can use \oldacronym which emulates the old glossary package’s syntax, but be aware of the drawbacks. See the section Upgrading From the glossaries Package in the glossaries documentation.

2020-07-01 14:29:53

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Category: glossaries package
Topic: Upgrading from the glossary package