General ⇒ executing commands by string

[foobar]

That is my code:

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\def\Name{Patrick}

I now want to execute the command "Name" not by writing \Name, but by using a function such like:

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\execute{Name}

Does anyone know such a function in (La)TeX?

I know I could just use any Scripting Language.
I know I could just write a backslash and the command name to a file and read it back in.
But I want a clean solution using just (La)TeX.

Can anybody help me?

[frabjous]

You could use the ifthen package as so:

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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{ifthen}

\newcommand{\execute}[1]{%
\ifthenelse{\equal{#1}{Name}}{%
      Do this for ``Name''
}{%
      Do this for other executions.
}}
\begin{document}

\execute{Name}

\execute{Somethingelse}

\end{document}

See the documentation for more info.

I really don't see the point, though.

[josephwright]

Isn't this just

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\csname Name\endcsname

which is wrapped up by the LaTeX kernel as a macro, which could be given a user space name

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\newcommand*\csuse[1]{\csname#1\endcsname}

(This function is provided by the etoolbox package, by the way.)

[foobar]

I was looking for the second solution.

Thanks Joseph!