Guide to LaTeX (4th Edition) (Tools and Techniques

460 Appendix D. L AT E X Programming
\partname {Part}
\appendixname {Appendix}
(defined in book and report classes)
\chaptername {Chapter}
\bibname {Bibliography}
(defined in article class)
\abstractname {Abstract}
\refname {References}
(defined in letter class)
\ccname {cc}
\enclname {encl}
\pagename {Page}
\headtoname {To}
(defined in makeidx package)
\seename {see}
\alsoname {see also}
(defined only in certain packages)
\prefacename {Preface}
\glossaryname {Glossary}
\proofname {Proof}
The redefinition of these name commands is a fundamental part of
the multilingual babel system (Chapter 11). The commands are not redefined
directly but rather by means of certain \captionslanguage such
as \captionsgerman and \captionsenglish that allow for convenient
switching back and forth between different languages. For example,
D.4.2 The date
\newcommand*{\captionsgerman}{%
\renewcommand*{\contentsname}{Inhaltsverzeichnis}
...
\renewcommand*{alsoname}{siehe auch}}
The \today command for the current date is another one that outputs
explicit English words. Its standard definition conforms to the American
style of giving dates, that is ‘January 15, 2004’. If one wants to redefine
this, either for the British style (15th January 2004), or for another language
altogether, the best method is to follow the example of the other
names commands: do not redefine \today directly, but create commands
that allow one to switch back and forth.
For example, we can define \dateUSenglish and \dateenglish making
use of the internal T E X counters \year, \month, \day and the T E X