When you define a macro using {define}, special processing takes place. In {define}, all sequences of spaces, tabs and newlines in the template, as well as all "non-spaces" between words are turned into a single \| character. If the template ends with a parameter, the \& character is added at the end.

If you want to match a real tab or newline, you can use \t or \n, respectively. For example, a macro that reads an entire line and uses it as the name of an employee is defined with:

This macro can be used by typing:

to get all information about everyone with a name that included "Stan." You can nest the ret macro inside the get macro as long as ret is previously defined.