File indexing completed on 2024-11-24 04:34:43
0001 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> 0002 <html> 0003 <!-- This document is an unofficial reference manual for LaTeX, a 0004 document preparation system, version of November 2018. 0005 0006 This manual was originally translated from LATEX.HLP v1.0a in the 0007 VMS Help Library. The pre-translation version was written by 0008 George D. Greenwade of Sam Houston State University. The 0009 LaTeX 2.09 version was written by Stephen Gilmore. The 0010 LaTeX2e version was adapted from this by Torsten Martinsen. Karl 0011 Berry made further updates and additions, and gratefully acknowledges 0012 using Hypertext Help with LaTeX, by Sheldon Green, and 0013 LaTeX Command Summary (for LaTeX 2.09) by 0014 L. Botway and C. Biemesderfer (published by the TeX Users 0015 Group as TeXniques number 10), as reference material. We also 0016 gratefully acknowledge additional material appearing in 0017 latex2e-reference by Martin Herbert Dietze. (From these references no 0018 text was directly copied.) 0019 0020 Copyright 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 0021 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Karl Berry. 0022 0023 Copyright 1988, 1994, 2007 Stephen Gilmore. 0024 0025 Copyright 1994, 1995, 1996 Torsten Martinsen. 0026 0027 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of 0028 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice 0029 are preserved on all copies. 0030 0031 0032 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this 0033 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the entire 0034 resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission 0035 notice identical to this one. 0036 0037 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual 0038 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions. --> 0039 <!-- Created by GNU Texinfo 6.5, http://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/ --> 0040 <head> 0041 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> 0042 <title>\mbox & \makebox (LaTeX2e unofficial reference manual (November 2018))</title> 0043 0044 <meta name="description" content="\mbox & \makebox (LaTeX2e unofficial reference manual (November 2018))"> 0045 <meta name="keywords" content="\mbox & \makebox (LaTeX2e unofficial reference manual (November 2018))"> 0046 <meta name="resource-type" content="document"> 0047 <meta name="distribution" content="global"> 0048 <meta name="Generator" content="makeinfo"> 0049 <link href="index.html#Top" rel="start" title="Top"> 0050 <link href="IndexDocument.html#Index" rel="index" title="Index"> 0051 <link href="index.html#SEC_Contents" rel="contents" title="Table of Contents"> 0052 <link href="Boxes.html#Boxes" rel="up" title="Boxes"> 0053 <link href="_005cfbox-_0026-_005cframebox.html#g_t_005cfbox-_0026-_005cframebox" rel="next" title="\fbox & \framebox"> 0054 <link href="Boxes.html#Boxes" rel="prev" title="Boxes"> 0055 <style type="text/css"> 0056 <!-- 0057 /* $Id: latex2e.css 690 2018-09-15 15:20:19Z jimhefferon $ 0058 Minor css for latexrefman. Public domain. 0059 Originally written by Jim Hefferon and Karl Berry, 2018. */ 0060 0061 /* So you can style for yourself */ 0062 @import url("/css/latexreflocal.css"); 0063 0064 0065 0066 a.summary-letter {text-decoration: none} 0067 blockquote.indentedblock {margin-right: 0em} 0068 blockquote.smallindentedblock {margin-right: 0em; font-size: smaller} 0069 blockquote.smallquotation {font-size: smaller} 0070 div.display {margin-left: 3.2em} 0071 div.example {margin-left: 3.2em} 0072 div.lisp {margin-left: 3.2em} 0073 div.smalldisplay {margin-left: 3.2em} 0074 div.smallexample {margin-left: 3.2em} 0075 div.smalllisp {margin-left: 3.2em} 0076 kbd {font-style: oblique} 0077 pre.display {font-family: inherit} 0078 pre.format {font-family: inherit} 0079 pre.menu-comment {font-family: serif} 0080 pre.menu-preformatted {font-family: serif} 0081 pre.smalldisplay {font-family: inherit; font-size: smaller} 0082 pre.smallexample {font-size: smaller} 0083 pre.smallformat {font-family: inherit; font-size: smaller} 0084 pre.smalllisp {font-size: smaller} 0085 span.nolinebreak {white-space: nowrap} 0086 span.roman {font-family: initial; font-weight: normal} 0087 span.sansserif {font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: normal} 0088 ul.no-bullet {list-style: none} 0089 BODY { 0090 margin-top: 1em; 0091 margin-left: 1em; /* auto results in two-digit <ol> lost off left */ 0092 margin-right: 1em; 0093 margin-bottom: 1em; 0094 /* the idea is to use the whole window, unless it is ridiculously 0095 wide, probably with too-small fonts, too. */ 0096 max-width: 64em; 0097 } 0098 0099 /* Because we want @math{... @code ...} to be upright, not slanted, 0100 and Texinfo won't fix it. */ 0101 code {font-style:normal; font-family:monospace; } 0102 0103 /* We put a link to our own home page at the bottom. */ 0104 div.referenceinfo {font-size:small;} 0105 0106 --> 0107 </style> 0108 0109 0110 </head> 0111 0112 <body lang="en"> 0113 <a name="g_t_005cmbox-_0026-_005cmakebox"></a> 0114 <div class="header"> 0115 <p> 0116 Next: <a href="_005cfbox-_0026-_005cframebox.html#g_t_005cfbox-_0026-_005cframebox" accesskey="n" rel="next">\fbox & \framebox</a>, Up: <a href="Boxes.html#Boxes" accesskey="u" rel="up">Boxes</a> [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="IndexDocument.html#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p> 0117 </div> 0118 <hr> 0119 <a name="g_t_005cmbox-_0026-_005cmakebox-1"></a> 0120 <h3 class="section">20.1 <code>\mbox</code> & <code>\makebox</code></h3> 0121 0122 <a name="index-_005cmbox"></a> 0123 <a name="index-_005cmakebox"></a> 0124 <a name="index-box"></a> 0125 <a name="index-make-a-box"></a> 0126 <a name="index-hyphenation_002c-preventing"></a> 0127 0128 <p>Synopsis, one of: 0129 </p> 0130 <div class="example"> 0131 <pre class="example">\mbox{<var>text</var>} 0132 \makebox{<var>text</var>} 0133 \makebox[<var>width</var>]{<var>text</var>} 0134 \makebox[<var>width</var>][<var>position</var>]{<var>text</var>} 0135 </pre></div> 0136 0137 <p>Create a box, a container for material. The <var>text</var> is typeset in 0138 LR mode (see <a href="Modes.html#Modes">Modes</a>) so it is not broken into lines. The 0139 <code>\mbox</code> command is robust, while <code>\makebox</code> is fragile 0140 (see <a href="_005cprotect.html#g_t_005cprotect">\protect</a>). 0141 </p> 0142 <p>Because <code>text</code> is not broken into lines, you can use <code>\mbox</code> 0143 to prevent hyphenation. In this example, LaTeX will not hyphenate 0144 the table name, ‘<samp>T-4</samp>’. 0145 </p> 0146 <div class="example"> 0147 <pre class="example">See Table~\mbox{T-4} 0148 </pre></div> 0149 0150 <p>The first two command versions, <code>\mbox</code> and <code>\makebox</code>, are 0151 roughly equivalent. They create a box just wide enough to contain the 0152 <var>text</var>. (They are like plain TeX’s <code>\hbox</code>.) 0153 </p> 0154 <p>In the third version the optional argument <var>width</var> specifies the 0155 width of the box. Note that the space occupied by the text need not 0156 equal the width of the box. For one thing, <var>text</var> can be too small; 0157 this creates a full-line box 0158 </p> 0159 <div class="example"> 0160 <pre class="example">\makebox[\linewidth]{Chapter Exam} 0161 </pre></div> 0162 0163 <p>with ‘<samp>Chapter Exam</samp>’ centered. But <var>text</var> can also be too wide 0164 for <var>width</var>. See the example below of zero-width boxes. 0165 </p> 0166 <a name="mbox-makebox-depth"></a><a name="mbox-makebox-height"></a><a name="mbox-makebox-width"></a><a name="mbox-makebox-totalheight"></a><p>In the <var>width</var> argument you can use the following lengths that refer 0167 to the dimension of the box that LaTeX gets on typesetting 0168 <var>text</var>: <code>\depth</code>, <code>\height</code>, <code>\width</code>, 0169 <code>\totalheight</code> (this is the box’s height plus its depth). For 0170 example, to make a box with the text stretched to double the natural 0171 size you can say this. 0172 </p> 0173 <div class="example"> 0174 <pre class="example">\makebox[2\width]{Get a stretcher} 0175 </pre></div> 0176 0177 <p>For the fourth command version the optional argument <var>position</var> 0178 gives position of the text within the box. It may take the following 0179 values: 0180 </p> 0181 <dl compact="compact"> 0182 <dt><code>c</code></dt> 0183 <dd><p>The <var>text</var> is centered (default). 0184 </p> 0185 </dd> 0186 <dt><code>l</code></dt> 0187 <dd><p>The <var>text</var> is flush left. 0188 </p> 0189 </dd> 0190 <dt><code>r</code></dt> 0191 <dd><p>Flush right. 0192 </p> 0193 </dd> 0194 <dt><code>s</code></dt> 0195 <dd><p>Stretch the interword space in <var>text</var> across the entire <var>width</var>. 0196 The <var>text</var> must contain stretchable space for this to work. For 0197 instance, this could head a press release: 0198 <code>\noindent\makebox[\textwidth][s]{\large\hfil IMMEDIATE\hfil 0199 RELEASE\hfil}</code> 0200 </p></dd> 0201 </dl> 0202 0203 <p>A common use of <code>\makebox</code> is to make zero-width text boxes. This 0204 puts the value of the quiz questions to the left of those questions. 0205 </p> 0206 <div class="example"> 0207 <pre class="example">\newcommand{\pts}[1]{\makebox[0em][r]{#1 points\hspace*{1em}}} 0208 \pts{10}What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow? 0209 0210 \pts{90}An African or European swallow? 0211 </pre></div> 0212 0213 <p><a name="index-package_002c-TikZ-2"></a> 0214 <a name="index-TikZ-package-2"></a> 0215 </p> 0216 <a name="index-package_002c-Asymptote-2"></a> 0217 <a name="index-Asymptote-package-2"></a> 0218 0219 <p>The right edge of the output ‘<samp>10 points </samp>’ (note the ending space) 0220 will be just before the ‘<samp>What</samp>’ (note the space after 0221 ‘<samp>points</samp>’). You can use <code>\makebox</code> similarly when making 0222 graphics, such as in <samp>TikZ</samp> or <samp>Asymptote</samp>, where you put the 0223 edge of the text at a known location, regardless of the length of that 0224 text. 0225 </p> 0226 <p>For boxes with frames see <a href="_005cfbox-_0026-_005cframebox.html#g_t_005cfbox-_0026-_005cframebox">\fbox & \framebox</a>. For colors 0227 see <a href="Colored-boxes.html#Colored-boxes">Colored boxes</a>. 0228 </p> 0229 <p>There is a related version of <code>\makebox</code> that is used within the 0230 <code>picture</code> environment, where the length is given in terms of 0231 <code>\unitlength</code> (see <a href="_005cmakebox-_0028picture_0029.html#g_t_005cmakebox-_0028picture_0029">\makebox (picture)</a>). 0232 </p> 0233 <p>If you put a double-backslash into <var>text</var> then LaTeX will not 0234 give you a new line; for instance <code>\makebox{abc def \\ ghi}</code> 0235 outputs ‘<samp>abc defghi</samp>’ while <code>\makebox{abc def \par ghi}</code> 0236 outputs ‘<samp>abc def ghi</samp>’, but neither go to a second line. To get 0237 multiple lines see <a href="_005cparbox.html#g_t_005cparbox">\parbox</a> and <a href="minipage.html#minipage">minipage</a>. 0238 </p> 0239 0240 0241 0242 <hr/><div class='referenceinfo'> <a href='https://latexref.xyz/'> <i>Unofficial LaTeX2e reference manual</i></a></div> 0243 </body> 0244 </html>