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0113 <a name="g_t_005cspacefactor"></a>
0114 <div class="header">
0115 <p>
0116 Next: <a href="_005c_0028SPACE_0029.html#g_t_005c_0028SPACE_0029" accesskey="n" rel="next">\(SPACE)</a>, Previous: <a href="_005chss.html#g_t_005chss" accesskey="p" rel="prev">\hss</a>, Up: <a href="Spaces.html#Spaces" accesskey="u" rel="up">Spaces</a> &nbsp; [<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_005cspacefactor-1"></a>
0120 <h3 class="section">19.5 <code>\spacefactor</code></h3>
0121 
0122 <p>Synopsis:
0123 </p>
0124 <div class="example">
0125 <pre class="example">\spacefactor=<var>integer</var>
0126 </pre></div>
0127 
0128 <a name="index-_005cspacefactor"></a>
0129 <p>Influence LaTeX&rsquo;s glue stretch and shrink behavior.  Most user-level
0130 documents do not use this command.
0131 </p>
0132 <p>While LaTeX is laying out the material, it may stretch or shrink the
0133 gaps between words.  (This space is not a character; it is called the
0134 <em>interword glue</em>; see <a href="_005chspace.html#g_t_005chspace">\hspace</a>).  The <code>\spacefactor</code> command
0135 (from Plain&nbsp;TeX) allows you to, for instance, have the space
0136 after a period stretch more than the space after a word-ending letter.
0137 </p>
0138 <p>After LaTeX places each character, or rule or other box, it sets a
0139 parameter called the <em>space factor</em>.  If the next thing in the input
0140 is a space then this parameter affects how much stretching or shrinking
0141 can happen.  A space factor that is larger than the normal value means
0142 that the glue can stretch more and shrink less.  Normally, the space
0143 factor is 1000. This value is in effect following most characters, and
0144 any non-character box or math formula.  But it is 3000 after a period,
0145 exclamation mark, or question mark, it is 2000 after a colon, 1500 after
0146 a semicolon, 1250 after a comma, and 0 after a right parenthesis or
0147 bracket, or closing double quote or single quote.  Finally, it is 999
0148 after a capital letter.
0149 </p>
0150 <p>If the space factor&nbsp;<var>f</var> is 1000 then the glue gap will be the
0151 font&rsquo;s normal space value (for Computer Modern Roman 10 point this is
0152 3.3333&nbsp;points).  Otherwise, if the space factor <var>f</var> is greater
0153 than 2000 then TeX adds the font&rsquo;s extra space value (for Computer
0154 Modern Roman 10 point this is 1.11111&nbsp;points), and then the font&rsquo;s
0155 normal stretch value is multiplied by <em>f /1000</em> and the normal
0156 shrink value is multiplied by <em>1000/f</em> (for Computer Modern Roman
0157 10 point these are 1.66666 and 1.11111&nbsp;points).
0158 </p>
0159 <p>For example, consider the period ending <code>A man's best friend is his
0160 dog.</code>  After it, TeX puts in a fixed extra space, and also allows the
0161 glue to stretch 3 times as much and shrink 1/3 as much, as the glue
0162 after <code>friend</code>, which does not end in a period.
0163 </p>
0164 <p>The rules for space factors are even more complex because they play
0165 additional roles.  In practice, there are two consequences.  First, if a
0166 period or other punctuation is followed by a right parenthesis or
0167 bracket, or right single or double quote then the spacing effect of that
0168 period carries through those characters (that is, the following glue
0169 will have increased stretch and shrink).  Second, if
0170 punctuation comes after a capital letter then its effect is not in place
0171 so you get an ordinary space.  This second case also affects abbreviations
0172 that do not end in a capital letter (see <a href="_005c_0040.html#g_t_005c_0040">\@</a>).
0173 </p>
0174 <p>You can only use <code>\spacefactor</code> in paragraph mode or LR mode
0175 (see <a href="Modes.html#Modes">Modes</a>).  You can see the current value with
0176 <code>\the\spacefactor</code> or <code>\showthe\spacefactor</code>.
0177 </p>
0178 <p>(Comment, not really related to <code>\spacefactor</code>: if you get errors
0179 like &lsquo;<samp>You can't use `\spacefactor' in vertical mode</samp>&rsquo;, or &lsquo;<samp>You
0180 can't use `\spacefactor' in math mode.</samp>&rsquo;, or &lsquo;<samp>Improper \spacefactor</samp>&rsquo;
0181 then you have probably tried to redefine an internal command.
0182 See <a href="_005cmakeatletter-_0026-_005cmakeatother.html#g_t_005cmakeatletter-_0026-_005cmakeatother">\makeatletter &amp; \makeatother</a>.)
0183 </p>
0184 
0185 <table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
0186 <tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="_005c_0040.html#g_t_005c_0040" accesskey="1">\@</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Distinguish sentence-ending periods from abbreviations.  
0187 </td></tr>
0188 <tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="_005cfrenchspacing.html#g_t_005cfrenchspacing" accesskey="2">\frenchspacing</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Equal interword and inter-sentence space.
0189 </td></tr>
0190 <tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="_005cnormalsfcodes.html#g_t_005cnormalsfcodes" accesskey="3">\normalsfcodes</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Restore space factor settings to the default.
0191 </td></tr>
0192 </table>
0193 
0194 
0195 
0196 
0197 <hr/><div class='referenceinfo'> <a href='https://latexref.xyz/'> <i>Unofficial LaTeX2e reference manual</i></a></div>
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