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latex2e: Lengths

 
 14 Lengths
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 A "length" is a measure of distance.  Many LaTeX commands take a length
 as an argument.
 
    Lengths come in two types.  A "rigid length" (what Plain TeX calls a
 "dimen") such as '10pt' cannot contain a 'plus' or 'minus' component.  A
 "rubber length" (what Plain TeX calls a "skip") can contain those, as
 with '1cm plus0.05cm minus0.01cm'.  These give the ability to stretch or
 shrink; the length in the prior sentence could appear in the output as
 long as 1.05 cm or as short as 0.99 cm, depending on what TeX's
 typesetting algorithm finds optimum.
 
    The 'plus' or 'minus' component of a rubber length can contain a
 "fill" component, as in '1in plus2fill'.  This gives the length infinite
 stretchability or shrinkability, so that the length in the prior
 sentence can be set by TeX to any distance greater than or equal to
 1 inch.  TeX actually provides three infinite glue components 'fil',
 'fill', and 'filll', such that the later ones overcome the earlier ones,
DONTPRINTYET  but only the middle value is ordinarily used.  \hfill, *NoteDONTPRINTYET  but only the middle value is ordinarily used.  \hfill, 
 \vfill.
 
    Multiplying an entire rubber length by a number turns it into a rigid
 length, so that after '\setlength{\ylength}{1in plus 0.2in}' and
 '\setlength{\zlength}{3\ylength}' then the value of '\zlength' is '3in'.
 

Menu

 
· Units of length     The units that LaTeX knows.
· \setlength          Set the value of a length.
· \addtolength        Add a quantity to a length.
· \settodepth         Set a length to the depth of something.
· \settoheight        Set a length to the height of something.
· \settowidth         Set a length to the width of something.
· Predefined lengths  Lengths that are, like, predefined.
 

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