# align list of symbols with dash

I'm trying to make a list of symbols and I have something like this

P --- pressure

eta --- viscosity

lambda(P,T) --- thermal conductivity


...

I need to align this list with dash symbol. I tried to make it with nomencl package and tabbing but it didn't help me.

-

You can capture this using table. See below:

\begin{tabular}{llp{.7\textwidth}}
$P$ &---& pressure\\
$\eta$ &---& viscosity\\
$\lambda(P,T)$ &---& thermal conductivity\\
\end{tabular}


Note: I have edited the answer to include p{<width>} for long sentences.

-
Thx for the answer, I used the variant with tabular, and it works well for short descriptions. Unfortunately I have a long sentences and it doesn't fit to the page and some of them are staying to far from the first symbol. How can I move part of this senteces to the new line with no indent? – anatoly Jul 19 '13 at 11:48
@anatoly you'll need for example a p{<width>} type column, see the array documentation for details. – clemens Jul 19 '13 at 11:50
@cgnieder: I have updated the answer as well. – Jagath AR Jul 19 '13 at 13:06
Thank you very much indeed – anatoly Jul 20 '13 at 14:56

The KOMA-Script classes have a list that basically does what you want:

\begin{labeling}[<separator>]{<widest label>}
...
\end{labeling}


This evironment can be used with the standard classes, too, by loading the scrextend package. The list would then maybe look like:

\begin{labeling}[---]{\hspace*{4em}}
\item[$P$] pressure
\item[$\eta$] viscosity
\item[$\lambda(P,T)$] thermal conductivity
\end{labeling}


You can probably make nomencl use the list and you can definitely customize acro or glossaries to use it. Here's a way with acro:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{scrextend}% only if you don't use a KOMA-Script class
\usepackage{acro}

\newenvironment{myacrolist}
{\labeling[---]{\hspace*{4em}}}% choose length for widest label
{\endlabeling}
\acsetup{list-type=myacrolist}

\DeclareAcronym{pressure}{
short = \ensuremath{P} ,
long  = pressure ,
sort  = pressure
}
\DeclareAcronym{viscosity}{
short = \ensuremath{\eta} ,
long  = viscosity ,
sort  = viscosity
}
\DeclareAcronym{therm-conduct}{
short = \ensuremath{\lambda(P,T)} ,
long  = thermal conductivity ,
sort  = conductivity thermal
}
\begin{document}

\acuseall
\printacronyms[name=Nomenclature]

\end{document}

-

There are many ways, the following uses a simple tabular (for more than one page, package longtable can be used):

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{array}

\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{@{}>{$}l<{$}@{ --- }l@{}}
p & pressure \\
\eta & viscosity \\
\lambda(P,T) & thermal conductivity \\
\end{tabular}
\end{document}


Remarks:

• The dash symbol is added in the tabular's preamble between the first and second column.
• Math mode is enabled for the first column with the help of package array and its specification with > and >.
-
You should probably use p{<width>} column type if you have quite long descriptors. – Martin - マーチン Jul 19 '13 at 10:17
@Martin: Or X of package tabularx (or its combinations with longtable. – Heiko Oberdiek Jul 19 '13 at 10:33