# Aligning in text (non-math)

I would like to align some text similar to how the align math environment works. I don't want to put the text in a table, because I don't want it to float. I tried putting the text in a tabular environment, but that doesn't flow well with the text before and after.

An example:

Here is some text before by aligned text
S  Isomeric state
Z  Atomic number
A  Atomic mass number
Some text after the aligned text

Does that example make sense?

-
Did you try using an itemize list with the optional argument? –  Joseph Wright Oct 31 '11 at 17:04
I'd use a tabular –  egreg Oct 31 '11 at 17:05
@JosephWright, Yep thanks for the suggestion. –  Jeremy Oct 31 '11 at 17:30

There are numerous ways to achieve this depending on the complexity of the alignment.

One way is to use \makebox to set the text into a fixed width size:

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}
Here is some text before by aligned text\par
\makebox[1.5cm]{S}  Isomeric state\par
\makebox[1.5cm]{Z}  Atomic number\par
\makebox[1.5cm]{A}  Atomic mass number\par
Some text after the aligned text
\end{document}

Depending on the complexity of the alignment, you can define macros to make the entry as above easier.

If you only have a list as in the example you have given, you could use simply use a list environment. Here is an an example use the enumitem package

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{enumitem}

\begin{document}
\noindent
Here is some text before by aligned text
\begin{itemize}[leftmargin=2.0cm,labelsep=0.5cm]
\item[S] Isomeric state
\item[Z] Atomic number
\item[A] Atomic mass number
\end{itemize}
Some text after the aligned text
\end{document}

You could also use the tabular environment and not put it in a float:

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}
\noindent
Here is some text before by aligned text

\begin{tabular}{rl}
S& Isomeric state\\
Z& Atomic number\\
A& Atomic mass number
\end{tabular}

\noindent
Some text after the aligned text
\end{document}

Yet another option is to use the tabbing environment (suggested by @GonzaloMedina):

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}
\noindent
Here is some text before by aligned text
\begin{tabbing}
\hspace*{1em}\= \hspace*{2em} \= \kill % set the tabbings
\> S\>  Isomeric state \\
\>Z  \>Atomic number \\
\>A  \>Atomic mass number
\end{tabbing}
Some text after the aligned text
\end{document}
-
Thank you for this answer. I had forgotten about the optional argument to the \item command. That is the way to go for my simple example. –  Jeremy Oct 31 '11 at 17:31
Could you consider adding the use of a tabbing environment to your answer? I could then delete my answer, since yours covers a wider range of options. –  Gonzalo Medina Oct 31 '11 at 17:31
@GonzaloMedina: Updated solution to include tabbing environment. –  Peter Grill Oct 31 '11 at 17:41