# smallroyalvopaper defaults in memoir

Does anyone know how to find the default values used by memoir when it sets the margins for its built-in paper sizes? I'm particularly interested in finding the defaults for smallroyalvopaper.

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From a command prompt do texdoc memoir. Then search for smallroyalvopaper, all information such as page dimensions are shown on the first page Table 1.1.

If you need to hack the class you will need to read the code in the .dtx file.

It is a useful skill to learn how to find the manuals and navigate your distribution.

An easy way to find out what is being produced is to create a minimal and type out the values you are interested in use the \the primitive, so for example to find out the textwidth you type \the\textwidth. You can also use the memoir class build in comands for this or use the layout, layouts or geometry packages. Here is the MWE.

\documentclass{memoir}
\begin{document}
\the\textwidth\\
\the\leftmargin\\
\the\rightmargin\\
\the\marginparsep\\
\end{document}

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thanks- the manual defines smallroyalvo as 234mm x 156mm as pointed out below, but I'm afraid that's not my question. Presumably somewhere (but I can't see where despite grep'ing for smallroyalvo) in the .dtx file there are definitions for the margin sizes relevant to smallroyalvo. The current defaults leave too much white space around the text block. I can obviously change the size of the margins in my document, but I was simply intrigued as to whether I could find out what the defaults actually were. – manwyddan Feb 20 '12 at 19:09
@manwyddan Please see update. Note that default measurements start from a one inch margin all around. Traditionally this was needed as printers couldn't print so close to the edge of the apper. – Yiannis Lazarides Feb 21 '12 at 8:19
:) - many thanks - I should sit down for a couple of evenings and read the TeXBook thoroughly - your help is much appreciated. – manwyddan Feb 21 '12 at 14:24

Here are the relevant lines in memoir.cls (I've left the line numbers for reference)

462 \newcommand*{\stocksmallroyalvo}{\stockheight=9.25in  \stockwidth=6.175in}
463 \newcommand*{\stockroyalvo}     {\stockheight=10in    \stockwidth=6.25in}
464 \newcommand*{\stocksuperroyalvo}{\stockheight=10.25in \stockwidth=6.75in}


Small Royal Vertical Orientation is thus

9.25 inch high and 6.175 inch wide

which is 235 mm by 157 mm (rounded to the millimeter), although the subsequent lines tell it's 234 by 156.

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