Adjust typeblocksize in light of paper size

Question

I'm trying to figure out how to adjust the typeblocksize in memoir in light of the ratio of \paperheight to \paperwidth.

Right now, I have

\settypeblocksize{*}{\lxvchars}{1.414}

to adjust the \textheight to 1.414 time the value of \lxvchars (itself calculated based on font and pointsize). This works fine for metric paper whose height is sqrt( 2 ) times the width.

I'd like to replace this with a variable expression based on the paper size selected in the documentclass. I.e. something like

\settypeblocksize{*}{\lxvchars}{\paperheight / \paperwidth}

but I can't figure out how to replace the scalar 1.414 with an expression (either inline or else computed elsewhere.

Can anyone help?

Answer 1

The calc package's \ratio command may be of some help:

\documentclass[10pt,crownvopaper,landscape]{memoir}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{calc}
\settypeblocksize{\lxvchars*\ratio{\paperheight}{\paperwidth}}{\lxvchars}{*}
\checkandfixthelayout
\begin{document}
\lipsum
\end{document}

Note that memoir doesn't seem to like using \ratio as the third parameter.

By the way, I tend to resist the temptation to believe that making the typeblock the same shape (ratio) as the page gives one a good layout automatically... :)