How can I calculate the length of the longest word in a node?

Question

I would like to create an inline brace command \inline{} for xelatex using TikZ. The difficult part is calculating the text width for the node without hardcoding it into the tikzpicture environment.

I would like:

1. VARIABLE 1 Text width = Length of the Longest Word within node e.g. \node[decoration={brace},decoration,text centered,text width=VARIABLE1,]
2. VARIABLE 2 Distance of brace from node to be the length of the longest word plus a little extra space for aesthetics. e.g. \p1=(bracetext.north), \p2=(bracetext.south) in ($(\x1+VARIABLE2,\y1)$) -- ($(\x2+VARIABLE2,\y2)$);
3. Ideally the baseline of the node will be aligned such that the pointy part of the braces are aligned with the lines of the sentence (also for aesthetics).

\documentclass[handout]{beamer}
\usepackage{fontspec}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{chains,calc,trees,positioning,arrows,shapes.geometric,%
    decorations.pathreplacing,decorations.pathmorphing,shapes,%
    matrix,shapes.symbols}
\tikzset{%
    decoright/.style={decoration={brace},decorate},
    decoleft/.style={decoration={brace,mirror},decorate},
}
\newcommand{\inbrace}[1]{%
    \tikz{
        \node[decoration={brace},decoration,text centered,text width=3cm,](bracetext){\small#1};
        %\draw[decotop] (bracetext.north) to (bracetext.south);
        \draw[decoright] let
            \p1=(bracetext.north), \p2=(bracetext.south) in
            ($(\x1+2.5em,\y1)$) -- ($(\x2+2.5em,\y2)$);
        \draw[decoleft] let
            \p1=(bracetext.north), \p2=(bracetext.south) in
            ($(\x1-2.5em,\y1)$) -- ($(\x2-2.5em,\y2)$);
    }%
}%


\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
    \frametitle{Bound Morphemes versus Free Morphemes and Bound Roots}
    A \inbrace{root\\stem\\base} is a morpheme, which is more specifically a lexeme, to which we can add other morphemes in the form of affixes. In most cases, we are connecting affixes to the front (prefix) or back (suffix) of a lexeme, however, occassionally there are instances when we add them within a lexeme (infix).

\end{frame}

\end{document}

Sample Output:

Answer 1

Explanation:

• inner xsep = <distance between longest text and end of picture>
• raise = <inner xsep> - <distance between longest text and brace>
• The baseline option is used to align the text vertically.

Code

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.pathreplacing,decorations.pathmorphing}
\tikzset{%
  decoright/.style={
    decoration={
      brace,
      raise=-0.5em
    },
    decorate
  },
  decoleft/.style={
    decoration={
      brace,
      mirror,
      raise=-0.5em
    },
  decorate},
}
\newcommand{\inbrace}[2][middle]{%
  \tikz[baseline={(#1)}]{
    \node[
      draw=gray,% for debug
      align=center,
      inner xsep=1em,
      outer sep=+0pt,
      font=\small,
      name=bracetext
    ] {#2};
    \draw[decoleft]
        (bracetext.north west) -- coordinate (middle)
                                  (bracetext.south west);
    \draw[decoright]
        (bracetext.north east) -- (bracetext.south east);
  }%
}

\begin{document}
    A \inbrace{root\\stem\\base\\test} or 
    \inbrace[{[yshift=-.5ex]middle}]{root\\stem\\base\\test}?
\end{document}

Output

Answer 2

here is a solution without tikZ

\documentclass[handout]{beamer}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\newcommand\inbrace[1]{%
    \raisebox{\dimexpr0.5\height+0.5ex}{$\left\{\begin{tabular}{c}#1\end{tabular}\right\}$}}
\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
    \frametitle{Bound Morphemes versus Free Morphemes and Bound Roots}
    A \inbrace{root\\stem\\base} is a morpheme, which is more specifically a lexeme, to which we can add other morphemes in the form of affixes. In most cases, we are connecting affixes to the front (prefix) or back (suffix) of a lexeme, however, occassionally there are instances when we add them within a lexeme (infix).

\end{frame}
\end{document}

Answer 3

The package delarray is very good for this, as it avoids doing any guess about the height of the material.

\documentclass[handout]{beamer}
\usepackage{delarray,array}
\newcommand{\inbrace}[1]{%
  $\begin{array}[b]\{{@{}>{$}c<{$}@{}}\}#1\end{array}$%
}

\begin{document}
\begin{frame}
\frametitle{Bound Morphemes versus Free Morphemes and Bound Roots}

Something before.

A \inbrace{root\\stem\\base} is a morpheme, which is more specifically a lexeme, to which
we can add other morphemes in the form of affixes. In most cases, we are connecting affixes
to the front (prefix) or back (suffix) of a lexeme, however, occassionally there are
instances when we add them within a lexeme (infix).

\end{frame}
\end{document}

With >{$}c<{$} we are saying that the column will be in text mode rather than in math mode.