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The Question

Can I use a TeX primitive in a "before" and "after" macro? (and how?)

There are two questions that I found useful and related to my question, which sent me in the right direction: how to even ask this question!

Example Situation

I am using a custom list setup with the enumitem package and I would like to use a primitive in the variables below:

\newlist{legal}{enumerate}{10}
\setlist[legal]{label*=\texttt{\arabic*.},resume,before={<HERE>}, after={<HERE>}}

I would like to put \vbox{ in the before={} and } in the after={}, but obviously I cannot type before={\vbox{}, after={}}

Why would I want to do this? For example, I could want to put a box around each mother and daughter list item, such that they remain on the same page. Or maybe I would like to put other primitives around my list environment just for kicks. Is there any way to do this?

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    I have a feeling this might be the usual x-y problem. I think it would be helpful if you actually posted what you are trying to achieve with the \vbox. May 11, 2014 at 20:11
  • @Peter Grill Alright, I added an example situation. I just want to know if there is a way to do this. I disagree with the x-y principle. Science does not need to be applied, rather can also be for the sake of knowing. See Gresham's Law (applied to science) and Vannevar Bush :) May 11, 2014 at 20:33
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    Why not before=\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}, after=\end{minipage}?
    – egreg
    May 11, 2014 at 20:42
  • @egreg Because minipage is not a TeX primitive, it is an environment. May 11, 2014 at 20:44
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    @macmadness86 I told you how to do it in my comment use vbox\bgroup not \vbox{ and similarly \egroup not } then you can put it in your macro arguments without messing up brace matching. But to put \fbox around a list you should not do that you should use the lrbox environment which was explicitly added to latex for that example. May 11, 2014 at 21:49

1 Answer 1

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You can use

\vbox\bgroup

and

\egroup 

to start the box without using {} so you can pass these constructs in {} delimited arguments, but they are not supported latex commands and things will go wrong if you do.

But this should not be necessary for example to put \fbox around a list you should not do that you should use the lrbox environment which was explicitly added to latex for that example. (Or a package such as framed or mdframed)

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  • Thanks! I will try to avoid using TeX primitives in higher-level LaTeX commands. Is it correct to assume that bgroup stands for begin group and egroup for end group? May 16, 2014 at 12:53

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