# Center hyphen between words

I have to center '-' mark in each line and it should be in the same location of each line. How would I do that?

\begin{flushleft}
$I(b)$ - interrogating signal\\
$h_n$ -forward ross     \\
$h_f$ - reversequite      \\
$h$ - product ofall and wox\\
$F_h(t)$ - interrrr        \\
$S_m(b)$ - $m^{th}$ reponse of x thererer       \\
$b(t)$ - received signal\\
$\omega(x)$ - noise added omega read
\end{flushleft}


I have used \tab{} and \align{} but I don't get results what I want.

Taking some inspiration from Coding an equation with description, you can use a tabular to align the content. The output will not be breakable across the page boundary though:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{array}
\begin{document}

\noindent
\begin{tabular}{>{$}r<{$}@{\ --\ }l}
I(b) & interrogating signal \\
h_n & forward ross \\
h_f & reversequite \\
h & product of all and wox \\
F_h(t) & interrrr \\
S_m(b) & m\textsuperscript{th} reponse of $x$ thererer \\
\omega(x) & noise added $\omega$ read
\end{tabular}

\end{document}


Alignment of the left column is right, but you can adjust that to suit your needs.

• why not use tabbing? it isn't that much different from tabular, and it has the advantage that it can break across pages. – barbara beeton Dec 2 '14 at 13:17

Here's a solution that uses an array environment. It's not clear to me how you want the first column to the aligned: Flush-left or flush-right. If it's the latter, change the column type from l to r. (If the body of the array environment looks just like the body of the tabular environment does in Werner's answer, that's not a coincidence: the array and tabular environments have a great many things in common.)

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{array}
\begin{document}
\noindent
$\begin{array}{l @{\ \mbox{--}\ } >{$}l<{$}} % place third column in text mode I(b) & interrogating signal\\ h_n & forward ross \\ h_f & reversequite \\ h & product ofall and wox\\ F_h(t) & interrrr\\ S_m(b) & m\textsuperscript{th} reponse of$x$thererer \\ b(t) & received signal \\ \omega(x) & noise added omega read \\ \end{array}$
\end{document}

• This does not look like a non-duplication of my tabular approach. :) – Werner Dec 2 '14 at 7:29
• @Werner - I mostly posted this answer to illustrate how TeX and LaTeX frequently provide more than one method for solving a given typesetting issue. And, of course, I took care to mention your prior answer. :-) – Mico Dec 2 '14 at 8:09
• Although it looks OK I'm not sure about abusing math mode - here: should be \hbox{--} between the columns – Joseph Wright Dec 2 '14 at 10:23
• @JosephWright - I've changed the code to use \mbox{--}, i.e., an en-dash. :-) – Mico Dec 2 '14 at 14:51

still another possibility, using tabbing. this has the advantage that it can break across pages, anywhere in the list.

it's necessary to determine which left-hand entry is longest, to set the width of the left column for the \kill line, but that needs to be done only once, and is easy to change if a new, wider entry is added.

\documentclass{article}
\newcommand{\hyline}[2]{%
$#1$\> --\kern.5em #2 \\}
\begin{document}

\begin{tabbing}
$S_m(b)$ \ \= \kill
\hyline{I(b)}{interrogating signal}
\hyline{h_n}{forward ross}
\hyline{h_f}{reversequite}
\hyline{h}{product of all and wox}
\hyline{F_h(t)}{interrrr}
\hyline{S_m(b)}{m\textsuperscript{th} reponse of $x$ thererer}
\hyline{\omega(x)}{noise added $\omega$ read}
\end{tabbing}

\end{document}


if a right-hand-side entry appear that is longer than the page width will allow, the #2 in the definition of \hyline (a shorter command name could be used, of course), a \parbox of appropriate size could be applied, with its contents set ragged right. this would ensure that appropriate baselines are used within a single entry, a benefit if you decide that a little extra space should be applied between entries (presumably as an optional dimension inserted after the \\[...] in the definition).

Another possibility

\documentclass[]{article}%

\usepackage{amsmath,mathtools}
\begin{document}

\begin{align*}
I(b) &{}- \text{interrogating signal}\\
h_n  &{}- \text{forward ross}     \\
h_f  &{}- \text{reversequite}      \\
h    &{}- \text{product ofall and wox}\\
F_h(t) &{}- \text{interrrr}        \\
S_m(b) &{}- m^{th} \text{reponse of x thererer} \\
\end{align*}

\end{document}


Update Using suggestion in comment below, I changed it to use \text{--} in place of {}-. Here is the result

\documentclass[]{article}%
\usepackage{amsmath,mathtools}
\begin{document}
\begin{align*}
I(b)      &\text{--} \text{interrogating signal}         \\
h_n       &\text{--} \text{forward ross}                 \\
h_f       &\text{--} \text{reversequite}                 \\
h         &\text{--} \text{product ofall and wox}        \\
F_h(t)    &\text{--} \text{interrrr}                     \\
S_m(b)    &\text{--} m^{th} \text{reponse of x thererer} \\
\end{align*}
\end{document}

• Same comment here as I've made on mico's answser: the math mode - isn't really correct here for separating the columns, and I'd use \mbox{--}/\text{--}. – Joseph Wright Dec 2 '14 at 10:24

Another possibility which is less flexible (you have to specify the width of the left column explicitely) but works without any align*, array or tabular environment (note that tabulars will not be broken across pages) and allows for additional lines of text or even paragraphs in between if needed.

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\noindent
\makebox[3em][l]{$I(b)$} -- interrogating signal\\
\makebox[3em][l]{$h_n$} -- forward ross     \\
\makebox[3em][l]{$h_f$} -- reversequite      \\
\makebox[3em][l]{$h$} -- product of all and wox

\medskip
\noindent Further formulae use the more advanced\\
\makebox[3em][l]{$F_h(t)$} -- interrrr        \\
\makebox[3em][l]{$S_m(b)$} -- m\textsuperscript{th} reponse of $x$ thererer       \\
\makebox[3em][l]{$b(t)$} -- received signal\\
\makebox[3em][l]{$\omega(x)$} -- noise added $\omega$ read
\end{document}


The 3em denote the width of the area reserved for the formulae. l is the alignment of each formula within this box (left, right, centered).

Why not use the common labeled items of the ubiquitous itemize environment?.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\def\mitem#1{\item[$#1$\quad---\quad]}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[2]
\begin{itemize}
\itemindent.4\linewidth
\mitem{I(b)}       interrogating signal
\mitem{h_n}        forward ross
\mitem{h_f}        reversequite
\mitem{h}          product ofall and wox
\mitem{F_h(t)}     interrrr
\mitem{S_m(b)}     $m^{th}$ reponse of x thererer

The right alignment of the label can be obtained using a \makebox as in David's answer, but enclosed by brackets:
\def\mitem#1{\item[{\makebox[1cm][l]{$#1$}}\quad---\quad]}