# Is there an easier way to 'corner-frame' a piece of text?

I've written a hodge-podge of LaTeX2e and expl3 to produce the following effect:

What I have is ugly and ideologically incorrect. I'm looking for a better way to do the same thing. I think coffins would come in handy here, but I'm not certain how this could be put together.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xparse,xcolor}

\ExplSyntaxOn
\box_clear_new:N \g_jakecv_group_start_box
\hbox_set:Nn \g_jakecv_group_start_box
{
\makebox[0pt]{\rule[-40.5pt]{1mm}{\dimexpr40.5pt+1mm\relax}}
\makebox[0pt][l]{\rule{\dimexpr\textwidth+3mm\relax}{1mm}}
}

\NewDocumentCommand \Position { mmmm } {
\group_begin:
\color{black!20!white}
\smash{\raisebox{1ex}{
\hspace{\dimexpr -1ex - 1mm\relax}
\box_use:N \g_jakecv_group_start_box}}
\group_end:
\group_begin:
\group_end:
#3 \newline #4
}

\ExplSyntaxOff

\begin{document}
\Position{2020--2025}{Some Position Title}{Some Super Long Organization Name}{Some City, BC}
\end{document}

• May be wipet can do it without coffins, just \pdfliteral{ wi th 5 o m 3 m 46 i c }. May 10 '15 at 1:30
• We love you, wipet :) May 10 '15 at 6:30

Coffins were definitely the right answer! Putting things together like this with relative positions is exactly what the package was created for.

No arbitrary measurements, no guesswork:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xparse,xcolor}

\ExplSyntaxOn
\coffin_new:N \l_jakecv_position_info_coffin

\NewDocumentCommand \Position { mmmm } {
\group_begin:
\vcoffin_set:Nnn \l_jakecv_position_info_coffin {\textwidth} {
\group_begin:
\group_end:
#3 \newline #4
}
\hcoffin_set:Nn \l_tmpa_coffin {
\color{black!20!white}
\rule{1mm} { \dim_eval:n { 4mm +
\coffin_ht:N \l_jakecv_position_info_coffin }}
}
\coffin_attach:NnnNnnnn
\l_jakecv_position_info_coffin {l}{B}
\l_tmpa_coffin {r}{b}
{-3mm}{0pt}

\hcoffin_set:Nn \l_tmpa_coffin {
\color{black!20!white}
\rule{\dim_eval:n { 4mm + \textwidth }}{1mm}
}
\coffin_attach:NnnNnnnn
\l_jakecv_position_info_coffin {l}{t}
\l_tmpa_coffin {l}{b}
{-4mm}{3mm}

\coffin_typeset:Nnnnn \l_jakecv_position_info_coffin {l}{t}{0pt}{0pt}
\group_end:
}

\ExplSyntaxOff

\begin{document}
\Position{2020--2025}{Some Position Title}{Some Super Long Organization Name}{Some City, BC}
\end{document}

• I just want to note that this answer is testimony purely to the usefulness of thinking through your question enough to write it. It's also a very good basic but practical example of how to use coffins :) May 10 '15 at 0:11
• beware \par\noindent\large #1 \quad #2 \newline \group_end: is setting large text on a normal baseline, you might want to use \par not \newline (although it's probably safe enough here, restricted to top line) May 10 '15 at 0:15
• @DavidCarlisle Whoops, right :) I made this MWE from a much more complex document; a couple things got jumbled around :) May 10 '15 at 0:24