How to make enumerate indent like description

Question

I'm trying to typeset a numbered list in which I'm overriding the default enumerate behaviour using enumitem so that there's text in addition to a number. I'd like the text to be flush with the left margin, and I've found this solution to that particular problem.

However, My problem turns out to be more complicated. In addition, I sometimes need to override the regular overrided behaviour of my enumerate environments mid-list by including different text for some items mid-list. I'd like these items to still be flush with the left margin. For example:

\documentclass[a4paper,10pt]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{calc}
\usepackage{lipsum}


\begin{document}

\lipsum[1]

\subsection*{Using description}

\begin{description}
 \item[\bfseries Item 1:] Left margin: \the\leftmargin
 \item[\bfseries Much longer item 2:] Right margin: \the\rightmargin
 \item[\bfseries Item 3:] Listparindent: \the\listparindent
 \item[\bfseries Item 4:] Label width: \the\labelwidth
 \item[\bfseries Item 5:] Label sep: \the\labelsep
 \item[\bfseries Item 6:] Label indent: \the\labelindent
 \item[\bfseries Item 7:] Item indent: \the\itemindent
 %\item[\bfseries Much longer item 8:] \lipsum[2]
\end{description}

\subsection*{Using enumerate}

\begin{enumerate}[label={\bfseries Item \arabic*:},labelindent=0pt,labelwidth=\widthof{\ref{last-item}},itemindent=1em,leftmargin=!]%itemindent=-20pt, labelwidth=0pt]
 \item Left margin: \the\leftmargin
 \item[\bfseries Much longer item 2]: Right margin: \the\rightmargin
 \stepcounter{enumi}
 \item Listparindent: \the\listparindent
 \item Label width: \the\labelwidth
 \item Label sep: \the\labelsep
 \item Label indent: \the\labelindent
 \item Item indent: \the\itemindent \label{last-item}
 %\item \lipsum[2]
\end{enumerate}

\lipsum[3]


\end{document}

I've included a description environment for comparison: this is what I'd like my enumerate to look like.

So basically, I'm looking for a way to make enumerate behave like description in terms of horizontal spacing, but I don't want to just use description because the automated numbering of items is important. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Just use [leftmargin=*, align=left] as your enumerate parameters.

The output is identical but the values printed of the lengths are different because of the way the default description values are calculated. Using leftmargin=! will achieve the same value for the left indent, but a different value for the item indent.

\documentclass[a4paper,10pt]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{enumitem}

\begin{document}


\subsection*{Using description}

\begin{description}[]
 \item[\bfseries Item 1:] Left margin: \the\leftmargin
 \item[\bfseries Much longer item 2:] Right margin: \the\rightmargin
 \item[\bfseries Item 3:] Listparindent: \the\listparindent
 \item[\bfseries Item 4:] Label width: \the\labelwidth
 \item[\bfseries Item 5:] Label sep: \the\labelsep
 \item[\bfseries Item 6:] Label indent: \the\labelindent
 \item[\bfseries Item 7:] Item indent: \the\itemindent
 %\item[\bfseries Much longer item 8:] \lipsum[2]
\end{description}

\subsection*{Using enumerate}

\begin{enumerate}[label={\bfseries Item \arabic*:},leftmargin=*,align=left]
 \item Left margin: \the\leftmargin
 \item[\bfseries Much longer item 2]: Right margin: \the\rightmargin
 \stepcounter{enumi}
 \item Listparindent: \the\listparindent
 \item Label width: \the\labelwidth
 \item Label sep: \the\labelsep
 \item Label indent: \the\labelindent
 \item Item indent: \the\itemindent \label{last-item}
\end{enumerate}

\end{document}