How can I write in a box with fixed height?

Question

I am using report class and have been using \framebox[\linewidth]{\rule{0pt}{2cm}} to create an empty box with a certain height. Now, I would like to write in that empty box. By referring to How can I write something in a box with \makeemptybox{1.8in}?, I achieved the following:

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{report}

\newcommand{\makenonemptybox}[2]{%
\par\nobreak\vspace{\ht\strutbox}\noindent
\fbox{%
\parbox[c][\dimexpr#1-2\fboxsep][t]{\dimexpr\linewidth-2\fboxsep}{
  \hrule width \hsize height 0pt
  #2
 }%
}%
\par\vspace{\ht\strutbox}
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}
\begin{enumerate}
\item Tell me about yourself.
    \begin{enumerate}
    \item What is your name?
    \makenonemptybox{2cm}{My name is Nadia.}
    \item Where are you from?
    \makenonemptybox{2cm}{Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam a venenatis lacus. Nunc vitae mollis neque. Maecenas vel arcu erat.}
    \item How old are you?
    \item[] \framebox[\linewidth]{\rule{0pt}{2cm}}
    \end{enumerate}
\end{enumerate}

\end{document}

As you can see \makenoemptybox makes a bigger vertical space compared to \framebox (refer to the coloured arrows). How can I make the vertical space made by \makenoemptybox follows that of \framebox?

Answer 1

Use in the definition of \makenonemptybox the same method you use for \framebox to close current paragraph. Of course, that will restrict its usage to list environments.

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{report}

\newcommand{\makenonemptybox}[2]{%
%\par\nobreak\vspace{\ht\strutbox}\noindent
\item[]
\fbox{% added -2\fboxrule to specified width to avoid overfull hboxes
% and removed the -2\fboxsep from height specification (image not updated)
% because in MWE 2cm is should be height of contents excluding sep and frame
\parbox[c][#1][t]{\dimexpr\linewidth-2\fboxsep-2\fboxrule}{
  \hrule width \hsize height 0pt
  #2
 }%
}%
\par\vspace{\ht\strutbox}
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}
\begin{enumerate}
\item Tell me about yourself.
    \begin{enumerate}
    \item What is your name?
          \makenonemptybox{2cm}{My name is Nadia.}
    \item Where are you from?
          \makenonemptybox{2cm}{Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam a venenatis lacus. Nunc vitae mollis neque. Maecenas vel arcu erat.}
    \item How old are you?
    \item[] \framebox[\linewidth]{\rule{0pt}{2cm}}
    \end{enumerate}
\end{enumerate}

\end{document}

Answer 2

A \par and a minipage works:

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{report}
\newcommand{\makenonemptybox}[2]{%
\par{\fboxsep1ex\fbox{%
\begin{minipage}[c][#1][t]{\dimexpr\linewidth-2\fboxsep-2\fboxrule}%
#2\end{minipage}}}}}%
\begin{document}
\begin{enumerate}
\item Tell me about yourself.
    \begin{enumerate}
    \item What is your name?
    \makenonemptybox{2cm}{My name is Nadia.}
    \item Where are you from?
    \makenonemptybox{2cm}{Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam a venenatis lacus. Nunc vitae mollis neque. Maecenas vel arcu erat.}
    \item How old are you?
    \item[] \framebox[\linewidth]{\rule{0pt}{2cm}}
    \end{enumerate}
\end{enumerate}
\end{document}