Questions tagged [syntax]

{syntax} is about the principles and construction of the (La)TeX language.

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"\setlength" vs "equal" [duplicate]

This is a very general question. Apparently a duplicate of: Other than syntax what is the difference between \dimen0= and \setlength{}{}? What is the difference between \fboxsep=1cm and \setlength{\...
3 votes
1 answer
80 views

Problem with the alignment in systeme package

When I type this: \usepackage{systeme} \begin{document} \systeme[xyzt]{x-iy+3t=0,ix-z-(2-i)t=0,(1+i)x+(2-i)y+(3i-5)t=0,-ix+(1+i)y+z-it=0} \end{document} I'm ending up with this: Which, as you see, ...
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0 votes
2 answers
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Cross reference not working as intended, the entire name of reference and label gets printed?

So something weird is happening when I installed latex + textstudio on my new machine and tried to compile an old paper: When I write something like In Sec. \ref{sec:Background}, for some reason the ...
2 votes
3 answers
292 views

Is it possible to use multiple sub- or superscript syntax in math mode?

I often have to write expressions like this in math mode: L_t^pL_x^q For some reason, I am not always satisfied with typing this and I would like to define some new command with the same output. I ...
2 votes
2 answers
284 views

How to solve "Package tikz Error: Giving up on this path. Did you forget a semicolon?."?

The code that gives this error message is \documentclass[dvipsnames]{standalone} \usepackage{pgfplots} \usepackage{tikz-3dplot} \usepackage{tikz} \usetikzlibrary{decorations.markings} \pgfplotsset{...
1 vote
1 answer
32 views

Syntax: use second argument leaving the first argument as default in a macro

I use this command to abbreviate my notation \NewDocumentCommand{\Lp}{O{p}O{\mathbb{R}^d}O{[- \infty, \infty]}}% {L^{#1}(#2, #3)} I've set one default for each argument, in most cases I need just ...
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0 votes
1 answer
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How to insert table.tex into my latex document

I am trying to figure out how to insert the table I generated in Stata in tex format into my latex document. Currently, I get errors when I copy-paste and after I did modifications to the code. Below ...
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3 votes
2 answers
161 views

Constructing \newcommand with caret ('^') or underscore ('_')

I was just wondering if anyone out there was familiar with some apparently less-than-conventional syntax for creating a \newcommand... Sorry if this is kind of basic, but I just wanted to make small ...
1 vote
1 answer
48 views

How do syntax and coordinate calculations work with the Tikz library `calc`?

I'd like to annotate an image in LaTeX using Tikz. I'm rather new to Tikz, so I have been following a tutorial which breaks it down quite nicely. In the tutorial they add an image to a node and then ...
4 votes
1 answer
186 views

\def with number in macro works?

I know that numbers cannot be used in macros, e.g., in \def/\newcommand definitions. Can anybody explain to me why this \documentclass{article} \def\i2{\frac{i}{2}} \begin{document} $\i2$ \end{...
0 votes
1 answer
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undefined environment vmatrix

I am an absolute beginner in LaTeX... I am trying to learn it so that I can use it to ask question in websites. I have faced the following problem... I have learned some syntax which is used to ...
1 vote
1 answer
81 views

help with latex syntax parsing errors

Could anyone help to fix the syntax parsing error ? \documentclass{article} \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} \begin{document} \begin{aligned} \rho &= \begin{pmatrix} ae^{i\...
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1 vote
1 answer
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How does \special know which output driver it's addressing?

The TeXbook says that \special{…}is a special instruction to the output driver. But how do you know when you write the instruction which output driver will be reading it?
1 vote
1 answer
39 views

I want a code to rep a big matrix in row wise

\begin{align} \begin{bmatrix} \big| & \big| & \cdots & \big| \\ x_1 & x_2 & \cdots & x_{m-1} \\ \big| & \big| & \cdots & \big| \\ ...
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2 votes
0 answers
250 views

Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) for LaTeX

I would like to manipulate a LaTeX document in a program, e.g. add/change used packages or their options and adding environments. Instead of doing this purely on the text level, it would be great to ...
0 votes
2 answers
82 views

How to collect texts and place all them together?

I am trying to create two commands: A command \collect that stores a string/text. A command \callcollection that call all these stored texts placed before the command (without any configuration, just ...
1 vote
1 answer
61 views

Is it a good practice to leave space before mathematical text? [duplicate]

I used to write equations in the following way: Text %Empty line \[ code \] %Empty line Text I have noticed that with this syntax there is more space above the maths than beneath them. Is that ...
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0 answers
29 views

How to create rectangular table with a headline part?

What are the package and syntax for making a table for writing an algorithm? For example, a table in the picture below with the same title on top.
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2 votes
1 answer
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What is correct? `(-1)^a` or `{(-1)}^a`? [duplicate]

Essentially the title says it all. The TeX linter ChkTeX recommends to group parentheses if sub-/superscripting. It makes the grouped content into an atom (my TeX knowledge is minimal), so it is ...
1 vote
0 answers
44 views

Good code style introduces whitespace in LaTeX [duplicate]

Suppose I have the following in a test1.tex file: \documentclass{article} \begin{document} \section{A section with a very long title which goes beyond seventy-two columns in text editor} \end{...
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0 answers
416 views

How to insert an image in this particular template (ICLR 2022)

Link to overleaf template: https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/template-for-iclr-2021-conference-submission/mmpfhsxmqdkp I tried this code: \begin{figure} \centering \includegraphics{pipe....
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2 votes
1 answer
189 views

plus sign not shown in exponent [closed]

I am writing in Latex in the github markdown as shown below. Why is the plus sign not working in this example? <img src="https://render.githubusercontent.com/render/math?math=P(X^{t + 1}) \...
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4 votes
3 answers
137 views

Infix syntax with Unicode characters

Tex (and XeLaTeX) use what I would call prefix syntax for user-defined macros. For example, the macro \newcommand{\identity}[1]{#1} is used with the variables prefixed by the macro: \identity{vars}. ...
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4 votes
1 answer
725 views

How is TeX syntactically organised?

I'm just starting out on TeX, and I wanted to find a directory or table of how TeX is arranged in syntax. I can make educated guesses, but I figured I'd be better self taught if I understood how ...
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1 vote
0 answers
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How to define a command in latex for capitalizing following text?

In latex there are commands that change the appearance of their argument, e.g. \textit{foo}. Other commands change the appearance of the following text, without requiring an argument, e.g. \itshape ...
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1 answer
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What are brackets do in new command definition?

In an article about defining new commands I saw an example \newcommand{\R}{\mathbb{R}} The set of real numbers are usually represented by a blackboard bold capital r: \( \R \). What do brackets \( ...
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1 vote
1 answer
138 views

How to Make Index Recognize an Exclamation Point as Part of an Entry

I would like to add an entry in an index which makes use of an exclamation point as an article of grammar. However (of course), Latex treats it as if I want to begin a subentry. Consider the following ...
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0 votes
0 answers
41 views

How do I specify that tikz not use arrows

I'm writing a latex doc where I have several diagrams. One of my diagrams requires arrows, but then I also have a syntax tree, and for that I don't want the edges to be arrows. Can I specify that ...
0 votes
0 answers
54 views

TeXmaker syntax highlighting problems

can anyone tell me why TeXmaker is not coloring my code correctly? For some reason everything below my \newcommandline is in text-colour. When i paste my code into overleaf it works normally (https://...
0 votes
2 answers
511 views

Missing number, treated as zero (\hspace, I think)

At the outset let me say I am not even a LaTeX beginner - I know almost nothing. I have an .tex file named title.tex which was developed on a Windows platform and is used in an R markdown document ...
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1 vote
0 answers
69 views

Could anyone explain to me syntax for longtable? [closed]

What does \begin{longtable}{@{}l*{9}{c}@{}} exactly mean?
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3 votes
1 answer
118 views

Metapost: variable name with number at the end

Why can't I use variable names like a1, str2, x12? Does Metapost consider them as arrays so that a1 is like a[1] and so on? Even z-notation as z1, z2 and etc. does not work. The code is beginfig(1); # ...
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5 votes
4 answers
566 views

How to make commands with mandatory braces?

Partly inspired by this question, I got interested in the question of whether we could (hypothetically) switch to a new LaTeX syntax where braces around arguments were mandatory. That is, no more \...
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1 vote
1 answer
2k views

MikTeX sources and LaTeX language

Am I right that MikTeX sources in C++ contain the code that opens .tex file (when I run latex.exe myfile.tex), reads it, parses commands, performs them if they are correct and logs error messages ...
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0 votes
1 answer
69 views

Typing Brackets '[' ']' Within a Node in Tikz Q-Tree

I am trying to make a tree with Tikz Q-Tree wherein one of the nodes/the text shown needs to read: [+past]. However, brackets are used in the construction of the tree itself, so when I include them in ...
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1 vote
1 answer
18 views

foreach syntax missing endcs.., tex cap exceeded

I want to draw points in a loop. x and y coordinates are given ( two variables). I think it is syntactically right, but tikz dont. Can anyone help? mwe: \documentclass[]{article} \usepackage{tikz} \...
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0 votes
2 answers
77 views

Issue with curly brackets in beamer - why?

I am struggling with a macro which auto-generates some frames in beamer. While doing so I came across a situation I do not fully understand. My pedagogical examples boils down to the following: \...
6 votes
3 answers
203 views

Using \boxed{} in \newenvironment{envname}{here}{and here}

There's a type of environment (shown below) which I'm using very frequently. I would like to define a new environment to begin it and end it with single commands. \begin{equation}\boxed{\boxed{ \begin{...
3 votes
1 answer
199 views

double subscript error from auto-generated latex

This auto-generated latex from sagemath software generates error Double subscript I wanted to report this to sagemath, but wanted to check first why this is showing up Inside sagemath on Linux, I type ...
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3 votes
2 answers
193 views

Tikz-cd Crossing Over Issue

I'm drawing a diagram and I want one specific line to be crossed over by all others that pass by it. I'll put the picture of my diagram below for you to see what I want. So, the red arrow indicates ...
1 vote
2 answers
100 views

Overbrace on Powers

How can I make an overbrace on powers without it being buggy. Example: \documentclass{article} \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{...
0 votes
2 answers
134 views

How can you specify an order for quote marks in LaTeX?

I have a segment where the original text uses two different quote marks next to each other like "''" to show speech within a quote. I need to recreate this in LaTeX. \subsection{35} This ...
0 votes
0 answers
33 views

Is it safe to omit braces around the command name being defined with \newcommand or \renewcommand? [duplicate]

I see both type of coding style in use: \newcommand{\hello}{Hello, World} \newcommand\hello{Hello, World} My question: Is there any situation where removing the braces around the command name being ...
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2 votes
1 answer
357 views

What do you call, and how do you use, this "red!5!white" color syntax?

I've only ever seen this red!5!white sort of color notation with exclamation points and color names mixed with numbers in LaTeX. I want to learn how it works, but I don't know what it's called, so I ...
1 vote
0 answers
90 views

Why were .tex files lost while .synctex.gz files created. How to recover .tex files?

Today I found that most of my .tex files created or modified between July 2019 and last week are gone, so are .pdf files produced by these .tex files. Instead, corresponding .synctex.gz files are ...
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1 vote
1 answer
190 views

Why is autoref displaying a blank space in place of the "figure" text when referencing

I am currently writing my masters thesis and ran into a little problem. I have created a figure consisting of three smaller figures, each with their own subtexts, rendering the figures as 4.1a, 4.1b ...
3 votes
3 answers
198 views

How do I write a long vertical line in a group definition?

Given the following definition: $ \partial K_R (z_0) = \{ z \in \mathcal{C} \vert |z-z_0| = R \} $ Both \vert and \mid give the same short line as | (from keyboard). I'd like a seperator line that is ...
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0 votes
0 answers
44 views

Listings doesn't highlight everything

I'm having an issue with a custom \listings enviroment: \begin{document} \lstdefinestyle{mystyle}{ backgroundcolor=\color{backcolour}, commentstyle=\color{codegreen}, numberstyle=\tiny\...
0 votes
2 answers
109 views

Command to draw arc issue

I have the following code defined outside \begin{document}: \newcommand{\point}[2] { ({#1}, {#2}) } \newcommand{\arcpoints}[6] { ({#1}:{atan((#5 - #3)/(#4 - #2))}:{#6}) } I am getting an ...
2 votes
1 answer
76 views

Is there a formal definition of the BibTeX syntax?

I was recently tasked with extracting information and consolidating a large number of BibTeX files. Should be easy enough, there are perl and python modules to parse it... Well, that's what I thought. ...

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