My question in short is: How can you create a boxed text with a label that can be referenced?
Background: I am generating LaTeX output from a Markdown document to be included in a larger LaTeX document. I would like to describe the steps of an algorithm as boxed text with a label that can be referenced. I know how to create a labeled figure and how to create boxed text, but I haven't been able to figure out how to combine the two, i.e. how to label the boxed text as if it was a figure, or how to include the text in a figure (other than converting it to an image, which I'd like to avoid).
An initial "solution": Just putting a the box and an empty figure next to each other (see below) kind of works, except that nothing ensures that the figure label won't float away from the box as I work on the document, since figures are floating objects while text boxes are part of the text, and the two are handled differently by LaTeX. Moreover, you may need to use LaTeX vertical space commands to make it look reasonably good, but it is hard to get it perfect. Is there a simple solution? Thanks!
P.S. I know that I could just switch to LaTeX and figure out a solution there, but here I am looking for a solution in Markdown, possibly making use of some embedded LaTeX commands.
You can see the algorithm in Figure \ref{methods:estimating}.
\fbox{\parbox{5in}{
1. Initialize $b_r=0$ for $r=1..R$ \\
2. For each item $i, i=1..U$, calculate ... \\
3. Re-estimate ... \\
4. Proceed to Step 2 until it converges.
}}
![Estimating ... \label{methods:estimating}]()
It is rendered like this:
You can use one of the packages for writing algorithms. See https://www.sharelatex.com/learn/algorithms.
Related
This is my first post here. I can usually find what I'm looking for using questions other people have asked, but this time I'm stumped. Please can anyone help?
I'm trying to get Latex to generate a text file every time it is compiled (this bit I can do). I need the text file to have the following format
text text
I have found out how to output a text file from LaTex, but I can't get it to insert a tab, only a space. A post here on StackOverflow shows how to include the backslash character in the text output using the following code:
\makeatletter
\immediate\write\outputfile{text \#backslashchar text}
\makeatother
I'm sure that something similar must work for inserting a tab, but I can't find a solution.
If anyone here knows how to do this I would be very, very grateful.
Many thanks!
There is no counterpart to the concept of a tab in (La)TeX, except when you are aligning the columns in a table. If what you meant by a tab is indentation at the beginning of a paragraph, that is considered a matter of design. Namely, the \parindent parameter specifies the distance that each paragraph should be indented. There is no 'tab' character that occupies the initial position of each paragraph.
However, you can forcefully insert a space in an arbitrary position. For example, use \hspace{distance}, where distance can be something like '3em' (3 times the width of m) or '1cm'.
I'm trying to get my code snippets to look as good as possible and so far I'm having troubles with the character spacing. Here is an example of the output:
alt text http://grab.by/grabs/2bb230de7c088d007733f52b95a40363.png
While the text in small is perfect, all the keywords that are in capital letters look terrible. Here are the settings I use
\lstset{basicstyle=\footnotesize, basewidth=0.5em}
If I increase the basewidth, the capital letters look good, but I can't get any decent sized line of code in one line. The following example does not fit in a page and I already put two line breaks in:
alt text http://grab.by/grabs/97ec29aa5a6811ce28bcd30bd389b52f.png
Does anyone have a clue how I can get this to work? Using \ttfamily does the trick, however, I'd prefer keeping the font.
Thanks.
If you prioritize looking nice, then using flexible colums is preferable:
\lstset{basicstyle=\footnotesize, columns=fullflexible}
You "obviously" need to scale the capital letters down horizontally. I do not know of a way to do this without actually editing the font itself.
However, you could put the entire listing into a \scalebox resp. \resizebox (from the graphicx package).
On a side note, the font you are using seems a bit strange, though, since the distance between small letters is significantly bigger than that between capital letters.
I am trying to create a table over inputs to a tool which requires the entire input to be on a single line.
My question is similar to Latex: How to code tables with multi-line cells in that I want the long lines to wrap.
The problem is that when I copy the text from the PDF using Acrobat Reader it does not copy the lines as a single.
If I copy the first multi-line cell in the example I get
Betty Botter Bought a Bit of Butter
but the Butter's Bitter
My goal is to get it as a single line.
Betty Botter Bought a Bit of Butter but the Butter's Bitter
Is there a way to make it wrap the text while copying the wrapped line as a single line?
I'm trying to figure out what your issue is. Whether your editor and/or Acrobat coies the text as a single line is an issue unrelated to LaTeX. That is, LaTeX doesn't care whether the text is in a single line or whether it's broken into multiple lines, the output is the same, at least when using the column width specification in the answer to the question you linked.
You might get a better response to your question if you clarify why you don't want the text to be copied in multiple lines. Is it making some difference in the output (e.g., wrapping at an incorrect spot)? Some sample code that shows the problem would be helpful.
I'm looking for a way of linking box-like environments (e.g. minipages) in LaTeX, so that text that does not fit into the first box spills into subsequent boxes. E.g:
/begin{box-like-environment}
Text, too much to fit in this box...
/end{box-like-environment}
% some LaTeX here, possibly covering several pages...
/begin{box-like-environment}
% Text which doesn't fit in the first box should appear in this box
/end{box-like-environment}
The effect is something like the 'linked text boxes' of MS Publisher. Any ideas as to if and how this could be achieved?
The idea being, I guess, that the program figures out where to split the text between the two boxes, say so that you can have the text filled between two floats that face each other on opposite pages.
I have no idea how this might be done in Latex; Latex lacks sensitivity to page layout, so I'd guess it can't be done. Context is more sophisticated with regards to layout: it uses METAPOST to handle page layout, not primitive Tex, and there was discussion of something similar on the NTG mailing list: cf. Hans Hagen's post.
Maybe this is an option? There is some software for automatic translation of Latex to Context.
I have been alerted to the flowfram package, which does this.
I am using LaTeX and the figure environment.
I am well familiar with the parameters to that environment: [htbp], and I am also generally familiar with the strategies that LaTeX takes, by default, to decide where to put each figure. For example, by placing figures at the top or bottom of the page.
What I am wondering is whether there is a package, macro, or some commands that I can give so that if I have a single-column document and I mostly have a single in-text reference to a figure, that the figure would be more likely to be placed in the same page of the reference?
For example, imagine that I have a long paragraph which in the middle has a \ref{FIG:X}. When rendered, some of the paragraph appears before the page break, and some appears after the page break. I can also place the figure command somewhere before and after the whole paragraph. Is there a way to get it to actually be placed in the same page as the actual reference?
I don't want to sound too negative, but there are occasions when what you want is almost impossible without a lot of "artificial" tuning of page breaks.
If the callout falls naturally near the bottom of a page, and the figure falls on the following page, moving the figure back one page will probably displace the callout forward.
I would recommend (as far as possible, and depending on the exact size of the figures):
Place the figures with [t] (or [h] if you must)
Place the figures as near as possible to the "right" place (differs for [t] and [h])
Include the figures from separate files with \input, which will make them much easier to move around when you're doing the final tuning
In my experience, this is a big eater-up of non-available time (:-)
In reply to Jon's comment, I think this is an inherently difficult problem, because the LaTeX guys are no slouches. You may like to read Frank Mittelbach's paper.
Yes, include float package into the top of your document and H (capital H) as a figure specifier:
\usepackage{float}
\begin{figure}[H]
.
.
.
\end{figure}
You can always add the "!" into your float-options. This way, latex tries really hard to place the figure where you want it (I mostly use [h!tb]), stretching the normal rules of type-setting.
I have found another solution:
Use the float-package. This way you can place the figures where you want them to be.
I solve this problem by always using the [h] option on floats (such as figures) so that they (mostly) go where I place them. Then when I look at the final draft, I adjust the location of the float by moving it in the LaTeX source. Usually that means moving it around the paragraph where it is referenced. Sometimes I need to add a page break at an appropriate spot.
I've found that the default placement of floats is reasonable in LaTeX, but manual adjustments are almost always needed to get things like this just right. (And sometimes it isn't possible for everything to be perfect when there are lots of floats and footnotes.)
The manual for the memoir class has some good information about how LaTeX places floats and some advice for manipulating the algorithm.
If you want force this behaviour on all of your figures try
...
\usepackage{float}
\floatplacement{figure}{H}
...
Maybe this will help you?
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[scale=0.5]{picture_name}
\end{center}
I think is better to use the graphics command when your figures run away.
I have some useful comments. Because I had similar problem with location of figures.
I used package "wrapfig" that allows to make figures wrapped by text.
Something like
...
\usepackage{wrapfig}
\usepackage{graphicx}
...
\begin{wrapfigure}{r}{53pt}
\includegraphics[width=53pt]{cone.pdf}
\end{wrapfigure}
In options {r} means to put figure from right side. {l} can be use for left side.
\setcounter{topnumber}{2}
\setcounter{bottomnumber}{2}
\setcounter{totalnumber}{4}
\renewcommand{\topfraction}{0.85}
\renewcommand{\bottomfraction}{0.85}
\renewcommand{\textfraction}{0.15}
\renewcommand{\floatpagefraction}{0.7}
http://robjhyndman.com/researchtips/latex-floats/
One way I found that helps with this is to use \include{file_with_tex_figure_commands}
(not input)