% \iffalse % +AMDG This document was begun on E October 11EE, the % feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and it % is humbly dedicated to her and to her Immaculate Heart for % her prayers, and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for His % mercy. % % This document is copyright 2015 by Donald P. Goodman, and is % released publicly under the LaTeX Project Public License. The % distribution and modification of this work is constrained by the % conditions of that license. See % http://www.latex-project.org/lppl.txt % for the text of the license. This document is released % under version 1.3 of that license, and this work may be distributed % or modified under the terms of that license or, at your option, any % later version. % % This work has the LPPL maintenance status 'maintained'. % % The Current Maintainer of this work is Donald P. Goodman % (dgoodmaniii@gmail.com). % % This work consists of xellipsis.dtx, xellipsis.ins, and % derived files xellipsis.sty and xellipsis.pdf. % \fi % \iffalse %\NeedsTeXFormat{LaTeX2e}[1999/12/01] %\ProvidesPackage{xellipsis}[2015/11/01 v2.0 support for highly configurable ellipses of arbitrary symbol, number, and distance] %<*driver> \documentclass{ltxdoc} \usepackage{doc} \usepackage{array} \usepackage{lettrine} \setcounter{DefaultLines}{3} \setlength{\DefaultFindent}{2pt} \renewcommand{\LettrineFontHook}{\color{red}} \usepackage{url} \usepackage{spverbatim} \usepackage[typeone]{dozenal} \usepackage{lmodern} \usepackage[]{xellipsis} \usepackage[colorlinks]{hyperref} \usepackage{makeidx} \EnableCrossrefs \PageIndex \CodelineNumbered \RecordChanges \makeindex \long\def\example#1#2{% \bigskip% \hrule% \hbox to\linewidth{% \hbox to0.5\linewidth{% \vbox to2in{\vfil#1\vfil}% }\hbox to0.5\linewidth{% \vbox to2in{\vfil#2\vfil}% }% }% \hrule% \bigskip% } \tracingmacros=3 \begin{document} \DocInput{xellipsis.dtx} \end{document} % \fi % % \title{The |xellipsis| Package, v2.0} \author{Donald P.\ % Goodman III} \date{\today} % % \maketitle % % \begin{abstract} \TeX\ users have long been remarking that % the default characteristics of ellipses, whether produced % by |\dots|, |\ldots|, or some other command, just aren't % quite right. While some packages have attempted to % resolve this issue (e.g., |lips| and |ellipsis|), these % have never quite fit my use cases. |xellipsis| attempts % to fill this gap by providing absurdly configurable % ellipses, along with preconfigured options for the Chicago % Manual of Style (and Turabian), MLA, and the Bluebook. \end{abstract} % % \tableofcontents % % \section{Introduction} % % Typography has long made use of these strange sequences of % (usually) dots called \emph{ellipses} (singular % \emph{ellipsis}). An ellipsis typically indicates an % omission from a quotation (indeed, the Greek root means % ``omission''), but they have also been used in a huge % variety of other ways over the years: % % \begin{itemize} \item The aforementioned omission. ``Four % score and\xelip seven years ago.'' \item An unfinished % thought. ``Our forefathers brought forth\xelip I don't % know; something, I guess.'' \item Indications of preceding % matter. ``\xelip a new nation, conceived in liberty.'' % \item A pause. ``I think\xelip therefore, I am.'' \item % Probably lots of other things, as well. \end{itemize} % % \LaTeX, by default, produces ellipses with the |\dots| % (\dots) or |\ldots| (\ldots) commands. These are fine, as % far as they go; however, they suffer a few clear faults. % For example, there is much less space at the beginning % than at the end, which many people don't like; they are % fairly close together, which not only do many people not % like, but which goes against some important style manuals; % they cannot have four or more dots, which some style % manuals require in certain circumstances; and their % spacing is not in any way configurable. % % So |xellipsis| gives you all the configuration options for % your ellipses that you could possibly want, and probably % lots more than you'll ever need. It also comes % prepackaged with a few common formats, which are selected % as package options at load time. % % |xellipsis| is packaged according to the \LaTeX\ % \textsc{docstrip} utility, which allows automatic % extraction of code and documentation from the same files. % % \section{Preconfigured Formats} % \label{sect:preconf} % % |xellipsis| comes with some preconfigured ellipsis formats % for the convenience of users. These are all set as % package options; so, for example, when loading the package % one states |\usepackage{xellipsis}| for the default % behavior, but |\usepackage[latex]{xellipsis}| to specify % the |latex| format. % % Please note that the usage of these ellipses is not always % clear, even according to the manuals. I've done my best % to get them right here, but if they're wrong on some % detail, please let me know and I'll try to fix them. % |xellipsis| offers ample configuration options to get % these things right. % % \DescribeMacro{latex} % The |latex| option sets up |\xelip| to behave identically % to the default \LaTeX\ setting of |\dots| or |\ldots|. % (The \LaTeX\ kernel defines |\ldots| as % |\let\ldots=\dots|, so the two are the same.) In a % convoluted way, |\dots| is defined in terms of % |\textellipsis|, which itself is simply three dots % separated by the current font's |\fontdimen3|, which is % the stretchability of interword space. Not the interword % space itself, mind you, but just the stretchability of % that space. This leads to pretty tightly spaced ellipses % for most fonts; but there we are. It also specifies no % particular space before the ellipsis, but the same space % as the gaps afterwards. This option yields the following: % \begin{quote} % {\xelipbef=0pt\xelipaft=\fontdimen3\font\xelipgap=\fontdimen3\font % This is\xelip pretty tight, really. (|\xelip|) % % This is\ldots pretty tight, really. (|\ldots|) % } % \end{quote} % % \DescribeMacro{chicago} % \textit{The Chicago Manual of Style} has some very % specific rules about ellipses; specifically, that they % should be three periods plus two nonbreaking spaces. So % |xellipsis| defines them precisely that way, in terms of % |\fontdimen2| (the non-glue portion of the interword space % for the font), and adds no space before the first dot. % The \textsc{cmos} also specifies that, at the end of a % natural sentence, the period of the sentence should remain % \emph{prior} to the ellipsis; this works fine with our % definition. % This system yields: % \begin{quote} % {\xelipbef=0pt\xelipaft=\fontdimen2\font\xelipgap=\fontdimen2\font % This is\xelip pretty loose, really. (|\xelip|) % % I like that.\ \xelip It makes some sense. (|.\ \xelip|) % } % \end{quote} % % \DescribeMacro{mla} % The \textsc{mla} advises similar ellipses to the \textsc{cmos}, % except that there should always be a space before the % first period. % \begin{quote} % {\xelipbef=\fontdimen2\font\xelipaft=\fontdimen2\font\xelipgap=\fontdimen2\font % This is\xelip pretty loose, really. (|\xelip|) % } % \end{quote} % % \DescribeMacro{oldmla} % The \textsc{mla} formerly advised that ellipses indicating % omissions should be surrounded by square brackets ([]). % The materials I've seen seem to indicate that this might % still be required when the quotation already contains % ellipses in the original material; however, usually they % are not required. Either way, here's the option: % \begin{quote} % {\xelipbef=\fontdimen2\font\xelipaft=\fontdimen2\font\xelipgap=\fontdimen2\font\def\xelipprechar{[}\def\xelippostchar{]}\xelipprebef=\fontdimen2\font\xelippostaft=\fontdimen2\font % This is\xelip how it's supposed to work, I guess? (|\xelip|) % } % \end{quote} % % \DescribeMacro{bluebook} % Finally, in the United States legal citations are governed % by our overlords at the Harvard Law Review, who publish % \textit{The Bluebook}. Their ellipses are formatted just % like the \textsc{mla} ellipses: % \begin{quote} % {\xelipbef=\fontdimen2\font\xelipaft=\fontdimen2\font\xelipgap=\fontdimen2\font % This is\xelip pretty loose, really. (|\xelip|) % } % \end{quote} % % Finally, there is a special command % \DescribeMacro{\xelipend}|\xelipend|. This is identical % to |\xelip| except that the closing space is omitted. % % \begin{quote} % ``This is pretty neat\xelipend'' (|\xelipend|) % % ``This is pretty neat\xelip'' (|\xelip|) % \end{quote} % % |\xelipend| is primarily useful immediately preceding some % quoting character; some people prefer there to be no or % much more limited spacing in this location. Use % |\xelipend| if you prefer this type of behavior. % % \section{The Nitty-Gritty: Configuration} % \label{sect:nittygritty} % % We've already seen examples of the |xellipsis| defaults % used (any time in this document that we haven't been % explicitly demonstrating something else), so let's get % down-and-dirty with the internals and do some customizing. % % The first is the most obvious: the character from which % the ellipsis is constructed. This defaults to ``.'' (a % period), and is held in the variable % \DescribeMacro{\xelipchar}|\xelipchar|. Simply redefine % |\xelipchar| in the normal way to get something different % from the ordinary: % % \bigskip \hbox to\linewidth{% \hfil% \hbox % to0.4\linewidth{% \hfil% \vbox{% % \hbox{|\def\xelipchar{*}|} \hbox{|\xelip|} } \hfil% }\hbox % to0.4\linewidth{% \hfil% \vbox{% \def\xelipchar{*}\xelip } % \hfil% } \hfil% } \bigskip % % \def\xelipchar{*} This was actually quite common in older % legal documents (using asterisks for ellipses, that is): % ``And the ruling of the lower court\xelip is hereby % \textsc{affirmed}.'' \def\xelipchar{.} So this sort of % thing has some real functionality at times. % % The same effect can be achieved by using the % \DescribeMacro{char}|char| package option; e.g., by % loading |xellipsis| with |\usepackage[char=*]{xellipsis}|. % Indeed, as of version 2.0, all these settings can be made % at the time of package loading. % % The \emph{number} of characters in an ellipsis is governed % by \DescribeMacro{\xelipnum}|\xelipnum|. |\xelipnum| is % a \emph{counter}, not a macro, so if you change it, do so % with a simple |=|: % % \bigskip \hbox to\linewidth{% \hfil% \hbox % to0.4\linewidth{% \hfil% \vbox{% \hbox{|\xelipnum=6|} % \hbox{|\xelip|} } \hfil% }\hbox to0.4\linewidth{% \hfil% % \vbox{% \xelipnum=6 \xelip } \hfil% } \hfil% } \bigskip % % Most likely this would be 3 or 4, but I'm not going to try % to limit you. |\xelipnum| defaults to 3. The package % option is \DescribeMacro{num}|num|. % % There are three lengths responsible for controlling the % spacing of the ellipses. The space \emph{before} the % first character of the ellipses is % \DescribeMacro{\xelipbef}|\xelipbef|; the space % \emph{after} the last character of the ellipses is % \DescribeMacro{\xelipaft}|\xelipaft|; and the space % \emph{between} the characters of the ellipses is % \DescribeMacro{\xelipgap}|\xelipgap|. Each of these % default to |3pt|. Their package options are % \DescribeMacro{before}|before|, % \DescribeMacro{after}|after|, and % \DescribeMacro{gap}|gap|. % % The benefit of having each of these independently % configurable is that you don't have to worry about % inserting special spacing before the ellipsis. % Furthermore, you don't have to worry about |\xelip| eating the space % after your command unless you prevent that with |{}| or % |\ |; it \emph{does} % eat the space, but that's okay, because the appropriate % spacing is built into it. So you can say % |I went\xelip to the store| and you'll get % ``I went\xelip to the store'', exactly as you undoubtedly % wanted. No need for |\xelip{}| or such expedients. % % Remember that these lengths are |dimen|s, so they are % reset using a simple |=|; you can also use the \LaTeX\ % |\setlength| incantation if you'd prefer: % % \bigskip % \hbox to\linewidth{% % \hfil% % \hbox to0.49\linewidth{% % \hfil% % \vbox{% % \hbox{|\xelipbef=1em|} % \hbox{|\xelipgap=2em|} % \hbox{|\setlength{\xelipaft}{2pt}|} % \hbox{|This is\xelip strange.|} % }% % \hfil% % }\hbox to0.49\linewidth{% % \hfil% % \vbox{% % \xelipbef=1em % \xelipgap=2em % \setlength{\xelipaft}{2pt} % This is\xelip strange. % } % \hfil% % }% % \hfil% % } % \bigskip % % Finally, some style guides (including the MLA, until % recently) require some surrounding punctuation for an % ellipsis. |xellipsis| provides for this, too. The % character that is to go \emph{before} the ellipsis is % \DescribeMacro{\xelipprechar}|\xelipprechar|, while the % character that is to go \emph{after} the ellipsis is % \DescribeMacro{\xelippostchar}|\xelippostchar|. Both of % these default to be empty. Their package options are % \DescribeMacro{prechar}|prechar| and % \DescribeMacro{postchar}|postchar|. % % \bigskip % \hbox to\linewidth{% % \hfil% % \hbox to0.49\linewidth{% % \hfil% % \vbox{% % \hbox{|\def\xelipprechar{[}|} % \hbox{|\def\xelippostchar{]}|} % \hbox{|This is\xelip strange.|} % }% % \hfil% % }\hbox to0.49\linewidth{% % \hfil% % \vbox{% % \def\xelipprechar{[} % \def\xelippostchar{]} % This is\xelip strange. % } % \hfil% % }% % \hfil% % } % \bigskip % % As with |\xelipchar|, you can use really anything for % this, even things that would be truly bizarre (daggers? % fleur-de-lis?); but this is a typical use case. % % The unsurprisingly-named % \DescribeMacro{\xelipprebef}|\xelipprebef|, % \DescribeMacro{\xelippreaft}|\xelippreaft|, % \DescribeMacro{\xelippostbef}|\xelippostbef|, and % \DescribeMacro{\xelippostaft}|\xelippostaft| control the % spacing around these two characters; by default, all four % are set to |0pt|. They are |dimen|s and can be set in % either the \TeX\ way or the \LaTeX\ |\setlength| way. % Their package options are % \DescribeMacro{prebefore}|prebefore|, % \DescribeMacro{preafter}|preafter|, % \DescribeMacro{postbefore}|postbefore|, and % \DescribeMacro{postafter}|postafter|, % % \bigskip % \hbox to\linewidth{% % \hfil% % \hbox to0.49\linewidth{% % \hfil% % \vbox{% % \hbox{|\def\xelipprechar{[}|} % \hbox{|\def\xelippostchar{]}|} % \hbox{|\xelipprebef=6pt|} % \hbox{|\xelippreaft=3pt|} % \hbox{|\setlength{\xelippostbef}{3pt}|} % \hbox{|\setlength{\xelippostaft}{6pt}|} % \hbox{|This is\xelip strange.|} % }% % \hfil% % }\hbox to0.49\linewidth{% % \hfil% % \vbox{% % \def\xelipprechar{[} % \def\xelippostchar{]} % \xelipprebef=6pt % \xelippreaft=3pt % \setlength{\xelippostbef}{3pt} % \setlength{\xelippostaft}{6pt} % This is\xelip strange. % } % \hfil% % }% % \hfil% % } % \bigskip % % Please be aware that |\xelippreaft| \emph{stacks} % with |\xelipbef|, and |\xelippostbef| stacks with % |\xelipaft|; so their sum should be the spacing you want. % Often this means simply leaving the two of them alone, as % you've already got the appropriate space in the % shorter-named |dimen|s. % % And that's it; if |xellipsis| can't meet your ellipsis % needs somehow, please contact me and let me know, and I'll % endeavor to add what you require. Happy \TeX{}ing! % % \section{Implementation} % % Our first task, as usual, is to define our options. We % have options for default \LaTeX\ ellipsis behavior, % Chicago Manual of Style behavior, old MLA behavior, and % current MLA behavior. These all default to \emph{off}, % and the default |xellipsis| behavior described above is % \emph{on}. We define the conditions for the options, then % process the options themselves. We use |xkeyval| to get % these options, so we can easily give them key-value % arguments. We also need to define our default characters. % \begin{macrocode} \RequirePackage{xkeyval} \def\xelipchar{.} \def\xelipprechar{} \def\xelippostchar{} % \end{macrocode} % Proceed to define the dimens that we will need. These are % mostly self-explanatory; the first is for the gap % between the characters of the ellipsis, the second is for % the space \emph{before} the ellipsis begins, and the third % is for the space \emph{after} the ellipsis ends. The % fourth and fifth are for the spaces around the % pre-ellipsis character, and the sixth and seventh are for % the spaces around the post-ellipsis character. % \begin{macrocode} \newdimen\xelipgap\xelipgap=3pt \newdimen\xelipbef\xelipbef=3pt \newdimen\xelipaft\xelipaft=3pt \newdimen\xelipprebef\xelipprebef=0pt \newdimen\xelippreaft\xelippreaft=0pt \newdimen\xelippostbef\xelippostbef=0pt \newdimen\xelippostaft\xelippostaft=0pt % \end{macrocode} % Now we define the counter which holds the number of % ellipsis characters we want. Defaults to 3. % \begin{macrocode} \newcount\xelipnum\xelipnum = 3% % \end{macrocode} % \begin{macrocode} \newif\ifxel@latex\xel@latexfalse \newif\ifxel@chicago\xel@chicagofalse \newif\ifxel@oldmla\xel@oldmlafalse \newif\ifxel@mla\xel@mlafalse \newif\ifxel@bluebook\xel@bluebookfalse \DeclareOptionX{latex}{\xel@latextrue} \DeclareOptionX{chicago}{\xel@chicagotrue} \DeclareOptionX{oldmla}{\xel@oldmlatrue} \DeclareOptionX{mla}{\xel@mlatrue} \DeclareOptionX{bluebook}{\xel@bluebooktrue} \DeclareOptionX{char}{\def\xelipchar{#1}} \DeclareOptionX{num}{\xelipnum=#1} \DeclareOptionX{before}{\xelipbef=#1} \DeclareOptionX{after}{\xelipaft=#1} \DeclareOptionX{gap}{\xelipgap=#1} \DeclareOptionX{prechar}{\def\xelipprechar{#1}} \DeclareOptionX{postchar}{\def\xelippostchar{#1}} \DeclareOptionX{prebefore}{\xelipprebef=#1} \DeclareOptionX{preafter}{\xelippreaft=#1} \DeclareOptionX{postbefore}{\xelippostbef=#1} \DeclareOptionX{postafter}{\xelippostaft=#1} \ProcessOptionsX % \end{macrocode} % Now we define the loop variable. % \begin{macrocode} \newcount\xel@loopi\xel@loopi = 0% % \end{macrocode} % Next, we define the box which will hold the ellipsis; this % way we can be sure that it won't break across lines. % \begin{macrocode} \def\xelip{% \nobreak\hskip0pt\hbox{% % \end{macrocode} % Put it the code for the |\xelipprechar| and its spacing: % \begin{macrocode} \hskip\xelipprebef\xelipprechar\hskip\xelippreaft% % \end{macrocode} % Now, we use |\xelipbef| to skip the pre-ellipsis distance. % \begin{macrocode} \hskip\xelipbef\xelipchar% % \end{macrocode} % Now we loop, printing |\xelipchar| and skipping % |\xelipgap| as many times as |\xelipnum| requires. We % start be resetting the |\xel@loopi| variable, just in % case. % \begin{macrocode} \xel@loopi = 1% \loop\ifnum\xelipnum>\xel@loopi% \advance\xel@loopi by1% \hskip\xelipgap% \xelipchar% \repeat % \end{macrocode} % Lastly, we skip |\xelipaft|, then skip for % |\xelippostchar| and its |dimen|s, close our box, and sit % back in the satisfaction of an ellipsis well-made. % \begin{macrocode} \hskip\xelipaft% \hskip\xelippostbef\xelippostchar\hskip\xelippostaft% }% }% % \end{macrocode} % Set up a special command, |\xelipend|, which omits the % spacing at the end and can be used immediately before % quotations or the like. % \begin{macrocode} \def\xelipend{% \begingroup% \xelipaft=0pt \xelip% \endgroup% }% % % Set up the |latex| option. % \begin{macrocode} \ifxel@latex \xelipbef=0pt% \xelipaft=\fontdimen3\font% \xelipgap=\fontdimen3\font% \fi % \end{macrocode} % \textit{The Chicago Manual of Style} option. % \begin{macrocode} \ifxel@chicago \xelipbef=0pt% \xelipaft=\fontdimen2\font% \xelipgap=\fontdimen2\font% \fi % \end{macrocode} % The \textsc{mla} option. % \begin{macrocode} \ifxel@mla \xelipbef=\fontdimen2\font% \xelipaft=\fontdimen2\font% \xelipgap=\fontdimen2\font% \fi % \end{macrocode} % \textit{The Bluebook} option. % \begin{macrocode} \ifxel@bluebook \xelipbef=\fontdimen2\font% \xelipaft=\fontdimen2\font% \xelipgap=\fontdimen2\font% \fi % \end{macrocode} % The old \textsc{mla} option. % \begin{macrocode} \ifxel@oldmla \xelipbef=\fontdimen2\font% \xelipaft=\fontdimen2\font% \xelipgap=\fontdimen2\font% \def\xelipprechar{[}% \def\xelippostchar{]}% \xelipprebef=\fontdimen2\font% \xelippostaft=\fontdimen2\font% \fi % } % \end{macrocode} % And there's the |xellipsis| package. I hope it proves % useful to someone besides myself. Happy \TeX{}ing! % % \PrintIndex