PCTeX Talk
Discussions on TeX, LaTeX, fonts, and typesetting

Author Message

Joined: 06 Oct 2005
Posts: 84
Location: San Francisco, CA

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:23 pm    Post subject: \LEFTRIGHT(){\sum_{xyz}xyz} doesn't look right

Mike Spivak wrote:

The best way to do this is
 Code: \biggl(\sum_{xyz}xyz\biggr)

\PARENS, or \LEFTRIGHT in general, was specifically designed for
situations where very large delimiters might be needed, allowing one
to get designed ones rather than extensible ones. Since these
situations always involve large things that are \vcenter'ed, the
macros for \PARENS and \LEFTRIGHT automatically \vcenter the argument.
So \LEFTRIGHT(){\sum_{xyz}xyz} doesn't look right because instead of
having the \sum on the line, with the _{xyz} below it, the whole
expression \sum_{xyz}xyz has been \vcenter'ed moving it into a new
position. The MTP2 guide specifically mentions this. So the solution
is basically not to use these constructions when you don't need them!

By the way, I should also mention that even \left(\sum_{xyz}xyz\right)
isn't the right thing to type. As explained in the TeXBook, and I
would hope in various LaTeX books, the best thing to type is
\biggl(\sum_{xyz}xyz\biggr) because \left( ... \right) will give
parentheses that entirely enclose the ... material, whereas standard
typesetting allows subscripts like _{xyz} and superscripts to poke out
a bit beyond the parentheses, and \biggl( and \biggr) give the right
size for this in a displayed equation.
 Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First
 All times are GMT - 7 Hours Page 1 of 1

 Jump to: Select a forum Support----------------PCTeX 6PCTeX v6 Beta Fonts----------------MathTime Pro II New SymbolsMathTime Pro IILucida FontsMathTime Pro II BetaMathTime Pro TUG----------------PracTeX Production
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum