Updated «Outlines» chapter

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Kenneth John Odle 2024-08-14 19:24:01 -04:00
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@ -688,9 +688,9 @@ Command & Purpose {\& Example, if applicable} \\
\chapter{Easy Outlines in \LaTeX{}}
Ever since I first learned about outlining in high school (or was it earlier?) I've always loved being able to organize information hierarchically. The irony is that I also love biology and the natural world does not necessarily organize itself in a hierarchical way. Cross-pollination and inter-species breeding is a thing.\footnote{Don't get me started here. I could write an entire zine about this.}
Ever since I first learned about outlining in high school (or was it earlier?) I've always loved being able to organize information hierarchically. The irony is that I also love biology and the natural world does not necessarily organize itself in a hierarchical way. Cross-pollination and inter-species breeding is a thing.
You can use the built-in \texttt{enumerate} environment to create outlines, but it requires lots and lots of nested \texttt{enumerate} environments. (\texttt{html} is the same way—an occupational hazard, I suppose, of liking both outlines and computers.) I grew up using a typewriter, so I've always been looking for something simpler.
You can use the built-in \texttt{enumerate} environment to create outlines, but it requires lots and lots of nested \texttt{enumerate} environments. (\texttt{html} is the same way—an occupational hazard, I suppose, of liking both outlines and computers.) I grew up using a typewriter where outline are pretty much just tab stops, so I've always been looking for something simpler on a computer.
Fortunately, \LaTeX{} does have something simpler—the \texttt{outlines} package.
@ -714,6 +714,7 @@ and then you use the \texttt{outline} environment like this:
\2 A fourth sub-item
\3 A sub-sub-item
\3 Yet another sub-sub-item
\4 A fourth-level item, all by itself just to annoy your English teacher
\end{outline}
\end{Verbatim}
@ -728,6 +729,7 @@ which gives us this beautiful outline:
\2 A fourth sub-item
\3 A sub-sub-item
\3 Yet another sub-sub-item
\4 A fourth-level item, all by itself just to annoy your English teacher
\end{outline}
The indents in your source code are absolutely not necessary, but you can indent with tabs or spaces to help you keep visual track of things. The actual levels are controlled by the number after the backslash.
@ -746,6 +748,7 @@ You are limited to four levels of indentation. (This is a part of \LaTeX{}.\foot
\2 Another sub-item
\3 A sub-sub-item
\3 Yet another sub-sub-item
\4 A fourth-level item, all by itself just to annoy your English teacher
\end{outline}
\end{Verbatim}
@ -760,6 +763,7 @@ gives us this:
\2 Another sub-item
\3 A sub-sub-item
\3 Yet another sub-sub-item
\4 A fourth-level item, all by itself just to annoy your English teacher
\end{outline}
This also resets all the counters after that normal paragraph. I think this is fairly typical behavior for outlines, however, so I am okay with this.
@ -774,7 +778,7 @@ Unfortunately, this isn't exactly the style of outlining I learned in high schoo
\renewcommand{\labelenumi}{\Roman{enumi}.}
\renewcommand{\labelenumii}{\Alph{enumii}.}
\renewcommand{\labelenumiii}{\arabic{enumiii}.}
\renewcommand{\labelenumiv}{\alph{enumiv}.}
\renewcommand{\labelenumiv}{\alph{enumiv})}
\begin{outline}[enumerate]
\1 Top-level item.
@ -789,7 +793,7 @@ Unfortunately, this isn't exactly the style of outlining I learned in high schoo
\renewcommand{\labelenumi}{\Roman{enumi}.}
\renewcommand{\labelenumii}{\Alph{enumii}.}
\renewcommand{\labelenumiii}{\arabic{enumiii}.}
\renewcommand{\labelenumiv}{\alph{enumiv}.}
\renewcommand{\labelenumiv}{\alph{enumiv})}
\begin{outline}[enumerate]
\1 Top-level item.
@ -820,7 +824,7 @@ Given all that, it's pretty easy to see how to customize list environments. You
% theme = {custom1}
]{
width = {\textwidth},
colspec = { X[16,l] X[41,l] X[41,l] },
colspec = { X[16,l] X[41,c] X[41,c] },
hlines = {0.5pt,solid},
vline{1,4} = {0.5pt,solid},
rows = {5mm, m, rowsep=1.5pt},
@ -828,13 +832,15 @@ Given all that, it's pretty easy to see how to customize list environments. You
rowhead = 1,
cells = {font=\sffamily\fontsize{9pt}{12pt}\selectfont},
}
Level & \texttt{enumerate} commands & \texttt{itemize} commands \\
Level & enumerate commands & itemize commands \\
Level 1 & \texttt{labelenumi} & \texttt{labelitemi} \\
Level 2 & \texttt{labelenumii} & \texttt{labelitemii} \\
Level 3 & \texttt{labelenumiii} & \texttt{labelitemiii} \\
Level 4 & \texttt{labelenumiv} & \texttt{labelitemiv} \\
\end{longtblr}
Notice that we can also use punctuation around these to affect how they are formatted. For example, here \verb|{\arabic{enumiii}.}| I used a period after the label, and here \verb|{\alph{enumiv})}| I used a closing parenthesis after the label.
Because \texttt{enumerate} environments also use numbers, we need some counter variables to keep track of those. They look like this:
\begin{longtblr}
@ -844,7 +850,7 @@ Because \texttt{enumerate} environments also use numbers, we need some counter v
% theme = {custom1}
]{
width = {0.7\textwidth},
colspec = { X[30,l] X[70,l] },
colspec = { X[30,l] X[70,c] },
hlines = {0.5pt,solid},
vline{1,3} = {0.5pt,solid},
rows = {5mm, m, rowsep=1.5pt},
@ -852,7 +858,7 @@ Because \texttt{enumerate} environments also use numbers, we need some counter v
rowhead = 1,
cells = {font=\sffamily\fontsize{9pt}{12pt}\selectfont},
}
Level & \texttt{enumerate} counter variable \\
Level & enumerate counter variable \\
Level 1 & \texttt{enumi} \\
Level 2 & \texttt{enumii} \\
Level 3 & \texttt{enumiii} \\
@ -868,7 +874,7 @@ And what can you make those labels look like? Like this:
% theme = {custom1}
]{
width = {0.7\textwidth},
colspec = { X[60,l] X[40,l] },
colspec = { X[60,l] X[40,c] },
hlines = {0.5pt,solid},
vline{1,3} = {0.5pt,solid},
rows = {5mm, m, rowsep=1.5pt},