General ⇒ making text continue to the next page, not the next column

[jsmith6]

I have a two-column layout.

Let's say I am on the left column. If I exceed the vertical length of the page then the text continues on the right column. I would like it to continue on the left column of the next page.

I want this because the layout what I have imagined (and I try to implement) has the two columns as independent. There is a different issue on each column and on some pages one of the columns is empty.

The software I am using is Tetex 3.0 on Linux.

I also see some of these error messages:

Code: Select all

Underfull \hbox (badness 10000) in paragraph at lines 84--85

but I can't see any artifacts inside the DVI/PDF apart from the columns issue, so I have been ignoring them so far. I imagine that they are not related but I had to point it out.

I have included a screenshot, my source Latex document and the output log at the end of this post. Unfortunatelly the Latex file has to be leangthy in order to show how do I plan to use the columns and how the text wraps on the next column if it's too lengthy. Including the log file as part of this post would be too lengthy so I am using a Pastebin link.

screenshot:



log file: http://pastebin.com/f18873e74

source Latex document:

Code: Select all

\documentclass[12pt,twocolumn]{book}

% included packages
\usepackage[a3paper,landscape]{geometry}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{amsmath} % i think it's needed for parindent{0cm} but the document compiles without it

% options
\setlength\parindent{0cm}
\geometry{top=3cm,bottom=3cm,left=3cm,right=3cm}
\setlength{\columnsep}{3cm}
\pagestyle{fancy}

% custom headers
\newcommand{\pear}{}
\newcommand{\peardate}[1]{\renewcommand{\pear}{#1}}
\chead{\Large{ \textbf{\pear}} \vspace{1cm} } 
\setlength\headheight{2cm} % the header has troubles on the first page without this

% custom poem title
\newcommand{\peartitle}[1]{ \vspace{0.3cm} \textbf{#1} \vspace{0.6cm} }


\begin{document}

\onecolumn

	\peardate{Preface}
	
	Single column.

\clearpage
\twocolumn

	\peardate{7 July}

	\peartitle{Title on the left column}

	Left.

	\newpage

	\peartitle{Title of the right column}

	Right.

\clearpage
\twocolumn

\clearpage
\twocolumn

	\peardate{15 October}

	\peartitle{}

	\newpage

	\peartitle{Title}

	We have text only on the right column.

\clearpage
\twocolumn

	\peardate{09 May 2006}

	\peartitle{Title}

	We have text only on the left column.

	\newpage

	\peartitle{}

\clearpage
\twocolumn

	\peardate{13 March 2007}

	\peartitle{Lengthy text}


	\large{\textbf{Paragraph \#1:}} \normalsize The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. \\

	\large{\textbf{Paragraph \#2:}} \normalsize The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. \\

	\large{\textbf{Paragraph \#3:}} \normalsize The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. \\

	\large{\textbf{Paragraph \#4:}} \normalsize The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. \\

	\large{\textbf{Paragraph \#5:}} \normalsize The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. \\

	\large{\textbf{Paragraph \#6:}} \normalsize The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. \\

	\LARGE{This is where the problem is. Notice how paragraph \#6 continues in the right column instead of continuing on the left column of the next page.} \normalsize \\

	\large{\textbf{Paragraph \#7:}} \normalsize The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. \\

	\newpage

	\peartitle{This the right column title}

	Right column text that gets wrongly rendered on the left column of the next page.

\clearpage
\twocolumn

	\peardate{28 November 2006}

	\peartitle{Title}

	Text.

	\newpage

	\peartitle{Title}

	Text.

\clearpage
\twocolumn

\end{document}

[Juanjo]

For such kind of tasks, you may use packages as parallel or parcolumns. I next provide an example, which can be improved, based on this last package:

Code: Select all

\documentclass[12pt]{book}

% Included packages
\usepackage[a3paper,landscape]{geometry}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}

\usepackage{parcolumns} % <<<<<<----- Required
\usepackage{lipsum} % <<<<---- Only needed in the example

% Page layout
\setlength{\parindent}{0cm}
\geometry{top=3cm,bottom=3cm,left=3cm,right=3cm,headheight=25pt}

% Custom headers
\newcommand{\pear}{}
\newcommand{\peardate}[1]{\renewcommand{\pear}{#1}}
\chead{\Large\textbf{\pear}}
\pagestyle{fancy}

% Custom poem title
\newcommand{\peartitle}[1]{\textbf{#1} \vspace{0.6cm} }
	
\begin{document}

% ===================================
\peardate{Preface}
   
Single column.

\clearpage
% ===================================

% ===================================
\peardate{7 July 2005}
\begin{parcolumns}[nofirstindent]{2}
% Left
\colchunk{%
\peartitle{Title of the left column}\par
Left.
}
% Right
\colchunk{%
\peartitle{Title of the right column}\par
Right.
}
\colplacechunks
\end{parcolumns}
\clearpage
% ===================================

% ===================================
\peardate{9 May 2006}
\begin{parcolumns}[nofirstindent]{2}
% Left
\colchunk{%
\peartitle{Title of the left column}\par
Text only on the left column.
}
% Right

\colplacechunks
\end{parcolumns}
\clearpage
% ===================================

% ===================================
\peardate{15 October 2006}
\begin{parcolumns}[nofirstindent]{2}
% Left

% Right
\colchunk[2]{%
\peartitle{Title of the right column}\par
Text only on the right column.
}
\colplacechunks
\end{parcolumns}
\clearpage
% ===================================

% ===================================
\peardate{13 March 2007}
\begin{parcolumns}[nofirstindent,sloppy]{2}
% Left
\colchunk{%
\peartitle{A very long text on the left column}\par
\lipsum[1-15]
}
% Right
\colchunk[2]{%
\peartitle{Title of the right column}\par
Text on the right column.
}
\colplacechunks
\end{parcolumns}
\clearpage
% ===================================

% ===================================
\peardate{8 August 2008}
\begin{parcolumns}[nofirstindent,sloppy]{2}
% Left
\colchunk{%
\peartitle{Title of the left column}\par
Left.
}
% Right
\colchunk{%
\peartitle{Title of the right column}\par
Right.
}
\colplacechunks
\end{parcolumns}
\clearpage
% ===================================

\end{document}

Concerning the warnings you get about underfull \hboxes, they are probably caused by the \\ command you put several times. They serve to introduce line breaks inside paragraphs, but they should never be used to mark the end of a paragraph. For the latter purpose, it suffices to add a blank line or the \par command. As a rule of thumb, out of tabular and multiline math environments, the use of \\ should be the exception, not the rule.

Likewise, the \large command has no arguments, so a pair of braces after it is completely useless: "\large{text}" is exactly the same as "\large text". If you want to bound the scope of \large, put it and the corresponding text inside the same pair of braces: {\large text}. Environments also limit the scope. The same comments apply to similar commands, as \small, \Large, \bfseries, \itshape, etc.

Finally, the teTeX distribution has become outdated. You should move to TeX Live.

[jsmith6]

Whoah! You revised my whole layout! Thanks!

I had assembled that layout with bits an pieces I found through google searching.

Well, first of, I installed Texlive. I mounted the ISO and run that script, I can't believe how easy it was. I should have done that a long time ago.

I still have a few issues.

1. The first is that I still get the \vbox warning:

Code: Select all

Underfull \vbox (badness 10000) has occurred while \output is active [5]
Underfull \vbox (badness 10000) has occurred while \output is active [6]

Can I ignore it? I don't see anything wrong in the layout.

2. The \peartitle{} in my original layout had some vertical space under it to make it distinguish from the text. But when I add vertical space on your layout it doesn't respond:

Code: Select all

\newcommand{\peartitle}[1]{\textbf{#1} \vspace{0.6cm} }

even if I make \vspace{5cm}. What is see is that when I try to add vertical space like that I instead get the text inside \peartitle{} getting a little space on it's left side. A sample of this you can see here:



Is there a way to vertical space between \peartitle{} and the text under it?

3.You removed the vspace on my header:

Code: Select all

\chead{{\Large\textbf{\pear}} \vspace{1cm} }

Was it wrong to have the vspace there?

3. I want to find the most correct way of giving one line space between two paragraphs of text. \par will make the text go to the next paragraph but I need an empty line between two two paragraphs. I mean this:

Code: Select all

This text is on the first line.

This text is two lines after the previous text.

Since I can't use \\ to do that, I have managed to do it with \newline\newline. Is that an acceptable practice?

And since I am on this, do I have to use \par at some point inside the document?

4. I like "spacey" code and I do this in CSS and Bash script too because it helps me see where a snip of code begins and ends. What I mean is going from this:

Code: Select all

\colchunk{%
\peartitle{Title of the left column}\par
Left.
}

...to this:

Code: Select all

\colchunk
{
   \peartitle{Title of the left column}\par
	Left.
}

I noticed that doing it on \colchuck is ok (doesn't give me any errors) but doing it on \colchick[2] gave me this error:

Code: Select all

Runaway argument?
{nofirstindent,sloppy\relax \fi \ifnum \pc@columnctr >\pc@columncount \ETC.
! Paragraph ended before \setkeys was complete.
<to be read again> 
                   \par 
l.168 }

and renders a few bugs on the document. So my question is, is there a way to maintain my coding style and keeping the document valid?


5. I notice that you use a "%" in \colchunk{}, like this

Code: Select all

\colchunk{%

As far as I understand these are comments, so I tried removing it and things remained the same. Is it safe to remove it or it necessary?

[Juanjo]

1. The first is that I still get the \vbox warning:

Code: Select all

Underfull \vbox (badness 10000) has occurred while \output is active [5]
Underfull \vbox (badness 10000) has occurred while \output is active [6]

Can I ignore it? I don't see anything wrong in the layout.

By default, in the book class, LaTeX tries to fill all the page. If there is not enough material to do that, LaTeX issues a warning. You can get rid off it by putting a \raggedbottom command in the preamble.

Anyway, in general, a warning always means that something didn't go as expected. It may be or may be not important, depending on cases. As a rule of thumb, I recommend to pay attention to warnings, especially when preparing the final version of a document.

2. The \peartitle{} in my original layout had some vertical space under it to make it distinguish from the text. But when I add vertical space on your layout it doesn't respond:

Code: Select all

\newcommand{\peartitle}[1]{\textbf{#1} \vspace{0.6cm} }

even if I make \vspace{5cm}.

In the definition of \peartitle given in your code, the first \vspace had no effect. So I removed it. However, I didn't realized that, inside \colchunk, \vspace seems to not work properly. I don't know why. Try this definition:

Code: Select all

\newcommand{\peartitle}[1]{\textbf{#1}\rule[-1cm]{0pt}{0pt}}

The trick is to write an invisible character having some depth, i.e. extending a bit below the line; 1cm in the above definition. Put the lentgh you wish.

3.You removed the vspace on my header:

Code: Select all

\chead{{\Large\textbf{\pear}} \vspace{1cm} }

Was it wrong to have the vspace there?

No, it is just a matter of taste. Anyway, with the above settings for \chead, in the \geometry command, change headheight=25pt by headheight=55pt, at least.

3. I want to find the most correct way of giving one line space between two paragraphs of text. \par will make the text go to the next paragraph but I need an empty line between two two paragraphs. I mean this:

Code: Select all

This text is on the first line.

This text is two lines after the previous text.

Since I can't use \\ to do that, I have managed to do it with \newline\newline. Is that an acceptable practice?

And since I am on this, do I have to use \par at some point inside the document?

\newline and \\ are the same command: both mean "break here the current line and continue writing the same paragraph starting a new line". So \newline\newline or \\ \\ are not good ideas. To finish a paragraph, write \par or simply leave a blank line after it.

The space between paragraphs is given by a length called \parskip. For example, if you provide the command

Code: Select all

\addtolength{\parskip}{15pt}

you increase by 15 pt the space between paragraphs. Unfortunately, inside \colchunk, vertical spaces seem to behave differently from usual. So a change of \parskip apparently has no effect. A "dirty" trick could be to define

Code: Select all

\newcommand{\mypar}{\rule[-10pt]{0pt}{0pt}\par}

and use \mypar at the end of every paragraph.

Perhaps you should take a look at the parallel package and see if it does not give these problems with vertical spaces.

4. I like "spacey" code and I do this in CSS and Bash script too because it helps me see where a snip of code begins and ends. What I mean is going from this:

Code: Select all

\colchunk{%
\peartitle{Title of the left column}\par
Left.
}

...to this:

Code: Select all

\colchunk
{
   \peartitle{Title of the left column}\par
	Left.
}

I noticed that doing it on \colchuck is ok (doesn't give me any errors) but doing it on \colchick[2] gave me this error:

Code: Select all

Runaway argument?
{nofirstindent,sloppy\relax \fi \ifnum \pc@columnctr >\pc@columncount \ETC.
! Paragraph ended before \setkeys was complete.
<to be read again> 
                   \par 
l.168 }

and renders a few bugs on the document. So my question is, is there a way to maintain my coding style and keeping the document valid?


5. I notice that you use a "%" in \colchunk{}, like this

Code: Select all

\colchunk{%

As far as I understand these are comments, so I tried removing it and things remained the same. Is it safe to remove it or it necessary?

The % prevents TeX from reading characters on the same line. Anything written after % on the same line is skipped. This allows to introduce comments in the source file. But this also serves to avoid superfluous spaces in the output which are produced by blank spaces or "end of line" characters in the source file. For example, if you compile a piece of code like this one

Code: Select all

verti
   cal   sp
   ace

you will get "verti cal sp ace" (there are spaces inside both words). However

Code: Select all

verti%
   cal   sp%
   ace

yields "vertical space", which is correct. The % signs make TeX to skip the "end of line", so no blank space is introduced bewteen "verti" and "cal", for example. Take into account that the leading blank spaces in each line are always ignored.

Consequently, to mimic your coding style, it is necessary to add some % signs:

Code: Select all

\colchunk[2]%
{%
  \peartitle{Title of the right column}\par
  Text on the right column.
}

If you remove the first %, you get errors, since LaTeX does not expect "nothing" after the optional argument of \colchunk. If you remove the second %, the "end of line" character of the second line yields a blank space which appears on the left of the title.

[jsmith6]

Very beautifully explained A big thanks

Here is a couple of issues left.

I tried changing from Book to Article and putting a \raggedbottom at the premable but I still get the the Underfull \hbox warnings. I can live with it though, I don't mind a few warnings if they are not important.

I used this to add vertical space:

Code: Select all

\newcommand{\peartitle}[1]{\textbf{#1}\rule[-1cm]{0pt}{0pt}}

and it worked, it added vertical space. Problem is that it adds vertical space to both columns. I tried the package Parellels too, and the same thing happens there. So I went back to \newline.

Here is an example:

Code: Select all

\documentclass[oneside]{book}

\usepackage[a3paper,landscape]{geometry}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{parcolumns}
\usepackage{lipsum}

\setlength{\parindent}{0cm}
\geometry{top=3cm,bottom=3cm,left=3cm,right=3cm,headheight=55pt}

\newcommand{\peartitle}[1]{\textbf{#1}\rule[-1cm]{0pt}{0pt}}

\begin{document}

	\begin{parcolumns}[nofirstindent,distance={5cm}]{2}

		% left
		\colchunk{
		
			\peartitle{Title}

			\lipsum[1-15]
			
		}

		% right
		\colchunk[2]{
		
			\peartitle{Tittle}
			
			Text.

			\peartitle{Titlte}

			Text.
			
		}
		\colplacechunks

	\end{parcolumns}

\end{document}

Anyway, with the above settings for \chead, in the \geometry command, change headheight=25pt by headheight=55pt, at least.

I did it. But why specifically these numbers?

[Juanjo]

I used this to add vertical space:

Code: Select all

\newcommand{\peartitle}[1]{\textbf{#1}\rule[-1cm]{0pt}{0pt}}

and it worked, it added vertical space. Problem is that it adds vertical space to both columns.

I didn't consider the case of two \peartitle in the same column. In this case, the code I gave fails. It seems that both columns are typeset at the same time. Hence, any variation in the interline space of one column affects also to the other one. I don't know an effective hack for this. I can only suggest to add blank lines. For example, you can put this in the preamble:

Code: Select all

\newcommand{\bline}{\par\mbox{}\par}
\newcommand{\peartitle}[1]{\textbf{#1}\bline}

Then you can write multiple \peartitle per column:

Code: Select all

\begin{parcolumns}[nofirstindent,distance={5cm}]{2}
      % left
      \colchunk{%
         \peartitle{Title}
         \lipsum[1-15]
      }
      % right
      \colchunk{%
         \peartitle{Title}
         Text.\bline
         \peartitle{Title}
         Text.
      }
      \colplacechunks
   \end{parcolumns}

Anyway, with the above settings for \chead, in the \geometry command, change headheight=25pt by headheight=55pt, at least.

I did it. But why specifically these numbers?

If the space left for the headings is too small, fancyhdr issues a warning like this:

Code: Select all

Package Fancyhdr Warning: \headheight is too small (25.0pt): 
 Make it at least 55.0pt.
 We now make it that large for the rest of the document.
 This may cause the page layout to be inconsistent, however.

The message itself provides the right setting for headheight in the \geometry command.