General ⇒ Color inside a minipage?

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Hi Andrea,

using \newcommand for example:

Code: Select all

\newcommand\mybox[1]{%
  \begin{center}%
    \fcolorbox{black}{red}{%
      \begin{minipage}[t]{1.0\textwidth}%
        #1%
      \end{minipage}}%
  \end{center}}

Btw. using the calc package the width of the box could be reduced to match the textwidth exactly, at the moment it's a bit too wide because of the separation space and the rule thickness of the fcolorbox.

Stefan

[arota]

Thanks! It is exactly what I needed!

Btw, do you know where I can find a clear and complete tutorial (online) to learn how to better use the \newenvironment and \newcommand ?


Andrea

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Hi Andrea,

perhaps have look here: Introductions and Guides, there are some good tutorials listed that are freely available online. Follow the link to the TeX Catalogue to find more.

Specific parts that I recommend:

• 8. Defining Commands of "LaTeX for Complete Novices" by Nicola L. C. Talbot, also discussing optional arguments and redefinition,
• 10. Defining Environments of the same document,

Stefan

[Juanjo]

Andrea,
In the case you are still interested in an environment version of \mybox, the following code may be useful:

Code: Select all

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[margin=2cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{lipsum,framed,color}

\definecolor{shadecolor}{rgb}{1,0.8,0.3}
\newlength{\boxwidth}
\newsavebox{\boxcontainer}

% Improved version of Stephan_K's \mybox
% Needs: shadecolor, \boxwidth
\newcommand\mybox[1]{%
  \setlength{\boxwidth}{\textwidth}
  \addtolength{\boxwidth}{-2\fboxsep}
  \addtolength{\boxwidth}{-2\fboxrule}
  \begin{center}%
    \fcolorbox{black}{shadecolor}{%
      \begin{minipage}[t]{\boxwidth}%
        #1%
      \end{minipage}}%
  \end{center}}

% First environment version
% Needs: shadecolor, \boxwidth, \boxcontainer
\newenvironment{Mybox}%
  {\setlength{\boxwidth}{\textwidth}
   \addtolength{\boxwidth}{-2\fboxsep}
   \addtolength{\boxwidth}{-2\fboxrule}
   \begin{lrbox}{\boxcontainer}%
     \begin{minipage}{\boxwidth}}%
  {\end{minipage}\end{lrbox}%
   \begin{center}%
     \fcolorbox{black}{shadecolor}{\usebox{\boxcontainer}}
   \end{center}}

% Second environment version
% Needs: shadecolor, \boxwidth and the framed package
\newenvironment{MyBox}{%
  \def\FrameCommand{\fboxsep=\FrameSep \fboxrule=\FrameRule \fcolorbox{black}{shadecolor}}%
  \MakeFramed {\setlength{\boxwidth}{\textwidth}
  \addtolength{\boxwidth}{-2\FrameSep}
  \addtolength{\boxwidth}{-2\FrameRule}
  \setlength{\hsize}{\boxwidth} \FrameRestore}}%
 {\endMakeFramed}

\begin{document}

% Settings for \mybox and Mybox
\setlength{\fboxrule}{1pt}
\setlength{\fboxsep}{9pt}

% Additional settings for MyBox
\setlength{\FrameRule}{\fboxrule}
\setlength{\FrameSep}{\fboxsep}

% Text not framed
\lipsum[1]

% Text framed with \mybox
\mybox{\lipsum[1]}

% Text framed with Mybox
\begin{Mybox}
  \lipsum[1]
\end{Mybox}

% Text framed with MyBox
\begin{MyBox}
  \lipsum[1]
\end{MyBox}

% Text framed with MyBox. It can be splitted in two different (or more) pages
\begin{MyBox}
  \lipsum[1-5]
\end{MyBox}

\end{document}

In this code you can see an improved version of the \mybox command given by Stephan_K, so the framed box perfectly fits the text width. There also two environments named Mybox and MyBox. For short texts, \mybox, Mybox and MyBox yield the same result. However, for long texts, MyBox can be splitted along several pages. This is an obvious advantage over \mybox and Mybox. The (small, I think) price to pay is the loading of another package (framed) and the use of two additional parameters, \FrameSep and \FrameRule, used by the framed package as equivalents of \fboxsep and \fboxrule. Now, the choice is yours.

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Hi,

using the calc package would make it shorter, for instance the second environment:

Code: Select all

\newenvironment{MyBox}{%
  \def\FrameCommand{\fboxsep=\FrameSep \fboxrule=\FrameRule \fcolorbox{black}{shadecolor}}%
  \MakeFramed {\setlength{\hsize}{\textwidth-2\FrameSep-2\FrameRule} \FrameRestore}}%
{\endMakeFramed}

or perhaps without using \FrameSep, \FrameRule if it's not needed:

Code: Select all

\newenvironment{MyBox}{%
  \def\FrameCommand{\fcolorbox{black}{shadecolor}}%
  \MakeFramed{\setlength{\hsize}{\textwidth-2\fboxsep-2\fboxrule} \FrameRestore}}%
{\endMakeFramed}

Stefan

[Juanjo]

Searching for a different matter, I've realized that many of the features provided by the calc package can be now obtained through the \dimexpr and \numexpr primitives, new in e-TeX. Taking into account the last suggestions of Stephan_K, the macro and environments \mybox, Mybox and MyBox can be defined as follows:

Code: Select all

\newcommand\mybox[1]{%
  \begin{center}%
    \fcolorbox{black}{shadecolor}{%
      \begin{minipage}[t]{\dimexpr\textwidth-2\fboxsep-2\fboxrule}%
        #1%
      \end{minipage}}%
  \end{center}}

\newenvironment{Mybox}%
  {\begin{lrbox}{\boxcontainer}%
     \begin{minipage}{\dimexpr\textwidth-2\fboxsep-2\fboxrule}}%
  {\end{minipage}\end{lrbox}%
   \begin{center}%
     \fcolorbox{black}{shadecolor}{\usebox{\boxcontainer}}
   \end{center}}

\newenvironment{MyBox}{%
  \def\FrameCommand{\fcolorbox{black}{shadecolor}}%
  \MakeFramed{\setlength{\hsize}{\dimexpr\textwidth-2\fboxsep-2\fboxrule} \FrameRestore}}%
 {\endMakeFramed}

This code should work in any modern TeX system.