[OS X TeX] Quote environmnet versus lists

[Josep Maria Font]

El 23/01/2011, a les 18:36, Chris Goedde ha escrit:

> Basic LaTeX question here. Consider the sample TeX file below. The first list (not in quotes) has noticeable inter-paragraph spacing for each item. If I use the exact same list inside the quote environment, the inter-paragraph spacing for items disappears, or if it is still there, it's so tiny as to be almost invisible. (The inter-item spacing is still there, though it seems smaller.) Two questions: why is this happening, and how can I restore the inter-paragraph spacing for items in my lists when they are inside the quote environment? I've tried various things, (it seems like \parsep ought to control this), without success. Ideal solutions will live in a .sty file somewhere, e.g. a redefinition of one of the environments, or setting a parameter on one of the environments.

It's \itemsep that controls this. And this is how {quote} is defined. For this and other situations where I don't like the spacing between items of a list, I always include the following command in my preamble:

\newcommand{\moreitemspace}[1]{\addtolength{\itemsep}{#1}}   

so that, *after* any \begin{enumerate/itemize/description} command and *before* the first \item command, I can write \moreitemspace{.5ex} or whatever value I want in that particular situation (more often, negative values: the default values I find too generous). Since this change is local to the list, it disappears when the list is \ended. Actually, \itemsep value is initialized when the list environment starts, using values determined by package, style, size, depth of lists, etc. That's why changing its value *outside* a list environment has no effect.

Hope this helps...


JMaF