How do I create a new column type with a minipage inside?

Question

I'm writing a distilled latex manual for my students, and I want to use tables with one column displaying the code and another column displaying the outcome, for all the commands that we need in class.

So far I managed to make it work, but the code is messy, and I would like to create a new column type, something like

\newcolumntype{E}{>{\begin{minipage}{5cm}\begin{equation*}}c<{\end{equation*}\end{minipage}}}

The working code I have is:

\usepackage{mathtools}

\begin{table*}[ht]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c |c |}
\hline 
\texttt{Code}       & Output   \\
\hline
\hphantom{-} & \hphantom{-} \\
\begin{minipage}{5cm}
\begin{verbatim} 
\begin{equation*} 
\begin{matrix} 
a_1 & a_2 & a_3 \\ 
b_1 & b_2 & b_3 \\ 
c_1 & c_2 & c_3  
\end{matrix}
\end{equation*} 
\end{verbatim}
\end{minipage} 
& \begin{minipage}{3cm}
\begin{equation*} 
\begin{matrix} 
a_1 & a_2 & a_3 \\ 
b_1 & b_2 & b_3 \\ 
c_1 & c_2 & c_3  
\end{matrix}
\end{equation*}
\end{minipage} \\
\hphantom{-} &  \hphantom{-}\\
\hline
\hphantom{-} &  \hphantom{-}\\
\end{tabular}
\end{table*}

just use a standard p column, there is essentially no difference between minipage and p — David Carlisle, Jun 18 '16 at 10:47
I didn't know about p columns, that's awesome
Is there any way, though, to define a p column that includes the verbatim or the equation environments within the column? Since I will use it for each and every row, it would be ideal if I could define a column with such properties, and just focus on the code — Mahoma, Jun 18 '16 at 10:53
Related: How can I typeset a command and its literal equivalent in an environment? and linked questions. — Fran, Jun 18 '16 at 11:56

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 18 '16 at 10:54

4

How about this -- with the tcolorbox package and sidebyside, there's no need to fiddle around with the minipage and a tabular. The LaTeX code is displayed on the right panel of the box.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[most]{tcolorbox}

\usepackage{mathtools}


\begin{document}

\begin{tcblisting}{sidebyside}
\begin{equation*} 
  \begin{matrix} 
    a_1 & a_2 & a_3 \\ 
    b_1 & b_2 & b_3 \\ 
    c_1 & c_2 & c_3  
  \end{matrix}
\end{equation*} 
\end{tcblisting}

\end{document}

answered Jun 18 '16 at 10:54

this is exactly what I need.
Awesome
– Mahoma Jun 18 '16 at 10:59
@Mahoma: Well, that's fine. You can change the colours, fonts, size, etc according to you needs, as well as using a rectangular frame or use shadows etc. – Jun 18 '16 at 11:01
I'm not familiar with this package. How do I enter a line between two rows? I tried '$' \hline'$' but it didn't work – Mahoma Jun 18 '16 at 11:06
@Mahoma: which rows? – Jun 18 '16 at 11:09
1

You would have to put each "row" in a separate box, but you can adjust the spacing: \tcbset{before skip=0pt,after skip=0pt} – John Kormylo Jun 18 '16 at 12:51
Also amusing: \tcbset{before skip=0pt,after skip=0pt plus 1fil} – John Kormylo Jun 18 '16 at 12:56
@JohnKormylo: That's a possibility, or using tcbraster – Jun 18 '16 at 13:05

How do I create a new column type with a minipage inside?

1 Answers1