A \boxed alternative with minimal spacing?

Question

The following code comes from this post. The problem is that I would like a way to automate the size of the box so as to be very small with a few of spacing, but the following solution doesn't work with fractions for example.

\documentclass[border=5pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc,shapes}

\newcommand{\tikzmark}[1]{\tikz[overlay,remember picture] \node (#1) {};}
\newcommand{\DrawBox}[1][red]{%
    \tikz[overlay,remember picture]{
    \draw[#1]
      ($(bl)+(-0.2em,0.9em)$) rectangle
      ($(br)+(0.2em,-0.3em)$);}
}
\newcommand{\MyBox}[2][red]{\tikzmark{bl}#2\tikzmark{br}\DrawBox[#1]}

\begin{document}
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. \MyBox{Lorem ipsum} dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. \MyBox{$\frac{\frac{2}{5} - 7}{4 + x^3}$} Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.  Lorem 
    ipsum \MyBox[blue]{$3.29 \times 10^{29}$} dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem 
    ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem 
    \MyBox[draw=red,fill=yellow!20,,opacity=0.3]{$3.29 \times 10^{29}$} ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
\end{document}

Do you need the answer to be TikZ-based or could a different approach be acceptable? — Gonzalo Medina, Nov 18 '11 at 18:39

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 18 '11 at 22:14

With the help of the xparse package, and using a \fboxcolor, I defined a \MyBox command which has 5 optional arguments and a mandatory one; the syntax is

\MyBox[<frame color>][<fill color>]{<contents>}[\fboxsep value][<box depth>][<box height>]

The command is very flexible; you can change the colors (for both the frame and the fill), the value for \fboxsep used; and gives you additional independent control over the box height and depth (this command is inspired in Herbert's answer to the question you linkd to).

The code and an example (I used some exaggerated values in some cases just to show the flexibility of the command):

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xparse}
\usepackage{xcolor}

\newbox\FBox
\NewDocumentCommand\MyBox{O{black}O{white}mO{0.5pt}O{0pt}O{0pt}}{%
    \setlength\fboxsep{#4}\sbox\FBox{\fcolorbox{#1}{#2}{#3\rule[-#5]{0pt}{#6}}}\usebox\FBox}

\begin{document}
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. \MyBox{Lorem ipsum} dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. \MyBox[red]{$\frac{\frac{2}{5} - 7}{4 + x^3}$} Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem 
    ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem 
    \MyBox[red!30][yellow!10]{$3.29 \times 10^{29}$} ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.  Lorem 
    \MyBox[olive][red!40]{$3.29 \times 10^{29}$}[8pt] ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.  Lorem 
    \MyBox[olive][red!40]{$3.29 \times 10^{29}$}[4pt][2pt][33pt] ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.  Lorem 
    \MyBox[olive][red!40]{$3.29 \times 10^{29}$}[4pt][23pt][2pt] ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
\end{document}

enter image description here

That's great even if I don't understand all of that small code. — projetmbc, Nov 19 '11 at 10:12

score 5 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 10 '20 at 12:32

Here is a enhanced version of the earlier solution provided at this earlier question about a boxed alternative with nicer spacing. This version measures the height and depth of the text that the box encloses. This two parameters \@DrawBoxHeightSep specify the separation to be applied to the height and depth. Here is the relevant section zoomed in:

enter image description here

Notes:

This does require two runs: the first to compute the positions of the box, and the second to draw it in the correct spot.

Known Issues:

This won't work if the text crosses line boundaries. If this is an issue and you are willing to consider highlighting instead of a box you should refer to Cool Text Highlighting in LaTeX.

Code:

\documentclass[border=1pt]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc,shapes}
\makeatletter
\newcommand{@DrawBoxHeightSep}{0.030em}%
\newcommand{@DrawBoxDepthSep}{0.025em}%
\newcommand{@DrawBox}[3][red]{%#1= style, #2=height, #3=depth
    \tikz[overlay,remember picture]{
    \draw[#1]
      ($(bl)+(-0.2em,#2+@DrawBoxHeightSep)$) rectangle
      ($(br)+(0.2em,-#3-+@DrawBoxDepthSep)$);}
}
\newcommand{\tikzmark}[1]{\tikz[overlay,remember picture] \node (#1) {};}
\newdimen@myBoxHeight%
\newdimen@myBoxDepth%
\newcommand{\MyBox}[2][red]{%
    \settoheight{@myBoxHeight}{#2}% Record height of box
    \settodepth{@myBoxDepth}{#2}% Record height of box
    \tikzmark{bl}#2\tikzmark{br}@DrawBox[#1]{@myBoxHeight}{@myBoxDepth}% Draw the box
}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. \MyBox{Lorem ipsum} dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. \MyBox{$\frac{\frac{2}{5} - 7}{4 + x^3}$} Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.  Lorem 
    ipsum \MyBox[blue]{$3.29 \times 10^{29}$} dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem 
    ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem 
    \MyBox[draw=red,fill=yellow!20,,opacity=0.3]{$3.29 \times 10^{29}$} ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
\end{document}

score 4 · Answer 3 · 2011-11-18T19:10:30.187

4

\newcommand\MyBox[2][red]{\mbox{\tikzmark{bl}#2\tikzmark{br}\DrawBox[#1]}}

but the vertical spacing is still wrong. However, tikz is not the right tool for this problem. You already got other solutions which also can have colored frames.

edited Nov 18 '11 at 19:10

answered Nov 18 '11 at 18:47

2

I completely agree; using TikZ here is not the best approach. – Gonzalo Medina Nov 18 '11 at 18:52
@GonzaloMedina/Herbert: Am curious as to what is wrong with a tikz solution? Besides the package overhead, is there some other reason you are thinking about? If you are already using tikz, then there is no additional package overhead. – Peter Grill Nov 19 '11 at 00:24

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 20 '15 at 11:34

Another alternative could be \tcbox command from tcolorbox.

\newtcbox{\MyBox}{}[1][]{on line, size=tight, sharp corners, colback=white, #1}

declares a box with minimal space around its contents, aligned with surrounding text and white background color. All these default settings can be changed with the optional parameter. Just to show it, equivalences with Gonzalo's parameters are

frame color -> colframe
fill color -> colback
\fboxsep -> boxsep
box depth -> bottom
box height -> top

A complete example (taken from Gonzalo's answer)

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tcolorbox}

\newtcbox{\MyBox}[1][]{on line, size=tight, sharp corners, colback=white, #1}

\begin{document}
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. \MyBox{Lorem ipsum} dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. \MyBox[colframe=red]{$\frac{\frac{2}{5} - 7}{4 + x^3}$} Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem 
    ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem 
    \MyBox[colframe=red, colback=yellow!10]{$3.29 \times 10^{29}$} ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.  Lorem 
    \MyBox[colframe=red!40, colback=olive, boxsep=8pt]{$3.29 \times 10^{29}$} ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.  Lorem 
    \MyBox[colframe=olive,colback=red!40, boxsep=4pt, bottom=4pt, top=33pt]{$3.29 \times 10^{29}$} ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.  Lorem 
    \MyBox[colframe=olive, colback=red!40, boxsep=4pt, bottom=23pt, top=2pt]{$3.29 \times 10^{29}$} ipsum dolor sit amet. 
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
\end{document}

enter image description here

A \boxed alternative with minimal spacing?

4 Answers4

Notes:

Known Issues:

Code:

Linked