Trouble defining new command like \cventry command in LaTeX

Question

I'm using the moderncv document type with the classic style and trying to create a new command similar to the \cventry as described here. I'm trying to eliminate the period that shows up at the end and only have year, title, description. I know I can leave unwanted fields blank, but I thought it might be a good lesson to figure this out. I renamed anything that had cventry, but can I reuse anything? I'm trying to define in the preamble as below:

\newcommand*{\cvthing}[4][.25em]{%
    \savebox{\cvthingyearbox}{%
        \hspace*{2\separatorcolumnwidth}%
        \hintstyle{#2}}%
    \setlength{\cvthingtitleboxwidth}{\widthof{\usebox{\cvthingyearbox}}}%
    \setlength{\cvthingtitleboxwidth}{\maincolumnwidth-\cvthingtitleboxwidth}%
    \begin{minipage}{\maincolumnwidth}%
        \parbox[t]{\cvthingtitleboxwidth}{%
            \strut%
            {\bfseries#3}%
            {\strut}%
        \usebox{\cvthingyearbox}%
    \end{minipage}%
    \ifx&#4&%
    \else{%
        \newline{}%
        \begin{minipage}[t]{\maincolumnwidth}%
            \small%
            #4%
    \end{minipage}}\fi%
    \par\addvspace{#1}}

but I get these errors:

File ended while scanning use of \@xargdef.
You have requested package `moderncvheadi', but the package provides `moderncvheadi'.
You have requested package `moderncvbodyi', but the package provides `moderncvbodyi'.

I've been using LaTeX for a few years but haven't tried to change much. If one could please explain what I am doing wrong?

Welcome to TeX.SE! Which style of moderncv do you use? Which version of moderncv do you use? Current is 2.0.0. Please do not post only a code, describe what it should do and/or add an images showing what you want to get ... — Mensch, Apr 03 '19 at 01:05
Thank you. Yes v2.0.0 the lastest on LinuxMint 19.1, I added a description of what I want. I can add a picture later if it is still unclear. — askrabal, Apr 03 '19 at 16:57
Also take a look at https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/260446/what-does-you-have-requested-package-foo-but-the-package-provides-foo-me — , Apr 03 '19 at 19:14

Mensch · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-03T19:50:57.210

In your given code snippet are several issues, some I can correct, some not because you did not told us what you want to archive. I use \cvtest for the following remarks and in the mwe below ...

To use a new box you need to initialize it: \@initializebox{\cvtestyearbox}
To use a new length you have to define it: \newlength{\cvtesttitleboxwidth}
Because we have to use \@initializebox we need to use \makeatletter and \makeatother
Some of your brackets are in the wrong position. For example: you can not open an \parbox and close inside it an minipage, opened before the \parbox ...

Update:

Because you gave more informations now, I deleted the code I guessed before. See below the MWE with correct working code.

The main issue here is a missunderstanding, because the code you used was not build for \moderncvstyle{classic}, it was build for \moderncvstyle{casual}.

Therefore the code for \cvtest (see the new name please!):

\makeatletter
\@initializebox{\cvtestyearbox} % <====================================
\newlength{\cvtesttitleboxwidth} % <===================================
\newcommand*{\cvtest}[4][.25em]{%
  \savebox{\cvtestyearbox}{%
    \hspace*{2\separatorcolumnwidth}%
    \hintstyle{#2}}%
  \setlength{\cvtesttitleboxwidth}{\widthof{\usebox{\cvtestyearbox}}}%
  \setlength{\cvtesttitleboxwidth}{\maincolumnwidth-\cvtesttitleboxwidth}%
  \begin{minipage}{\maincolumnwidth}%
    \parbox[t]{\cvtesttitleboxwidth}{%
      \strut%
      {\bfseries#3}%
      \strut}%
    \usebox{\cvtestyearbox}%
  \end{minipage}%
  \ifx&#4&%
    \else{%
      \newline{}%
      \begin{minipage}[t]{\maincolumnwidth}%
        \small%
        #4%
      \end{minipage}}\fi%
  \par\addvspace{#1}}
\makeatother

compiles now, but with the wrong result:

To get the \cvthing command usable in style classic you need to start with the definition of cventry in this style:

\renewcommand*{\cventry}[7][.25em]{%
  \cvitem[#1]{#2}{%
    {\bfseries#3}%
    \ifthenelse{\equal{#4}{}}{}{, {\slshape#4}}%
    \ifthenelse{\equal{#5}{}}{}{, #5}%
    \ifthenelse{\equal{#6}{}}{}{, #6}%
    .\strut%
    \ifx&#7&%
    \else{\newline{}\begin{minipage}[t]{\linewidth}\small#7\end{minipage}}\fi}}

That we can now change to:

%\cvthing{year--year}{title}{description} % <===========================
\newcommand*{\cvthing}[4][.25em]{%
  \cvitem[#1]{#2}{%
    {\bfseries#3}%
    \strut%
    \ifx&#4&%
    \else{\newline{}\begin{minipage}[t]{\linewidth}\small#4\end{minipage}}\fi}}

So at last we get with the following complete code

\documentclass[11pt,a4paper,sans]{moderncv}

% moderncv themes
\moderncvstyle{classic} % casual, classic, banking, oldstyle and fancy
\moderncvcolor{blue} 

\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[scale=0.75]{geometry}

%\cvthing{year--year}{title}{description} % <===========================
\newcommand*{\cvthing}[4][.25em]{%
  \cvitem[#1]{#2}{%
    {\bfseries#3}%
    \strut%
    \ifx&#4&%
    \else{\newline{}\begin{minipage}[t]{\linewidth}\small#4\end{minipage}}\fi}}

\makeatletter
\@initializebox{\cvtestyearbox} % <====================================
\newlength{\cvtesttitleboxwidth} % <===================================
%\cvtest{year--year}{title}{description} % <===========================
\newcommand*{\cvtest}[4][.25em]{%
  \savebox{\cvtestyearbox}{%
    \hspace*{2\separatorcolumnwidth}%
    \hintstyle{#2}}%
  \setlength{\cvtesttitleboxwidth}{\widthof{\usebox{\cvtestyearbox}}}%
  \setlength{\cvtesttitleboxwidth}{\maincolumnwidth-\cvtesttitleboxwidth}%
  \begin{minipage}{\maincolumnwidth}%
    \parbox[t]{\cvtesttitleboxwidth}{%
      \strut%
      {\bfseries#3}%
      \strut}%
    \usebox{\cvtestyearbox}%
  \end{minipage}%
  \ifx&#4&%
    \else{%
      \newline{}%
      \begin{minipage}[t]{\maincolumnwidth}%
        \small%
        #4%
      \end{minipage}}\fi%
  \par\addvspace{#1}}
\makeatother


% personal data
\name{John}{Doe}
\title{Resumé title}
\address{street and number}{postcode city}{country}
\phone[mobile]{+1~(234)~567~890}
\phone[fixed]{+2~(345)~678~901}
\phone[fax]{+3~(456)~789~012}
\email{john@doe.org}
\homepage{www.johndoe.com}
\social[linkedin]{john.doe}
\social[twitter]{jdoe}
\social[github]{jdoe}
\extrainfo{additional information}
\photo[64pt][0.4pt]{example-image-a}
\quote{Some quote}

\setlength{\footskip}{66pt}


\begin{document}

\makecvtitle

\section{Education}
\cventry{year--year}{Degree}{Institution--3}{City--4}{\textit{Grade}--5}{Description--6}  % arguments 3 to 6 can be left empty
\cventry{year--year}{Degree}{Institution}{City}{\textit{Grade}}{Description}

\cvthing{year--year}{Degree}{Institution}% <============================

\cvtest{year--year}{Degree}{Institution}% <=============================

\section{Master thesis}
\cvitem{title}{\emph{Title}}
\cvitem{supervisors}{Supervisors}
\cvitem{description}{Short thesis abstract}

\end{document}

the following result (see that \cvtest is not correct for style classic!):

Trouble defining new command like \cventry command in LaTeX

1 Answers1

Update: