How to avoid syntax error highlights on Overleaf with redefined meaning of \[, \], \(, \) commands?

Question

I want to overwrite the commands listed in the title with

    \renewcommand{\(}{\left(}
    ...
    \renewcommand{\]}{\right]}

I already tried it in Overleaf and when I click 'compile' it compiles without errors.

However in the editor I get lines highlited in red with error messages, for example using \( I got this:

Is there a way to hide these errors without defining a command with a different name?

Edit:

When I wrote this question I specified

without defining a command with a different name

I didn't want to have the 'open round/square/... bracket' and 'close ... bracket' commands, because I found it to be a very ugly solution, and also difficult to read, even if shortened with aa a character. Only after posting here I realized I could write a single 'brackets' command with the formula that should be enclosed by the brackets as a parameter, so that in LaTeX I still see the brackets where they should be, but they are curly instead of round or square.

So basically what I did was adding these commands:

\newcommand{\p}[1]{\left( #1 \right)}
\newcommand{\pp}[1]{\left[ #1 \right]}
\newcommand{\ppp}[1]{\left\{ #1 \right\}}

I found this solution to be the most readable and efficient one.

Edit 2:

The best solution was given by Gaussler in the comments:

\usepackage{mathtools}
\DeclarePairedDelimiter{\p}{(}{)}
\DeclarePairedDelimiter{\pp}{[}{]}
\DeclarePairedDelimiter{\ppp}{{}{}}

which gives the option to manually specify the desired dimension for the brackets (e.g. \p[\bigg]{...}), or make it automatic with an asterisk (\pp*{...}). And makes it also nicer with better spacing.

Don't do that(!) The \( and \) open and close inline math, while \[ and \] open and close displayed formulas. You do not want to break that. — mickep, Oct 19 '22 at 17:31
@mickep but I mean there are other commands to do that, and also I won't need them. — Dj Frixz, Oct 19 '22 at 17:50
Related: how to make shortcuts for the start and end of a gather environment — Werner, Oct 19 '22 at 18:07
Refer to the answer in environments - Annoying syntax highlighting of unclosed group at \cs:w - TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange for ways to override Overleaf's syntax checker. — user202729, Oct 19 '22 at 18:17
@Werner No that's not the issue here, the code compiles fine but OP wants to override chktex. — user202729, Oct 19 '22 at 18:17
Since it's chktex maybe tools - How can I tell chktex that I have checked the next line? - TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange might work — user202729, Oct 19 '22 at 18:19
P/s. As long as both the OP and all future readers are aware that the disadvantage of nonstandard redefinitions are making readers of the code (possibly the author themselves a few years later) confused, I don't see the point of taking more about them. — user202729, Oct 19 '22 at 18:24
Might be useful for OP: math mode - Automatic left and right commands - TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange — user202729, Oct 19 '22 at 18:27
More answers discouraging it macros - redefine ( ) to mean \begin{equation} \end{equation} - TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange — user202729, Oct 19 '22 at 18:34
I’m voting to close this question because it's a feature request for Overleaf and nothing can be done from the TeX side. — egreg, Oct 19 '22 at 21:08
@egreg That's what I thought first, but I didn't know where else to ask — Dj Frixz, Oct 21 '22 at 06:42
@DjFrixz You can ask the Overleaf support, but my bet is that they won't accept the suggestion, for the reasons outlined in the other comments: redefining \(\)\[\] is something you shouldn't even think to. :-) — egreg, Oct 21 '22 at 06:55
@egreg thanks for answering and sorry for the off-topic question. — Dj Frixz, Oct 21 '22 at 09:00
You might want to have a look at \DeclarePairedDelimiter from the mathtools package. It provides a much better interface for defining your commands \p, \pp, and \ppp. Also, your solution is bad: Never use \left...\right by default, it often causes the brackets to become too big. Also, if you absolutely must have auto-scaled brackets, \mleft...\mright from the package mleftright is the way to go. — Gaussler, Oct 21 '22 at 10:07
@Gaussler Sorry could you explain better? I don't see any differences in using \DeclarePairedDelimiter over \newcommand. Why \mleft is better than \left? What's the point in having a useful command if (by what you say) it often doesn't work? And by the way I dont use them by default, it's always faster to press buttons on my keyboard insted of inserting commands. — Dj Frixz, Oct 23 '22 at 11:38
See this question and its answers. The mleftright package is based on the first answer. The advantage of using \DeclarePairedDelimiter is that it takes care of this problem automatically. Also, you don’t want auto-scaling by default, it will often lead to ugly results with way too big brackets. Compare \[ \mleft( \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \frac{1}{n^2} \mright) \] to \[ \bigg( \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \frac{1}{n^2} \bigg) \]. There is universal agreement that the latter looks better. — Gaussler, Oct 23 '22 at 11:55
@Gaussler Thank you I think now I understand also problems which occured in other cases. So the best solution is to use \DeclarePairedDelimiter, right? That way I can specify \big, \bigg, and so on. — Dj Frixz, Oct 23 '22 at 12:58
Damnit, I made similarly big error. It should be \biggl(...\biggr). Embarrassing… — Gaussler, Oct 23 '22 at 14:25
Overleaf calls this feature "code check", you can disable it for certain parts of the file using %%begin novalidate and %%end novalidate. See: https://www.overleaf.com/learn/how-to/Code_Check#Disabling_Code_Check_for_part_of_a_file — Alex miao, Jun 24 '23 at 21:22

Gaussler · Answer 1 · 2022-10-19T20:43:28.180

8

Don’t. Just don’t. Seriously...

edited Oct 19 '22 at 20:43

answered Oct 19 '22 at 17:46

Gaussler

12,801

3

And yes, I know this doesn’t follow the guidelines for answers and will probably be removed, but... just don’t. – Gaussler Oct 19 '22 at 17:49
2

This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post. - From Review – José Carlos Santos Oct 19 '22 at 19:19
3

A corollary to your answer: "Only do this if you absolutely want to break lots and lots of things -- and love debugging a slew of guaranteed unintelligible error messages." – Mico Oct 19 '22 at 19:40
3

@Mico Sometimes, you’re just in that mood, and better to break TeX than the vases around your house. – Gaussler Oct 19 '22 at 19:42
2

@JoséCarlosSantos it's clearly a frame challenge, and not an ill-advised one at that. – A. R. Oct 19 '22 at 20:53
@AndrewRay: It would be a better frame challenge if it explained itself a bit, eg by incorporating Mico’s comment. Slightly less funny for the experts, but much more useful for the OP and anyone else who comes to this question because they’re genuinely tempted to try this. – Peter LeFanu Lumsdaine Oct 23 '22 at 15:20

How to avoid syntax error highlights on Overleaf with redefined meaning of \[, \], \(, \) commands?

1 Answers1