7

The code $\LEFTRIGHT\{\}{S_n}$ produces

Unbalanced

whereras the code $\left\{ S_n \right\}$ produces

Balanced.

Is this a bug or feature? As the content in the braces grow larger, the visual effect of the unbalance is reduced. The above output of \LEFTRIGHT really looks ugly to my eyes.

Note: my preamble has \usepackage[lite,subscriptcorrection,nofontinfo]{mtpro2}

Lei Zhao
  • 295
  • Note also that \PARENS{S_N} and \LEFTRIGHT(){S_n} behave differently. – User Jun 16 '16 at 06:21
  • 1
    $\left\{S_n\right\}$ is wrong to begin with; so is \LEFTRIGHT, independently from the strange behavior. Use automatic sizing only when really necessary, which is not the case here. – egreg Jun 16 '16 at 07:25

1 Answers1

7

The answer is in the definition of \LEFTRIGHT, which means it is so “by design”:

\def\LEFTRIGHT#1#2#3{%
 \specdelim@#1%
 \ifspecdelim@
  \LEFTRIGHT@#1.{\vc@nt@r{#3}}%
 \else
  \left#1
  \vc@nt@r{#3}%
  \right.%
 \fi
 \kern-2\nulldelimiterspace\mskip-\thinmuskip
 \specdelim@#2%
 \ifspecdelim@
  \LEFTRIGHT@.#2{\vphantom{\vc@nt@r{#3}}}%
 \else
  \left.%
  \vphantom{\vc@nt@r{#3}}%
  \right#2%
 \fi}

For strange reasons, \mskip-\thinmuskip is added (it's the same as \!).

Indeed, if you try

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[lite,subscriptcorrection,nofontinfo]{mtpro2}

\begin{document}

$\{S\}$

$\left\{S\right\}$

$\LEFTRIGHT\{\}{S\,}$

\end{document}

you get

enter image description here

egreg
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