Add a phrase to an existing algorithmic command/environment

Question

I would like to add a new command to an existing environment. The \renewenvironment command does not help a lot since I need to copy and paste the entire environment definition.

For an example I would like to make a \FORALL_P for the algorithmic environment such that instead of producing

forall ... do

as original \FORALL, it produces

forall ... do in parallel

Gonzalo Medina · Answer 1 · 2011-11-08T13:59:52.173

9

The etoolbox package offers you some commands that could be useful, for example:

\AtBeginEnvironment{<environment>}{<code>}
\AtEndEnvironment{<environment>}{<code>}

Perhaps if you give us some mor information about your actual intent, we could provide more helpful information.

Now that new information has been provided in the question, I would suggest to use the algorithmicx package to define the new block; while the algorithmic package doesn’t allow you to easily modify predefined structures, or to create new ones, the algorithmicx package gives you full control over the definitions. Using algcompatible, you can have full compatibility with the syntax of the algorithmic package; a little example of the definition of the new block:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{algorithm}
\usepackage{algcompatible}

\algblockdefx{FORALLP}{ENDFAP}[1]%
  {\textbf{for all }#1 \textbf{do in parallel}}%
  {\textbf{end for}}

\begin{document}

\begin{algorithm}
\caption{A test algorithm}
\begin{algorithmic}[1]
\FORALL {$v \in V(G)$}
\STATE $l(v) \leftarrow \infty$
\ENDFOR
\FORALLP{$v \in V(G)$}
\STATE $l(v) \leftarrow \infty$
\ENDFAP
\end{algorithmic}
\end{algorithm}

\end{document}

enter image description here

To have the \RETURN command as defined by algorithmic, you need to add the following definition:

\algloopdefx{RETURN}[1][]{\textbf{return} #1}

edited Nov 08 '11 at 13:59

answered Nov 08 '11 at 13:12

Gonzalo Medina

505,128

thanks, I will look into etoolbox. I also added more info to my original post. – iKid Nov 08 '11 at 13:18
@iKid: please see my updated answer. – Gonzalo Medina Nov 08 '11 at 13:39
I failed to use the algorithmicx as they do not support \return ? – iKid Nov 08 '11 at 13:53
@iKid: I've added the corresponding definition. – Gonzalo Medina Nov 08 '11 at 14:00
thanks for the effort, but I think I would stick with the etoolbox solution for the moment as many thing fail after I switch to algorithmicx. – iKid Nov 08 '11 at 14:04
1

@iKid: no problem. In fact, I thought that there was full compatibility (as algorithmicx advertises), but apparently it's not so "full". – Gonzalo Medina Nov 08 '11 at 14:06
How can I omit the "end for" at the end of the block? – Filippo Bistaffa Jan 30 '15 at 21:53
@FilippoBistaffa \usepackage[noend]{algcompatible} for the standard \FORALL; if you need this for the new block, please feel free to open a new question. – Gonzalo Medina Jan 31 '15 at 00:54

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 08 '11 at 13:32

4

You can say

\usepackage{algorithmic}
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\newcommand{\algorithmicdoinparallel}{\textbf{do in parallel}}
\makeatletter
\AtBeginEnvironment{algorithmic}{%
  \newcommand{\FORALLP}[2][default]{\ALC@it\algorithmicforall\ #2\ %
    \algorithmicdoinparallel\ALC@com{#1}\begin{ALC@for}}%
}
\makeatother

The definition of \FORALLP is modeled on that of \FORALL; you can't call it \FORALL_P, however.

answered Nov 08 '11 at 13:32

egreg

1,121,712

Thanks, I tried to do this but failed, \makeatletter does the magic... – iKid Nov 08 '11 at 14:06

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 08 '11 at 13:35

In your specific case, using commands of the etoolbox package to change the look of the \FORALL statement might not work because you're trying to change the subsequent statement, viz. "do..."

The algorithmic package allows for a fair bit of customization of various algorithm-like statements. For example, you could issue the command

\renewcommand{\algorithmicdo}{\textbf{do in parallel}}

However, this will change the output of the "do" statement in all instances, which may not be to your liking.

Add a phrase to an existing algorithmic command/environment

3 Answers3

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