Pattern for \vrule

Question

Is it possible to apply patterns to \vrule like dotted?

\documentclass{article}

\newdimen\le\le=50pt
\def\A{\vrule depth0pt height 50pt width 1 \le}

\begin{document}
\A
\end{document}

See also http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/12537/how-can-i-make-a-horizontal-dashed-line — knut, Feb 24 '14 at 19:45
do you want a horizontal or vertical row of dots? (your example shows vrule which starts a new paragraph and enters horizontal mode) — David Carlisle, Feb 24 '14 at 19:55
@RicardoCristianRamirez well the answers are rather different, either way you need \leaders for horizontal dashes there is an answer in the linked question (vertical version is similarchanging v/h appropriately) — David Carlisle, Feb 24 '14 at 20:00

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 24 '14 at 21:25

It is not too clear to me, which kind of dotted lines/areas are to be set. The following example generates a dotted area using \leaders (also \cleaders can be used):

\documentclass{article}

\newdimen\le\le=50pt

\newcommand*{\A}{%
  \leavevmode
  \leaders\vbox{%
    \leaders\vbox{%
      \kern.5\fontdimen3\font
      \hbox{.}%
      \kern.5\fontdimen3\font
    }\vskip50pt %
  }\hskip\le\null
}

\begin{document}
\A
\end{document}

More about \leaders can be found in chapter 9 "Rules and Leaders" of "TeX by Topic" by Victor Eijkhout.

Pattern for \vrule

1 Answers1