Text always on the right

Question

I am trying to create a macro which always places the text in its argument on the right side of the line and then the line should end.

For example:

Left-Text \mymacro{Right-Text}

should have text on the left and then when the text is done $\box$ should be placed on the right, but on the same line (as long as it fits).

I have tried

\newcommand{\mymacro}[1]{\hfill \mbox{#1}}

which works fine provided that Right-Text fits on the last line of Left-Text.

However, if Right-Text gets moved to a new line then it appears on the left side.

For example:

\documentclass{amsart}
\begin{document}
Doesn't work 

Left Text 0123456789 Left Text 0123456789 Left Text 0123456789
\mymacro{Right Text} 

Works

Left Text 0123456789 Left Text 0123456789 Left Text 0123456789 Left Text 0123456789
\mymacro{Right Text} 

Works

Left Text 0123456789 Left Text 0123456789
\mymacro{Right Text} 

\end{document}

Welcome to TeX.SX! Please help us to help you and add a minimal working example (MWE) that illustrates your problem. It will be much easier for us to reproduce your situation and find out what the issue is when we see compilable code, starting with \documentclass{...} and ending with \end{document}. — cfr, Jul 06 '14 at 03:20

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 06 '14 at 03:43

3

The star form of \hspace avoids to get canceled at the start of a new line:

\newcommand*{\mymacro}[1]{\hspace*{\fill}\mbox{#1}\penalty-9999\relax}

The penalty allows a line break, but it does not force one (-10000) to avoid an underfull \hbox warning, if the paragraph ends after \mymacro.

answered Jul 06 '14 at 03:43

Heiko Oberdiek

271,626

Thanks! This seems to work perfectly. Out of curiosity, what is the difference between \newcommand* and \newcommand? – Nate Ackerman Jul 06 '14 at 18:12
@NateAckerman: TeX complains, if the argument contains empty lines (\par tokens). Since the text for \mymacro is intended to be a small part of a paragraph, TeX can earlier complain, if the closing argument brace has been forgotten. – Heiko Oberdiek Jul 06 '14 at 18:21
Thanks that is helpful. I was also curious about the more general differences between these commands. But I will ask this as a question. – Nate Ackerman Jul 06 '14 at 20:38
@NateAckerman: What's the difference between \newcommand and \newcommand*? – Heiko Oberdiek Jul 06 '14 at 20:44
Thanks. I found that link as I was about to write my question:) – Nate Ackerman Jul 06 '14 at 23:37

Text always on the right

1 Answers1