How to break a \rule over lines?

Question

Is there an easy way to break a rule over multiple lines? I.e. for it to continue flowing just as text would, and not continuing straight through the page border?

Specifically, I'm trying to typeset questions for a test.

Here's a MWE:

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage[left=2cm,right=2cm,bottom=2cm,top=2cm]{geometry}
\usepackage[onehalfspacing]{setspace}

\begin{document}

\begin{enumerate}[label=(\arabic*)]
\item Ap sala kemae njeuqsket jquakmdk a kameiuwma ke eiqkamk jekamska keialk
oela \rule{6cm}{0.15mm}.
\end{enumerate}

\end{document}

What I'm getting is this:

What I'd like to get is something like

but with the first part of the line stretching to the end of the text width, then breaking and continuing in the next line. (The "desired" output was done by typesetting the rule with two calls to the \rule command, with a manual line break, i.e. \\ between them.)

Are you looking for something like this: https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/125840/create-fill-in-the-blank-version-of-a-document-with-ability-to-toggle-blanks-on ? My censor package's \xblackout macro breaks across lines, and can be set up as a "rule" in appearance with \censorruledepth=-.2ex and \censorruleheight=.1ex — Steven B. Segletes, May 02 '18 at 15:34
I tried using \xblackout{aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa} with the options you've listed in the comment (and the other post), but have run into the same problem. So, the MWE is the same as before, but \rule is replaced by \xblackout as stated earlier, and the \censorrule... options are set. — Potato, May 02 '18 at 15:48
The same happend when using the \underline{\phantom{text}} trick. Moreover, it appeared when using just \phantom{long-text}. Maybe it's because of the \enumerate environment? — Potato, May 02 '18 at 15:53
\xblackout works with text, and allows breaks between words, in the manner of \xblackout{This is the text I want blacked out}. In this sense, it may not be exactly what you want. — Steven B. Segletes, May 02 '18 at 16:39
Aaaah, sorry! I thought it would work with arbitrary text. I put "this is sample text that should be black" in the \xblackout function and it works as intended. Basically, I'm trying to keep the blank lines at about the same length, so I'll just use your package with some text "constant". That being said, I don't know how I haven't come across the topic you've linked. If you'd like to post your comment as an answer, I'll gladly accept it. Thank you! — Potato, May 02 '18 at 16:50

Steven B. Segletes · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-02T16:58:30.407

I introduce \breakablerule that takes the same parameters as \rule. It builds up the rule by using segments of length \drule, here initialized as 2pt. The last segment will likely be less than \drule in length, in order to meet the overall length goal.

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage[left=2cm,right=2cm,bottom=2cm,top=2cm]{geometry}
\usepackage[onehalfspacing]{setspace}
\newlength\rulegoal
\newlength\drule
\setlength{\drule}{2pt}
\newcommand\breakablerule[3][0pt]{\setlength{\rulegoal}{#2}\breakableruleaux{#1}{#3}}
\newcommand\breakableruleaux[2]{%
  \ifdim\rulegoal>\drule\relax%
    \rule[#1]{\drule}{#2}\allowbreak%
    \def\next{\breakableruleaux{#1}{#2}}%
  \else
    \rule[#1]{\rulegoal}{#2}%
    \def\next{}%
  \fi 
  \addtolength{\rulegoal}{-\drule}%
  \next%
}
\begin{document}
\begin{enumerate}[label=(\arabic*)]
\item Ap sala kemae njeuqsket jquakmdk a kameiuwma ke eiqkamk jekamska 
  keialk oela \breakablerule[-3pt]{6cm}{0.15mm}.
\item Ap sala kemae njeuqsket jquakmdk a kameiuwma ke eiqkamk jekamska  
  \breakablerule{6cm}{0.15mm}.
\item Ap sala kemae njeuqsket jquakmdk a kameiuwma ke eiqkamk 
  \breakablerule{6cm}{0.15mm}.
\end{enumerate}
\end{document}

There is probably a way to do this directly with leaders.

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered May 02 '18 at 17:10

For one-off uses, you can break the line manually using a combination of \hrulefill \\ and another \rule of fixed width:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage[margin = 2cm, showframe]{geometry}
\usepackage[onehalfspacing]{setspace}

\begin{document}

\begin{enumerate}[label=(\arabic*)]
  \item Ap sala kemae njeuqsket jquakmdk a kameiuwma ke eiqkamk jekamska keialk
  oela \rule{6cm}{0.15mm}.

  \item Ap sala kemae njeuqsket jquakmdk a kameiuwma ke eiqkamk jekamska keialk
  oela \hrulefill \\
  \rule{5cm}{.4pt}.% \hrulefill has .4pt thickness
\end{enumerate}

\end{document}

This is a nice trick, but I prefer Steven's suggestion since it's more (or more easily) customisable. — Potato, May 08 '18 at 07:47

How to break a \rule over lines?

2 Answers2