Auto adjust the width of tcolorbox right-hand side

Question

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[most]{tcolorbox}
\usepackage{mathtools}
\usepackage[lmargin=2cm,rmargin=2cm]{geometry}

\begin{document}

\begin{tcblisting}{title=Column Factorization,sidebyside, listing and comment,righthand ratio=0.35,
comment={
$\begin{array}{r|r}
1.500 & 2 \\
750 & 2 \\
375 & 3 \\
125 & 5 \\
25 & 5 \\
5 & 5 \\
1
\end{array} \quad \boxed{1.500 = 2^2 \cdot 3 \cdot 5^3}$
}}
To solve the exercise we use the method of decomposition into column.

$\begin{array}{r|r}
1.500 & 2 \\
750 & 2 \\
375 & 3 \\
125 & 5 \\
25 & 5 \\
5 & 5 \\
1
\end{array} \quad \boxed{1.500 = 2^2 \cdot 3 \cdot 5^3}$
\end{tcblisting}

\begin{tcblisting}{title=Find GCD and LCD,sidebyside, listing and comment,righthand ratio=0.45,
comment={
\begin{align*}
12 = 4 \cdot 3 &= 2^2 \cdot 3 \\
8 &= 2^3
\end{align*}
\[
   \text{GCD}(12, 8) = \boxed4 \qquad \text{LCD}(12, 8) = 8 \cdot 3 = \boxed{24}
\]
}}
The numbers are small so to calculate GCD and LCM it is better to use the mental decomposition.

\begin{align*}
12 = 4 \cdot 3 &= 2^2 \cdot 3 \\
8 &= 2^3
\end{align*}
\[
   \text{GCD}(12, 8) = \boxed4 \qquad \text{LCD}(12, 8) = 8 \cdot 3 = \boxed{24}
\]
\end{tcblisting}

\begin{tcblisting}{title=Tree diagram,sidebyside, listing and comment,righthand ratio=0.25,
comment={
\begin{tikzpicture}
\node[circle,draw,fill=orange!40!white,minimum size=0.7cm] (1) at  (10,10) {+};
\node[circle,draw,fill=orange!40!white,minimum size=0.7cm] (2) at  (9,9) {-};
\node[circle,draw,minimum size=0.7cm] (3) at  (11,9) {2};
\node[circle,draw,minimum size=0.7cm] (4) at  (8,8) {7};
\node[circle,draw,minimum size=0.7cm] (5) at  (10,8) {3};
\draw (1)--(2);
\draw (1)--(3);
\draw (2)--(4);
\draw (2)--(5);
\end{tikzpicture}
}}
The tree diagram shows the order of the operations and the numbers involved.

\begin{tikzpicture}
\node[circle,draw,fill=orange!40!white,minimum size=0.7cm] (1) at  (10,10) {+};
\node[circle,draw,fill=orange!40!white,minimum size=0.7cm] (2) at  (9,9) {-};
\node[circle,draw,minimum size=0.7cm] (3) at  (11,9) {2};
\node[circle,draw,minimum size=0.7cm] (4) at  (8,8) {7};
\node[circle,draw,minimum size=0.7cm] (5) at  (10,8) {3};
\draw (1)--(2);
\draw (1)--(3);
\draw (2)--(4);
\draw (2)--(5);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{tcblisting}

\end{document}

Since I have to write a lot of tcolorboxes (in particular, tcblisting in order to obtain the Side-by-side source and output effect shown here), it would be nice if there would be a way to automatically adjust the width of the right-hand part, so that I won't have to manually adjust it every time.

I tried with the option hbox as suggested here, but it adjusts the width of both the left and right parts.

I also tried with righthand width=\linewidth but it doesn't work since \linewidth is the totat width of the page.

So the requirements are:

Have an environment (tcblisting or similar) which let me display on one side the source code+other text and on the other side the output of the source code only, ie not of the "other text";
Output is math and tikz, so environments like equation, align, \[ \], array, $ ... $ and similar have to be supported;
The width of the output side (which usually is the right-hand side) have to be automatically adjusted, so that it is not necessary to place righthand ratio=... every time.

Could you please explain precisely what you want to achieve. That is, the input is the text and what? The boundary condition is that the right area is a square and that the text fits the rest? And are you aware of the fitting library that ships with tcolorbox? — , Oct 16 '19 at 06:05
I put a square just to have a fixed size content, but usually i have formulas — sound wave, Oct 16 '19 at 06:35
Yes, but please tell us what the input and the expected output are. Do you know the width of the stuff on the right-hand side? Please consider explaining this in the question. — , Oct 16 '19 at 06:39
Oh yes sorry i will do next time, i dont know the width since any tcolorbox has a different equation on the right part. — sound wave, Oct 16 '19 at 09:35
Does nidhin's answer solve your problem, then? If so, please consider accepting it. — , Oct 16 '19 at 09:51

nidhin · Answer 1 · 2019-10-16T17:54:02.973

You can use tcbsidebyside from the xparse library with sidebyside adapt option.

% \tcbuselibrary{xparse} % in preamble
\tcbsidebyside[sidebyside adapt=right]{<left-hand content>}{<right-hand content>}

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[most]{tcolorbox}
\tcbuselibrary{xparse}
\begin{document}

\tcbsidebyside[sidebyside adapt=right,]{
This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test
}{
\rule{1cm}{1cm}
}

\tcbsidebyside[sidebyside adapt=right,]{
This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test
}{
\rule{4cm}{4cm}
}

\end{document}

To get 'side-by-side source and output effect'.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tcolorbox}
\tcbuselibrary{listings,xparse,skins}

\newsavebox\mysavebox
\DeclareTotalTColorBox{\mysidebox}{ O{} +m}{
sidebyside,
code={\sbox{\mysavebox}{#2}},righthand width=\wd\mysavebox,#1}{\scantokens{\begin{tcblisting}{listing only,blankest}
#2
\end{tcblisting}}\tcblower\usebox{\mysavebox}}


\begin{document}
\mysidebox[]{%
This is \LaTeX%
}

\mysidebox{%
$$a=b$$
}

\mysidebox[title=The Triangle]{%
\begin{tikzpicture}
\path[fill=red!20,draw=red!50!black]
    (0,0) node[below]{A} -- (3,1) node[right]{B} -- (1,4) node[above]{C} -- cycle;
\end{tikzpicture}%
}
\end{document}

Thank you, but I have to use tcblisting since I need to obtain this https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/114582/149290 — sound wave, Oct 16 '19 at 09:59
Thank you for update! Anyway the math environments don't seem to work, for example \mysidebox{\[ \frac{1}{2} \]} or \mysidebox{\begin{align*} x&=2 \\ y&=3 \end{align*}} — sound wave, Oct 16 '19 at 19:19

score 5 · Answer 2 · 2019-10-17T06:45:34.200

5

Some naive attempt.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[most]{tcolorbox}
\newbox\rightbox

\begin{document}
\tcbset{right
box/.style={/utils/exec={\setbox\rightbox=\hbox{\begin{tabular}{@{}l@{}}
#1
\end{tabular}}},righthand
width=\the\wd\rightbox,comment={\copy\rightbox}}}

\begin{tcblisting}{sidebyside, listing and comment,right box={$E=m\,c^2$}}
This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test
\end{tcblisting}

\begin{tcblisting}{sidebyside, listing and comment,right box={Errare humanum
est.\\ But I am a cat.}}
This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test
\end{tcblisting}

\begin{tcblisting}{sidebyside, listing and comment,right box={%
\includegraphics[width=3.14cm]{example-image-duck}}}
This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test
\end{tcblisting}

\end{document}

ADDENDUM: This summarizes what I could offer with regards to your comments below. Unfortunately I do not know how to create a box that may contain an align environment, say, without knowing the width beforehand. (If the width is known, it is trivial, one can use a minipage, say, but this defeats the purpose of this question, or at least my interpretation thereof.) So all I can do is to offer some environment that produces an output that resembles what align gives you.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage[most]{tcolorbox}
\newbox\rightbox
\newenvironment{myalign}{$\displaystyle\begin{aligned}}{\end{aligned}$}
\begin{document}
\tcbset{right box/.style={/utils/exec={\setbox\rightbox=\hbox{\begin{tabular}{@{}l@{}}
#1
\end{tabular}}},righthand width=\the\wd\rightbox,comment={\copy\rightbox}}}



\begin{tcblisting}{sidebyside, listing and comment,
right box={\begin{myalign}E&=m\,c^2\\
&=h\,\nu\end{myalign}}}
This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test
\end{tcblisting}

\begin{tcblisting}{sidebyside, listing and comment,right box={Errare humanum
est.\\ But I am a cat.}}
This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test
\end{tcblisting}

\begin{tcblisting}{sidebyside, listing and comment,right box={%
\includegraphics[width=3.14cm]{example-image-duck}}}
This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test
\end{tcblisting}

\end{document}

edited Oct 17 '19 at 06:45

answered Oct 16 '19 at 10:21

Thank you very much, I'm testing it in various scenarios. I will let you know and eventually accept the answer. – sound wave Oct 16 '19 at 13:33
Works good with $ ... $ environment, but it doesn't work with \[ ... \] or \begin{align} ... \end{align} ones. It says "Bad math environment delimiter." when I use \[ \], and multiple errors when I use align. – sound wave Oct 16 '19 at 13:57
@soundwave Yes, of course. This is why I asked you about the specifications in the comments. I do not have a crystal ball, so I do not know what the requirements are. Please provide a complete list of requirements in the questions such that others can try to address them. – Oct 16 '19 at 15:45
Oh yes sorry, I added examples and requirements to the question, hope it is ok now, if not let me know. – sound wave Oct 16 '19 at 19:54
@soundwave Getting the equations and so on is is actually a tough cookie because they typically require one to wrap minipages in one way or another around the stuff, i.e. we need to know the width of the stuff beforehand. Please note that for none of your examples you show you actually need align or a displayed equation, i.e. all of them can be produced with nidhin's or my answer. – Oct 17 '19 at 01:03
Is it possible to align without align? – sound wave Oct 17 '19 at 05:08
@soundwave Of course, e.g\begin{tcblisting}{sidebyside, listing and comment, right box={$\displaystyle \begin{aligned}E&=m\,c^2\\ &=h\nu\end{aligned}$}} This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test This is not a test \end{tcblisting} (which obviously requires amsmath). – Oct 17 '19 at 05:33
aligned is for inline math tho, I should edit all the hundreds math codes in my document to only use single $'s, which is by far a longer work than find the correct values for righthand ratio. – sound wave Oct 17 '19 at 06:28
1

@soundwave Well, what can I say? You may ask a separate question on whether or not it is possible to define a box that allows you to put align elements in without knowing the width beforehand. I look forward to seeing the answers to this, and would be truly excited to learn a simple way of accomplishing this. (You could define an environment myalign, say, that is nothing but aligned in math mode, perhaps such an environment already exists. By "simple" I mean something simpler than that.) – Oct 17 '19 at 06:35
Thank you very much for your help I will look for it! – sound wave Oct 17 '19 at 06:48
@soundwave I added something doing the myalign trick. So if you ask the question you could mention that you are aware of this, otherwise you may get flooded with proposals of this type... ;-) – Oct 17 '19 at 06:50
Oh thats good thanks! Anyway, could you explain the purpose of \displaystyle in your trick code? Because from `Let $x, y$ be
$\displaystyle\begin{aligned}x&=2 \ y&=3\end{aligned}$

\begin{align}x&=2 \ y&=3\end{align}

which are natural numbers.` i get this https://i.imgur.com/Cm48Qv1.png
– sound wave Oct 17 '19 at 06:56
1

@soundwave \displaystyle is just to resemble more the align environment but obviously this won't flush things to the right because the width is not known. (Let me be clear: I do suspect that there is some trick to solve the problem, it is just that I do not know a simple way.) – Oct 17 '19 at 07:00

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 13 '22 at 16:00

Here is what I did to make my color box auto adjust to the size of math equations.

\documentclass[10pt,letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[most]{tcolorbox} % for colorboxes
\tcbuselibrary{listings,xparse,skins} % for \tcbsidebyside
\usepackage{lipsum} % dummy text
\begin{document}
%----- flexible split
% cannot adapt to equation environments unless inside $...$
\tcbsidebyside[
    title=Title Goes Here,
    sidebyside adapt=left, % we adapt to the size of the left content
    halign=flush center,
    halign lower=left,
    colback=white,
    colframe=black,
]{
    %----- left content
    %--- works
    $
        \begin{gathered} 
            \begin{aligned} 
                &x^2 - 2 \ 
                &x^3 + x - \frac{1}{2}
            \end{aligned} \
            x^2 + 3 \ 
            x^3 - \frac{4}{2} + 2
        \end{gathered}
    $
%--- doesn't work
% \begin{gather*}
%     x^2 - 3 \\ x^3 - \frac{4}{2}
% \end{gather*}

}{
    %----- right content
    \lipsum[1]
}
\end{document}

Auto adjust the width of tcolorbox right-hand side

3 Answers3

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