How to make a section of text have predefined fixed width

Question

1) The latex code I currently have and the corresponding output

\def\lineA{Email   \ \ \ Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}
\def\lineB{Phone   \ \ \ Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}
\def\lineC{Address \ \ \ Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}
\def\lineD{Website \ \ \ Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}
...
\lineA \\
\lineB \\
\lineC \\
\lineD \\

This is producing the following results

2) The latex code I want and the corresponding output

\def\lineA{\width{20px}{Email}   \ \ \ Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}
\def\lineB{\width{20px}{Phone}   \ \ \ Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}
\def\lineC{\width{20px}{Address} \ \ \ Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}
\def\lineD{\width{20px}{Website} \ \ \ Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}
...
\lineA \\
\lineB \\
\lineC \\
\lineD \\

That should hopefully be producing the following results

How can I achieve this?

you could use a tabular or replace \width{20px} by \par\makebox[20px][l] (and remove the \\ especially the final one which is in error) — David Carlisle, Apr 20 '21 at 19:03

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 20 '21 at 19:03

What you're looking for here (instead of \width) is \makebox[<len>][<align>]{<stuff>}, which sets <stuff> inside a box of width <len> and a particular <align>ment (left, right, centred or stretched). The default is centred if you don't specify any <align>ment. You can specify <len> in pixels, but there are other, standard lengths typically used, depending on whether you want something absolute (like points) or relative (like ems). See What are the various units (ex, em, in, pt, bp, dd, pc) expressed in mm?.

In your particular case, use something like

\def\lineA{\makebox[5em][l]{Email}   Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}
\def\lineB{\makebox[5em][l]{Phone}   Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}
\def\lineC{\makebox[5em][l]{Address} Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}
\def\lineD{\makebox[5em][l]{Website} Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet}

If you want to calculate the maximum width automatically you can consider using eqparbox's \eqmakebox[<tag>][<align>]{<stuff>} where you use the same <tag> for each element you want to consider.

I just learned something new! Thanks for the help, partner! – AlanSTACK Apr 20 '21 at 19:06 — AlanSTACK, Apr 20 '21 at 19:06

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 20 '21 at 20:22

The answer above is a mix of LaTeX and TeX code. I show you pure TeX code:

\def\lineA{\leavevmode\hbox to5em{Email\hss}   Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet\par}
\def\lineB{\leavevmode\hbox to5em{Phone\hss}   Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet\par}
\def\lineC{\leavevmode\hbox to5em{Address\hss} Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet\par}
\def\lineD{\leavevmode\hbox to5em{Website\hss} Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet\par}
\lineA
\lineB
\lineC
\lineD

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 20 '21 at 22:02

I guess you want a tabular

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{@{} l l @{}}
Email & \texttt{name@example.com} \
Phone & (888) 555 99 99 99 \
Address & 99 Some Street, Sometown \
Website & \texttt{https://name.example.com}
\end{tabular}
\end{document}

How to make a section of text have predefined fixed width

1) The latex code I currently have and the corresponding output

2) The latex code I want and the corresponding output

3 Answers3