Appendix B
Format Parameters

In this appendix, many of the parameters that determine how your document is formatted are described. To change the default value of a length parameter, you can use ’s setlength command. For example, to change the indentation for a paragraph to 2 cm, you would use

      setlength{parindent}{2cm}

Some format parameters define a fractional quantity or a scale factor. To change these parameters, use the enewcommand. For example, to change the fraction of a page that can be occupied by floats at the top use

      enewcommand{ opfraction}{.4}

Finally, some parameters are counters with integer values. Change these counters with the setcounter command. For example, to change the maximum number of floats allowed at the top of a page to three use

      setcounter{topnumber}{3}

Some parameters can be changed only in the preamble. Unless noted to the contrary in the following definitions, a parameter may be changed anywhere in the document.

Page Format Parameters

oddsidemargin The left indentation of the text relative to one inch from the left margin of the paper. If a twoside document style is specified, it only affects odd-numbered pages. Change in preamble only. Default values: report, 0.29in (2-sided) or 0.55in (1-sided); book, 0.25in; article, 0.29in (2-sided) or 0.55in (1-sided); letter, 0.74in. Change with the setlength command.

evensidemargin In twoside style, the left indentation of the text relative to one inch from the left margin of the paper fort even pages. Change in preamble only. Default values: report, 0.82in (2-sided) or 0.55in (1-sided); book, 1.25in; article, 0.82in (2-sided) or 0.55in (1-sided); letter, 0.74in. Change with the setlength command.

extwidth The text width between the left and right margins in a normal paragraph. Change only in the preamble. Default: report, 5.42in; book, 5in; article, 5.42in; letter, 5.07in. Change with the setlength command.

opmargin The distance between the top of the paper and the top of the page head. Change only in the preamble. Default: 0.38in (book, 0.73in). Change with the setlength command.

headheight The vertical space used for a page’s header. Change only in preamble. Default: 0.17in. Change with the setlength command.

headsep The vertical distance between the header and the body of the text. Change only in the preamble. Default: report, 0.35in; book, 0.275in; article, 0.35in; letter, 0.63in. Change with the setlength command.

extheight Height of the body of the text on a page. Change only in preamble. Default: 7.39in (letter, 7.01in). Change with the setlength command.

footheight The height of the footer. Change only in the preamble. Default: Oin (letter, 0.17in). Change with the setlength command.

footskip The distance from the bottom of the text body to the bottom of the footer. Change only in the footer. Default: 0.42in (letter, 0.35in). Change with the setlength command.

parindent Indentation from the left margin for the first line of a paragraph. Default: 1.5em (letter, Oin). Change with the setlength command.

aselineskip The minimum separation between baselines in a paragraph. (Letters without descenders are placed on the baseline.) Only one setting per paragraph is allowed. Default: 0.2in (letter, 0.21in). Change with the setlength command.

opskip Distance from the top of the text body to the baseline of the first line in the body. Change only in the preamble. Default: 0.14in. Change with the setlength command.

aselinestretch The space between baselines is multiplied by this factor. Default: 1. Change with the enewcommand. If changed in the document, it does not take effect until after a change in font size. Change with the enewcommand command.

parskip The vertical separation between paragraphs. This is a rubber length. Default: Oin (letter, O.lin). Change with the setlength command.

Section-level Parameters

secnumdepth A counter whose value defines the lowest level of sectional numbering. Set only in preamble. For report and book styles, chapters are level 0 and parts are level -1. Sections are level 1, subsections level 2, subsubsections level 3, and so on. Change with the setcounter command.

tocdepth A counter that defines the lowest level of sections to be included in the Table of Contents. Set only in preamble. Change with the setcounter command.

Footnote Parameter

footnotesep The extra separation between footnotes. Default: 0.12in (letter, 0.17in). Change with the setlength command.

Two-column Format Parameters

columnsep The separation between the two columns. Default: 0.14in. Change with the setlength command.

columnseprule The width of the rule placed between columns. If set to 0 size, then no rule is made. Default: Oin. Change with the setlength command.

Marginal Note Parameters

marginparwidth Width for the marginal notes. Change only in the preamble. Default: report and article, 1.18in (two-sided printing) or 0.94in (one-sided printing); book, l.0in; letter, 1.25in. Change with the setlength command.

marginparsep The distance between the edge of the text body and the marginal note. Change only in the preamble. Default: report and article, 0.14in; book, 0.l0in; letter, 0.15in. Change with the setlength command.

marginparpush The minimum vertical distance between adjacent marginal notes. Change only in the preamble. Default: report, book, and article, 0.lin; letter, 0.070in. Change with the setlength command.

List Parameters

All the parameters for the list environment are changed in the list environment. For example, you might have

          …egin{list}{}{listparindent .25in leftmargin .5in}...

opsep Vertical space (in addition to normal paragraph spacing) between the list and surrounding text. It is a rubber length. Default: 0.125in (letter, 0.4em).

partopsep Extra vertical space between list and surrounding text if a blank line precedes the text. It is a rubber length.

itemsep Separation (added to parsep) between list items. It is a rubber length. Default: 0.06in (letter, 0.4em).

parsep Vertical spacing between paragraphs within an item. It is a rubber length. Default: 0.06in (letter, 0in).

leftmargin The left margin of an item’s text (not including the label) relative to the left margin of the text. It must be positive or zero. Default: 2.5em.

ightmargin The right margin of an item’s text (not including the label) relative to the right margin of the text. It must be positive or zero. Default: 0em.

listparindent The paragraph indentation for all item paragraphs (except the first). Default: 0in.

itemindent The indentation before each label. Default: 0in (may be negative!).

labelsep The horizontal separation between a item’s label and the text of the item. Default: 0.5em.

labelwidth The width of the box for each item’s label in which the label is placed flush left. If the width of the label’s box plus labelsep equals leftmargin, then the label will be flush with the left margin of the surrounding text. If the width of the label’s box plus the labelsep is less than the leftmargin, then the labels will be indented from the surrounding text. Default: 2em.

Math Parameters

jot The extra vertical space added between rows of lines in an eqnarray environment. Default: 0.04in. Change with the setlength command.

mathindent The amount by which the displayed equations are indented from the left margin when fleqn document style is specified. Default: 0in. Change with the setlength command.

abovedisplayskip The extra vertical space left above a long displayed equation (equal to opsep if fleqn is used). An equation is considered a long equation if its left end is farther to the left than the end of the last line of text. Default: 0.17in. Change with the setlength command.

elowdisplayskip The extra vertical space placed below a long displayed equation (equal to opsep if fleqn is used). It is a rubber length. Default: 0in. Change with the setlength command.

abovedisplayshortskip The extra vertical space left above a short displayed equation (equal to opsep if fleqn is used). An equation is considered a short equation if its left end is farther to the right than the end of the last line of text. Default: 0in. Change with the setlength command.

elowdisplayshortskip The extra vertical space placed below a short displayed equation (equal to opsep if fleqn is used). It is a rubber length. Default: 0in. Change with the setlength command.

Float Parameters

topnumber A counter specifying the maximum number of floats that may appear at the top of a text page. Default: 2. Change with the setcounter command.

opfraction The fraction of a page allowed for floats at the top of the page. Default: 0.7. The enewcommand is used to change its value.

bottomnumber A counter specifying the maximum number of floats that may appear at the bottom of a text page. Default: 1. Change with the setcounter command.

ottomfraction The fraction of a page allowed for floats at the bottom of the page. Default: 0.3. The enewcommand is used to change its value.

totalnumber A counter specifying the maximum number of floats that may appear on a page (in any position). Default: 3. Change with the setcounter command.

extfraction The fraction of any page with floats and text that must be occupied with text. Default: 0.2. The enewcommand is used to change its value.

floatpagefraction The fraction of a page that must be occupied with floats. The rest of the page may be occupied with floats or white space. Default: 0.5. The enewcommand is used to change its value.

dbltopnumber A counter specifying the maximum number of double-column floats that may appear at the top of a column in two-column format. Default: 2. Change with the setcounter command.

dbltopfraction The fraction of a page allowed for floats at the top of a column in two-column format. Default: 0.7. The enewcommand is used to change its value.

dblfloatpagefaction The fraction of a column that must be occupied with floats in two-column format. The rest of the column may be occupied with floats or white space. Default: 0.5. The enewcommand is used to change its value.

floatsep The separation between adjacent floats on a text page. It is a rubber length. Default: 0.19in (letter, 0.17in).

extfloatsep The separation between floats and adjacent text. It is a rubber length. Default: 0.28in. Change with the setlength command.

intextsep The vertical space between floats in the middle of a page and the surrounding text. This is a rubber length. Default: 0.19in (letter, 0.17in). Change with the setlength command.

dblfloatsep The separation between adjacent floats on a text page in two-column format. It is a rubber length. Default: 0.19in (letter, 0.17in). Change with the setlength command.

dbltextfloatsep The separation between floats and the adjacent text in two-column format. It is a rubber length. Default: 0.28in. Change with the setlength command.

Tabular and Array Parameters

abcolsep The width of the blank space at the right and left of each tabular column. The space between adjacent columns is twice this value. Default: 0.08in. Change with the setlength command.

arraycolsep The width of the blank space at the right and left of each array column. The space between adjacent columns is twice this value. Default: 0.07in. Change with the setlength command.

arrayrulewidth The width of the vertical rule | in a tabular or array environment. It is also the width of the horizontal lines produced with hline and cline. Default: 0.006in. Change with the setlength command.

doublerulesep The separation between double rule lines in tabular or array environments produced with the | | command or two successive hline or cline commands. Default: 0.03in. Change with the setlength command.

arraystretch The normal spacing between successive lines in the tabular or array environments is multiplied by this value. Default: 1. This value is changed with the renewcommand.

Box Parameters

fboxrule The width of the lines produced by a fbox or framebox command. (It does not affect framebox within the picture environment.) Default: 0.006in. Change with the setlength command.

fboxsep The distance between the rule of a box and its contents produced by the fbox and framebox commands. (It does not affect framebox within the picture environment.) Default: 0.04in. Change with the setlength command.