Lists that are flush left

[Andrew Ho]

Hey all,

I'm trying to set things up in LaTeX such that lists (using the
"itemize" environment) aren't indented; that is to say, the bullet
starts on a level with the left side of a paragraph (ignoring first
line indentation, that is). So, for example, if I have:

\begin{itemize}
\item Level one: first item
\item Level one: second item
\begin{itemize}
\item Level two: the only item
\end{itemize}
\item Level one: third item
\end{itemize}

So what I've got set up is the following in the preamble:

\renewenvironment{itemize}
{\begin{list}{\vrule height 0.9ex width 0.8ex depth -0.1ex}{
\setlength{\labelwidth}{0.8ex}
\setlength{\leftmargin}{0pt}
\addtolength{\leftmargin}{\labelwidth}
\addtolength{\leftmargin}{\labelsep}}
}
{\end{list}}

Now, this works pretty much as I want it, with one exception. The
nested list is, predictably, only indented as much as you'd expect (in
other words, the bullet is vertically aligned with the start of the
phrase "Level one:"). Is there any way I can indent it a bit more, so
that it's a bit more aesthetically pleasing (but obviously I only want
nested lists to have extra margins, else the whole bullet-flush-with-
paragraph won't hold)? In other words, is there a way of increasing
the \leftmargin of only sub-lists and beyond?

Or am I going about this completely the wrong way? There is a reason
for me wanting to do this; I understand that it's harder to read.

Regards,
Andrew

[Ulrike Fischer]

Am Fri, 23 Nov 2007 04:35:05 -0800 (PST) schrieb Andrew Ho:

> Hey all,
>
> I'm trying to set things up in LaTeX such that lists (using the
> "itemize" environment) aren't indented; that is to say, the bullet
> starts on a level with the left side of a paragraph (ignoring first
> line indentation, that is).

> So what I've got set up is the following in the preamble:

>
> \renewenvironment{itemize}
> {\begin{list}{\vrule height 0.9ex width 0.8ex depth -0.1ex}{
> \setlength{\labelwidth}{0.8ex}
> \setlength{\leftmargin}{0pt}
> \addtolength{\leftmargin}{\labelwidth}
> \addtolength{\leftmargin}{\labelsep}}
> }
> {\end{list}}
>
> Now, this works pretty much as I want it, with one exception. The
> nested list is, predictably, only indented as much as you'd expect (in
> other words, the bullet is vertically aligned with the start of the
> phrase "Level one:"). Is there any way I can indent it a bit more, so
> that it's a bit more aesthetically pleasing (but obviously I only want
> nested lists to have extra margins, else the whole bullet-flush-with-
> paragraph won't hold)? In other words, is there a way of increasing
> the \leftmargin of only sub-lists and beyond?

Defining lists that can be nested is not easy. In rough you have to
define four different lists and then implement a "master" list that
use the current level to switch between this lists and hides
everything so that the user doesn't realize that he isn't using one
list "itemize" but four.

Better use the enumitem package to setup itemize as you want it.

--
Ulrike Fischer