Adjust space around displaymath

[ufn...@my-deja.com]

Hello,

I am trying to reduce the space above and below equations enclosed in \[
\]. Unfortunately I can't get
\setlength{\abovedisplayskip}{0pt}
\setlength{\belowdisplayskip}{0pt}
\setlength{\abovedisplayshortskip}{0pt}
\setlength{\belowdisplayshortskip}{0pt}
\setlength{\parsep}{0pt}

to do this. I am using the seminar class and amsmath package with tetex.

Thanks,
Juan

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[Donald Arseneau]

ufn...@my-deja.com writes:

> I am trying to reduce the space above and below equations enclosed in \[
> \]. Unfortunately I can't get

> \setlength{\abovedisplayskip}{0pt} ...

Appropriate settings are made by the size-changing commands
like \normalsize. You probably have a size setting after
you make your own settings; perhaps just \normalsize in
\begin{document}.

For a simple document, put your settings after \begin{document}.
For a document with equations in other-sized text, you can:

a) make your own document class, with appropriate size-changing
commands, or

b) redefine \selectfont:
\newcommand{\nodisplayskips}{\setlength ...}
\let\oldselectfont\selectfont
\renewcommand\selectfont{\oldselectfont \nodisplayskips}

Donald Arseneau as...@triumf.ca

[K.B. Howell]

On Thu, 01 Jun 2000 19:47:47 GMT, ufn...@my-deja.com wrote:

>Hello,

>
>I am trying to reduce the space above and below equations enclosed in \[
>\]. Unfortunately I can't get
>\setlength{\abovedisplayskip}{0pt}

>\setlength{\belowdisplayskip}{0pt}
>\setlength{\abovedisplayshortskip}{0pt}
>\setlength{\belowdisplayshortskip}{0pt}
>\setlength{\parsep}{0pt}
>
>to do this. I am using the seminar class and amsmath package with tetex.
>
>Thanks,
>Juan
>

Juan,

Had to fix the same problem myself while preparing some camera ready
stuff that I really wanted to look good.

First of all, ``\[ \]'' is supposed to use \abovedisplayshortskip
``when appropriate,'' and, if I recall correctly
\abovedisplayshortskip is 0pt (you can check this with
\the\abovedisplayshortskip ). Unfortunately, older versions of the
amsmath package had a bug that prevented this. So the first thing I
would suggest is to get the latest amsmath package available.

Second, to adjust the \...display...skips , try redefining the lengths
within the \[ \] , e.g.,

\[

\setlength{\abovedisplayskip}{0pt}
\setlength{\belowdisplayskip}{0pt}

x = y
\]

Here's a hack I'm using to force shorter \abovedisplayskips even when
``not appropriate.'' I simply added an optional parameter to the
amsmath definition of \[ with

\[ --> default behavior of \[
\[[short] --> forces the use of \abovedisplayshortskip
\[[half] --> cuts \abovedisplayskip in half

It's not very clever, but it works. You can probably modify it to fit
your needs. (PS: As written, it assumes you are using v2 of the
amsmath package and the ifthen package. It may be wise to also
redefine the \] command as \end{equation*} just in case a later
version of amsmath changes its definition of \] .)

\DeclareRobustCommand{\[}[1][]%
{\begin{equation*}
\ifthenelse{\equal{#1}{}}%
{}%
{\ifthenelse{\equal{#1}{short}}%
{\setlength{\abovedisplayskip}{1\abovedisplayshortskip}}%
{\ifthenelse{\equal{#1}{half}}%
{\setlength{\abovedisplayskip}{.5\abovedisplayskip}}%
{[#1]}%
}}}

Good luck,
Ken