Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!me!writer
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
From: writer@me.utoronto.ca (Tim Writer)
Subject: Re: Box height in LaTeX ???
Message-ID: <90Jul12.183006edt.20258@me.utoronto.ca>
Organization: University of Toronto, Department of Mechanical Engineering
References: <15220001@hprpcd.HP.COM>
Date: 12 Jul 90 22:30:10 GMT

Pierre-Yves Thoulon writes:

>LaTeX allows me to set a length command to the width of a box by doing
>something like:

>Does anybody know a way of doing the same thing with the height of
>the box rather than the width (in LaTeX or just plain TeX) ?

Sure, its no problem in plain TeX.

\newbox\aBox%
\setbox\aBox=\hbox{%		or \vbox
%	contents of box
}
\newdimen\aHeight%
\dimen\aHeight=\ht\aBox%

By the way, you should remember that a box has three dimensions: width,
height, and depth.  The corresponding TeX control sequences are \wd, \ht,
and \dp.  In case you don't know, the height is the distance from the
baseline to the top of the box, while the depth is the distance from
the baseline to the bottom of the box.

Tim