Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!yale!leichter
From: leichter@CS.YALE.EDU (Jerry Leichter)
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: Changing line thicknesses and squeeze
Message-ID: <60690@yale-celray.yale.UUCP>
Date: 16 May 89 16:53:13 GMT
Sender: root@yale.UUCP
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Organization: Yale Computer Science Department, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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X-from: leichter@CS.YALE.EDU (Jerry Leichter (LEICHTER-JERRY@CS.YALE.EDU))

In article <1030@sunset.MATH.UCLA.EDU>, adam@ironwood.math.ucla.edu writes...
>A couple of questions:
> 
>  1. Is there any way to change the line thickness when using
>     \overline ?

No.  (The thickness is specified as a parameter of one of the math fonts.
You would have to change that parameter, which might have unpredictable
effects elsewhere in math typesetting.  See Appendix G of the TeXbook if you
want the details.)

> 
>  2. Is there a horizontal version of \smash? That is, is
>     there a \squeeze{x} which makes x have zero width?
> 
>   Thanks,  Adam H. Lewenberg
> 

No, but you can define one if you want.  It's a little tricky because of the
need to get the right size characters inside an hbox within math mode.  The
simplest approach is to imitate the implementation of \smash, which you can
find in PLAIN.TEX.  The following is UNTESTED.  If it works, enjoy it.  If
not, enjoy fixing it.  :-)

	\def\squeeze{\relax % \relax, in case this comes first in \halign
	  \ifmmode\def\next{\mathpalette\mathsq@ze}\else\let\next\makesq@ze
	  \fi\next}
	\def\makesq@ze#1{\setbox\z@\hbox{#1}\finsq@ze}
	\def\mathsq@ze#1#2{\setbox\z@\hbox{$\m@th#1{#2}$}\finsq@ze}
	\def\finsq@ze{\wd\z@\z@ \box\z@}

It (obviously) must be set up in an environment in which @ is a letter.

							-- Jerry