[Tex/LaTex] Difference of the \dots*

Question

I came to wonder, what is the difference between the following?

\dotsc
\dotso

As well as between:

\dotsb
\dotsi
\dotsm

Answer 1

The following is taken directly from the amsmath documentation (section 4.3 Dots, p 11):

For preferred placement of ellipsis dots (raised or on-line) in various contexts there is no general consensus. It may therefore be considered a matter of taste. By using the semantically oriented commands

• \dotsc for "dots with commas"
• \dotsb for "dots with binary operators/relations"
• \dotsm for "multiplication dots"
• \dotsi for "dots with integrals"
• \dotso for "other dots" (none of the above)

instead of \ldots and \cdots, you make it possible for your document to be adapted to different conventions on the fly, in case (for example) you have to submit it to a publisher who insists on following house tradition in this respect. The default treatment for the various kinds follows American Mathematical Society conventions:

How is it "possible for your document to be adapted to different conventions on the fly"? Well, if you exercise consistent macro usage across the various document elements, a "house tradition" different from the current definition could be employed by using a redefinition. See, for example, the suggestion contained within Consistent typography.

At face value, and purely for comparison reasons, here's a take on x,\dots*,y:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}% http://ctan.org/pkg/amsmath
\begin{document}
\verb|\dots |: $x,\dots,y$ \par
\verb|\dotsc|: $x,\dotsc,y$ \par
\verb|\dotso|: $x,\dotso,y$ \par
\verb|\dotsb|: $x,\dotsb,y$ \par
\verb|\dotsi|: $x,\dotsi,y$ \par
\verb|\dotsm|: $x,\dotsm,y$
\end{document}