I've got a quite similar problem as the one presented in this thread:
Renew command \makelettertitle in moderncv, but the solution proposed does not completely answer my needs.
As a reminder, the French way to type a letter header is traditionally to put the Sender's informations on the top left of the document, and the Recipient's informations below, but on the RIGHT side of the document.
My problem is that I could not find a working way to flush to the right the textblock "Recipient address" by modifying the solution proposed in the link above.
I would also like to justify the body of the letter, but my solution, as proposed in this thread Justify text in moderncv cover letter, interferes with the \makelettertittle command modification.
Here comes a MWE to summarize everything:
(please note that the signature is also flushed to the right)
\documentclass[11pt,a4paper,sans]{moderncv}
\moderncvstyle{classic}
\moderncvcolor{blue}
\nopagenumbers{}
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\usepackage{lipsum}
%%%%%%%%%%%%% Beginning of \makelettertittle modification %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\makeatletter
%-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% letter style definition
%-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% commands
\renewcommand*{\recomputeletterlengths}{%
\recomputecvlengths%
\setlength{\parskip}{6\p@}}
\newcommand*{\subject}[1]{\def\@subject{#1}}
\renewcommand*{\makelettertitle}{%
% recompute lengths (in case we are switching from letter to resume, or vice versa)
\recomputeletterlengths%
% sender contact info
%\hfill%
\begin{minipage}{.5\textwidth}%
\raggedright%
\addressfont\textcolor{color2}{%
{\bfseries\upshape\@firstname~\@familyname}\@firstdetailselementfalse%
\ifthenelse{\isundefined{\@addressstreet}}{}{\makenewline\addresssymbol\@addressstreet%
\ifthenelse{\equal{\@addresscity}{}}{}{\makenewline\@addresscity}}%
\ifthenelse{\isundefined{\@mobile}}{}{\makenewline\mobilesymbol\@mobile}%
\ifthenelse{\isundefined{\@phone}}{}{\makenewline\phonesymbol\@phone}%
\ifthenelse{\isundefined{\@email}}{}{\makenewline\emailsymbol\emaillink{\@email}}%
\ifthenelse{\isundefined{\@homepage}}{}{\makenewline\homepagesymbol\httplink{\@homepage}}%
\ifthenelse{\isundefined{\@extrainfo}}{}{\makenewline\@extrainfo}}%
\end{minipage}\\[2em]
% recipient block
\hspace{0.5\textwidth} \begin{minipage}[t]{.5\textwidth}
\raggedright%
\addressfont%
{\bfseries\upshape\@recipientname}\\%
\@recipientaddress\\[2em]%
\@date\\[1.5em]%
\end{minipage}
% date
\hfill
\null\\[2em]%
\raggedright%
\ifthenelse{\isundefined{\@subject}}{}{%
\begin{tabular}{ p{0.08\textwidth} p{0.92\textwidth} }
Objet: & \raggedright \@subject
\end{tabular}
\\[1.5em]}%
% opening
\raggedright%
\@opening\\[1.5em]%
\hspace{0pt}\par\vspace{-\baselineskip}\vspace{-\parskip}}
\renewcommand*{\makeletterclosing}{
\@closing\\[3em]%
{\bfseries \@firstname~\@familyname}%
\ifthenelse{\isundefined{\@enclosure}}{}{%
\\%
\vfill%
{\color{color2}\itshape\enclname: \@enclosure}}}
\makeatother%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% End of \makelettertittle modification%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\makeatletter
\patchcmd{\makelettertitle} %%% Text body justifying attempt
{\raggedright \@opening}
{\@opening}
{}{}
\patchcmd{\makeletterclosing} %%% Flushing right the signature
{\@closing}
{\flushright \@closing}
{}{}
\makeatother
% character encoding
\usepackage[ansinew]{inputenc}
\usepackage[francais]{babel}
% adjust the page margins
\usepackage[top=1.1cm, bottom=1.1cm, left=2cm, right=2cm]{geometry}
\setlength{\hintscolumnwidth}{3cm}
% personal data
\firstname{Mr Foo}
\familyname{Bar}
\title{Resume title}
\address{address}{city}{country}
\mobile{0987654321}
\phone{0123456789}
\email{foo.bar@mail.lol}
\begin{document}
%%%%Recipient infos%%%%
\recipient{Recruitment Office}{Derp Corp.\\12 Some Way\\Foobar}
\date{\today}
\subject{Job application ref. 121212}
\opening{Dear Sir or Madam,}
\closing{Yours faithfully,}
\enclosure[Attached]{curriculum vit\ae{}}
\makelettertitle
\lipsum[1-3]
\makeletterclosing
\end{document}
Best Answer
So, I have to mention that you example is far from minimal; I would highly recommend you look over some good tips for minimizing your code that have been provided on the Meta site.
But to your question. Several items in your code were all mashed together, likely a result of bringing together several solutions from different places. The placement of the line breaks (with
\\[2em], for instance) was interfering with being able to add space in front of the secondminipageenvironment. Similarly, the date got moved around enough times that there were (and still are) some lines that probably aren't necessary (like the\hfillindicated). Since I don't know exactly what your final product should look like, I'll leave it to you to clean things up from here.Finally, you are using
\patchcmdto "patch" the command that you were already directly redefining. This is needlessly complicated, unless you anticipate using part of your code again without the changes you are trying to patch in. Just make the changes in the renewed definition of the commands. I have changed the first one to remove\raggedrightmultiple times where it is now not necessary. The second\patchcmdworks (I changed it to be\raggedleft, which is the proper declarative form of theflushrightenvironment), but it would be better to just make the change in the renewed definition if you want it to "just work".Your example now becomes: