[Tex/LaTex] sub- and superscripting together in text mode

subscriptssuperscriptstext-mode

I want to use sub- and superscript together in text mode.
I've found this macro to solve the problem

\def\textsubsuperscript#1#2{\rlap{\textsubscript{#1}}\textsuperscript{#2}}

But it doesn't works well when the subscript is long. In that case the subscript overlaps with the following character.

What could be the macro to enable sub- and superscripting in all cases?

Best Answer

We need to have enough space for the longest of the two sub-/superscripts. For that we can calculate the maximum of both sub-/superscripts' widths and make a box as wide as the maximum:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{fixltx2e} % For \textsubscript

\makeatletter
\newcommand{\textsubsuperscript}[2]{%
  \begingroup
    \settowidth{\@tempdima}{\textsubscript{#1}}%
    \settowidth{\@tempdimb}{\textsuperscript{#2}}%
    \ifdim\@tempdima<\@tempdimb
      \setlength{\@tempdima}{\@tempdimb}%
    \fi
    \makebox[\@tempdima][l]{%
      \rlap{\textsubscript{#1}}\textsuperscript{#2}}%
  \endgroup}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

A\textsubsuperscript{x}{yyy}B

A\textsubsuperscript{xxx}{y}B

\end{document}

The result

I refrained from using mathmode and \text because \textsuperscript and \textsubscript may have more complex implementations than it would seem (see realscripts, for example).

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Better looking nested subscripts and superscripts

You can change more or less anything without changing your markup, the font size and position of superscripts is all customisable with care.

enter image description here

You didn't say too much about what you didn't like about the default setting. This shows some possibilities using different font sizes or setting the fontdimen parameters to affect the script positioning.

\documentclass{article}
\textwidth3cm
\begin{document}

1\[
A^{a_{{}_1}}
\]


2\[
A^{a_1}
\]



3\[
A^{\textstyle a_1}
\]

4\[
A^{\textstyle a_{\scriptscriptstyle 1}}
\]




\fontdimen16\the\scriptfont2=5pt
5\[
A^{a_1}
\]



\end{document}

[Tex/LaTex] Subscripts after a macro for \left( and \right) parentheses

I'm not sure you want to do this or, better, I discourage you to do this: automatically applying \left and \right is always wrong.

\documentclass{scrbook}
\usepackage{amsmath}

% commands for round parentheses
\makeatletter
\DeclareRobustCommand{\rPar}[1]{%
  \@ifnextchar_{\rPar@sb{#1}}{\rPar@nosb{#1}}%
}
\newcommand{\rPar@sb}[3]{%
  % #1 is what we already have, #2 is _, #3 is the subscript
  \mathchoice{\left(#1\right)_{#3}}{(#1)_{#3}}{(#1)_{#3}}{(#1)_{#3}}%
}
\newcommand{\rPar@nosb}[1]{%
  \mathchoice{\left(#1\right)}{(#1)}{(#1)}{(#1)}%
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}
  \begin{minipage}{0.5\linewidth}
  Here is some process $\rPar{A^N_{\lfloor t / N \rfloor}}_t$.
  Here is another process $\rPar{B^N_{\lfloor t / N \rfloor}}$.
  Here is what they look like in display mode:
  \begin{equation*}
    \rPar{A^N_{\lfloor t / N \rfloor}}_t
    \quad
    \rPar{B^N_{\lfloor t / N \rfloor}}
  \end{equation*}
  \end{minipage}
\end{document}

enter image description here

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Better looking nested subscripts and superscripts

[Tex/LaTex] Subscripts after a macro for \left( and \right) parentheses

Related Question