I'm looking for the dotted line equivalent of :
\rule[<height>]{<width>}{<thickness>}
Something that looks like :
…………………….
Dotted Line Equivalent of \rule – How to Create Dotted Lines in LaTeX
line
Related Solutions
Heavily based on https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/27260/36296
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\newcommand{\mydash}[1]{%
\tikz[baseline=(todotted.base)]{
\node[inner sep=1pt,outer sep=0pt] (todotted) {#1};
\draw[dash dot] (todotted.south west) -- (todotted.south east);
\draw[dashed] ([yshift=-2pt]todotted.south west) -- ([yshift=-2pt]todotted.south east);
}%
}%
\begin{document}
\mydash{double line}
\end{document}
While the above solution is sensitive to the decent of the words to be underlined (e.g. if there are letters such as j in the words), the following will place the lines at the same position, regardless the characters.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\newcommand{\mydash}[1]{%
\tikz[baseline=(todotted.base)]{
\node[inner sep=1pt,outer sep=0pt] (todotted) {\strut #1};
\draw[dash dot] ([yshift=3pt]todotted.south west) -- ([yshift=3pt]todotted.south east);
\draw[dashed] ([yshift=2pt]todotted.south west) -- ([yshift=2pt]todotted.south east);
}%
}%
\begin{document}
\mydash{doguble line}
\lipsum[2]
\mydash{double line}
\lipsum[2]
\end{document}
What you are probably looking for is \dotfill. Like \hfill, it spreads as much as possible, but inserting dots instead of white space. If you lock \dotfill into a box of fixed width, you get dots of a specific width. The \fillin command takes this width as an optional argument; if it's missing, the width defaults to 3cm.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\newcommand{\checkbox}{$\square$}
\newcommand\fillin[1][3cm]{\makebox[#1]{\dotfill}}
\begin{document}
If appropriate \checkbox . Why appropriate, specify? \fillin\
If inappropriate \checkbox . Why inappropriate, specify? \fillin[4cm]
If appropriate \checkbox . Why appropriate, specify? \dotfill\\
If inappropriate \checkbox . Why inappropriate, specify? \fillin[2cm]
\end{document}
Best Answer
There is a canonical TeX command:
\leadershttps://www.tug.org/utilities/plain/cseq.html#leaders-rp
For example
\hbox to 5cm{\leaders\hbox to 10pt{\hss . \hss}\hfil}UPD: example explanation
\hbox to 5cm{}creates horizontal box. Here 5cm is the total length of the point line\leadersis a command to create leaders. Leaders can create a horizontal or vertical redublication of any box. See more about leaders in Knuth's TeXBook, ch. 21 p 223.\hbox to 10pt{\hss . \hss}is a TeX box - the first parameter of the leader. In this box:to 10ptis the size of the box - change it to make dots thicker or thinner,\hss . \hssmeans "use a dot.as a box content, but surround it with glue with infinite stretching and compression" - so, there will be no underfull or overfull warnings.\hfilis a glue - the second parameter of the leader. It says how long the leader will be - till the end of the outer box.TL;DR: to change the total width change the
5cmparameter, to change the width of one element change the10ptparameter, to make not a dot but any other symbols (one or many) change.parameter