8.1 Block Enclosing Commands

Here is a summary of commands that enclose blocks of text, also known as environments. They’re explained further in the following sections.

@quotation

Indicate text that is quoted. The text is filled, indented (from both margins), and printed in a roman font by default.

@indentedblock

Like @quotation, but the text is indented only on the left.

@example

Illustrate code, commands, and the like. The text is printed in a fixed-width font, and indented but not filled.

@lisp

Like @example, but specifically for illustrating Lisp code. The text is printed in a fixed-width font, and indented but not filled.

@verbatim

Mark a piece of text that is to be printed verbatim; no character substitutions are made and all commands are ignored, until the next @end verbatim. The text is printed in a fixed-width font, and not indented or filled. Extra spaces and blank lines are significant, and tabs are expanded.

@display

Display illustrative text. The text is indented but not filled, and no font is selected (so, by default, the font is roman).

@format

Like @display (the text is not filled and no font is selected), but the text is not indented.

@smallquotation

@smallindentedblock

@smallexample

@smalllisp

@smalldisplay

@smallformat

These @small... commands are just like their non-small counterparts, except that they output text in a smaller font size, where possible.

@flushleft

@flushright

Text is not filled, but is set flush with the left or right margin, respectively.

@raggedright

Text is filled, but only justified on the left, leaving the right margin ragged.

@cartouche

Highlight text, often an example or quotation, by drawing a box with rounded corners around it.

The @exdent command is used within the above constructs to undo the indentation of a line.

The @noindent command may be used after one of the above constructs (or at the beginning of any paragraph) to prevent the following text from being indented as a new paragraph.