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<head>
<title>UK TeX FAQ -- question label mathlips</title>
</head><body>
<h3>Ellipses</h3>
<!-- <code>\</code><code>dots</code> <code>\</code><code>cdots</code> <code>\</code><code>vdots</code> <code>\</code><code>ddots</code> -->
<p/>Ellipses are commonly required, and LaTeX natively supplies a fair
range (<code>\</code><code>dots</code>, <code>\</code><code>cdots</code>, <code>\</code><code>vdots</code> and <code>\</code><code>ddots</code>).  By using
the <i>graphics</i> package, one can change the slope of the
<code>\</code><code>ddots</code> command, as in
<pre>
  $ ... \reflectbox{$\ddots$} ... $
</pre>
While this works, it is not a recommended way of achieving the desired
result (see below).  Moreover, LaTeX&rsquo;s range is not adequate to
everyone&rsquo;s requirements, and at least three packages provide
extensions to the set.
<p/>The AMSLaTeX bundle provides a range of &ldquo;semantically-named&rdquo;
ellipses, for use in different situations: <code>\</code><code>dotsb</code> for use between
pairs of binary operators, <code>\</code><code>dotsc</code> for use between pairs of commas,
and so on.
<p/>The <i>yhmath</i> package defines an <code>\</code><code>adots</code> command, which is
the analogue of <code>\</code><code>ddots</code>, sloping forwards rather than backwards.
The <i>yhmath</i> package comes with a rather interesting font that
extends the standard <i>cmex</i>; details are in the documentation.
The disadvantage of this setup is, that although <code>\</code><code>adots</code> is merely
a macro, the package tries to load its own font and produces a
&ldquo;missing font&rdquo; substitution warning message if you haven&rsquo;t installed
the font.
<p/>The <i>mathdots</i> package (besides fixing up the behaviour of
(La)TeX <code>\</code><code>ddots</code> and <code>\</code><code>vdots</code> when the font size changes)
provides an &ldquo;inverse diagonal&rdquo; ellipsis <code>\</code><code>iddots</code> (doing the same
job as <i>yhmath</i>&rsquo;s <code>\</code><code>adots</code>, but better).
<p/>Documentation of <i>yhmath</i> appears, processed, in the
distribution (thus saving you the bother of installing the package
before being able to read the documentation).  Documentation of
<i>mathdots</i> appears at the end the package file itself.
<dl>
<dt><tt><i>amslatex</i></tt><dd><a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/amslatex.zip">macros/latex/required/amslatex</a> (or <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/amslatex/">browse the directory</a>)
<dt><tt><i>graphics.sty</i></tt><dd>Part of the <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/graphics.zip">macros/latex/required/graphics</a> (or <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/graphics/">browse the directory</a>) bundle
<dt><tt><i>mathdots.sty</i></tt><dd><a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/generic/mathdots.zip">macros/generic/mathdots</a> (or <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/generic/mathdots/">browse the directory</a>)
<dt><tt><i>yhmath (fonts)</i></tt><dd><a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/fonts/yhmath.zip">fonts/yhmath</a> (or <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/fonts/yhmath/">browse the directory</a>)
<dt><tt><i>yhmath (macros)</i></tt><dd><a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/yhmath.zip">macros/latex/contrib/yhmath</a> (or <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/yhmath/">browse the directory</a>)
</dl>
<p/><p>This question on the Web: <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=mathlips">http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=mathlips</a>
</body>