Narrowing a minus sign in math mode (allowable in for loop)

Question

I want to fit the "N-1" into the box below if possible; if I use the solution \text{-}, namely 3/{N\text{-}1}, it gives me an error: Undefined control sequence: } (followed by: )

Is there a way to fix?

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc, positioning}
\def\d{0.7cm} 
\tikzset{
  >=latex,
  font=\sffamily,
  mybox/.style={rectangle, fill=white, thin, draw, outer sep=0, minimum width = \d, minimum height = \d, inner sep=0},
}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\foreach\k/\s in {
             0/1,  3/{N-1},  4/{N}
}{
        \node[mybox] (bc\k) at ($(-\k*\d, 0)$) {$S_{\s}$};
}

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

The problem is that \text isn't defined. Use \textup instead of \text and it will work. — Hood Chatham, Jan 19 '18 at 17:55
Making the boxes larger is an obvious solution but then the text looks weirdly small (my real example has S0, S1, S2, S3, S4, ... SN-1, SN and the SN-1 is the only one that needs squishing) — Jason S, Jan 19 '18 at 17:59
what you will get with \textup{-} is a hyphen. yes, it is narrower than a minus, but it is also not at the same height. — barbara beeton, Jan 19 '18 at 18:15

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 19 '18 at 18:17

4

You can use \text{-}, but you need amsmath.

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc, positioning}

\newcommand\dd{0.7cm} 
\tikzset{
  >=latex,
  font=\sffamily,
  mybox/.style={
    rectangle,
    fill=white,
    thin,
    draw, outer sep=0,
    minimum width = \dd,
    minimum height = \dd,
    inner sep=0
  },
}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\foreach\k/\s in {
             0/1,  3/{N\text{-}1},  4/{N}
}{
        \node[mybox] (bc\k) at ($(-\k*\dd, 0)$) {$S_{\s}$};
}

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Don't do \def\d{...}.

answered Jan 19 '18 at 18:17

egreg

1,121,712

could you expand on your "Don't do \def\d" comment? – Jason S Jan 19 '18 at 18:53
@JasonS Using \def is never recommended: you risk redefining important commands without warning and, for this case, head scratching when your bibliography contains exotic names. – egreg Jan 20 '18 at 09:07

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 19 '18 at 18:15

The answer that you linked suggests using a \scalebox to shrink the minus sign only horizontally instead of vertically. You can define a custom macro like this:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\def\sminus{\scalebox{0.75}[1.0]{\( - \)}}

\begin{document}
  $-8 \sminus 8$
\end{document}

To adjust the width of your minus sign to suit your liking, adjust the {0.75} value. The [1.0] is the vertical scale so that it stays the same "height."

Narrowing a minus sign in math mode (allowable in for loop)

2 Answers2