Multicols environment not working properly in exercise environment

Question

I am having a problem in using multicols environment in exercise environment. Here is my MWE:

\documentclass[11pt]{exam}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage{ifthen}
\newboolean{firstanswerofthechapter}

\usepackage{stackengine}
\usepackage{tasks}
\newlength{\longestlabel}
\settowidth{\longestlabel}{\bfseries\sffamily vv}
\settasks{after-item-skip=3pt,%gap for next row
        before-skip=2pt,%gap from the text above

          after-skip=0pt,%gap for next question
          label-width=20pt,%width from left
          item-indent=25pt,%indent from left
          label=$\EgyptianBlue\bm{(\alph*)}$,
          column-sep=0em, label-align=left}
\usepackage[lastexercise,answerdelayed]{exercise}
\begin{document}
\setcounter{Exercise}{0}
\begin{Exercise}
\Question
\Question
\Question
\end{Exercise}
\begin{Answer}
\Question $(a)$
\begin{multicols}{4}
\Question $(a)$
\Question $(a)$
\Question $(a)$
\Question $(a)$
\end{multicols}
\end{Answer}
\setboolean{firstanswerofthechapter}{false}
\shipoutAnswer
\end{document}

There is no problem in the code if I start Answer environment with a \Question, however, if I start with \multicols environment (without any \Question before \multicols), then I get the following error:

Extra }, or forgotten \endgroup.
\endmulticols ...le@items \color@endgroup \egroup 
                                                  \balance@columns \return@n...
l.60 \end{multicols}

I need to start Answer environment with \multicols. I also want the answers to be typed from left to right like

   1.     2.      3.       4.
   5.     6.      7.       8.

Please help.

Out of curiosity, why are you using exam class? All of your code uses the exercise package instead. — John Kormylo, Jan 04 '24 at 16:38

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 04 '24 at 11:54

This problem is discussed in section "4 Known problems" of the exercise documentation. You can avoid the error by adding \EndCurrentQuestion before the multicols environment ends:

\documentclass[11pt]{exam}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage{ifthen}
\newboolean{firstanswerofthechapter}

\usepackage{stackengine}
\usepackage{tasks}
\newlength{\longestlabel}
\settowidth{\longestlabel}{\bfseries\sffamily vv}
\settasks{after-item-skip=3pt,%gap for next row
        before-skip=2pt,%gap from the text above

          after-skip=0pt,%gap for next question
          label-width=20pt,%width from left
          item-indent=25pt,%indent from left
          label=$\EgyptianBlue\bm{(\alph*)}$,
          column-sep=0em, label-align=left}
\usepackage[lastexercise,answerdelayed]{exercise}
\begin{document}
\setcounter{Exercise}{0}
\begin{Exercise}
\Question
\Question
\Question
\end{Exercise}
\begin{Answer}
\begin{multicols}{4}
\Question $(a)$
\Question $(a)$
\Question $(a)$
\Question $(a)$
\EndCurrentQuestion
\end{multicols}
\end{Answer}
\setboolean{firstanswerofthechapter}{false}
\shipoutAnswer
\end{document}

Thanks Samcarter. Your solution works but now I am having different problem. I need to add the command \EndCurrentQuestion in every set of four answers. Also, the answer number again starts with 1. — Deepak, Jan 04 '24 at 16:41
If I use a single \multicols environment, then the answers are typed vertically, but I need them to be horizontal. — Deepak, Jan 04 '24 at 16:49
@Deepak If you have a new question, please ask a new question. — samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz, Jan 05 '24 at 09:49

Multicols environment not working properly in exercise environment

1 Answers1