Universe

Variable-length arrows in Typst, fitting the width of a given content.

Usage

This library mainly provides the xarrow function. This function takes one positional argument, which is the content to display on top of the arrow. Additionally, the library provides the following arrow styles:

  • xarrowDashed using arrow sym.arrow.dashed.
  • xarrowDouble using arrow sym.arrow.double.long;
  • xarrowHook using arrow sym.arrow.hook;
  • xarrowSquiggly using arrow sym.arrow.long.squiggly;
  • xarrowTwoHead using arrow sym.arrow.twohead;
  • …

These names use camlCase in order to be simply called from math mode. This may change in the future, if it becomes possible to have the function names mirror the dot-separated name of the symbols themselves.

Arguments

Users can provide the following arguments to any of the previously-mentioned functions:

  • width defines the width of the arrow. It defaults to auto, which makes the arrow adapt to the size of the body.
  • margins defines the spacing on each side of the body argument. Ignored when width is not auto.
  • position defines whether the main body argument will be set above or below the arrow. Default is top; the only other accepted value is bottom.
  • opposite sets the content that is displayed on the other, non-default side of the arrow. Default is none.

Example

#import "@preview/xarrow:0.3.0": xarrow, xarrowSquiggly, xarrowTwoHead

$
  a xarrow(sym: <--, QQ\, 1 + 1^4) b \
  c xarrowSquiggly("very long boi") d \
  c / ( a xarrowTwoHead("NP" limits(sum)^*) b times 4)
$

Customisation

The xarrow function has several named arguments which serve to create new arrow designs:

  • sym is the base symbol.
  • sections defines the way the symbol is divided. Drawing an arrow consists of drawing its tail, then repeating a central part that is defined by sections, then drawing the head. This is the parameter that has to be tweaked if observing artefacts. sections are given as two ratios, delimiting respectively the beginning and the end of the central, repeated part of the symbol.
  • partial_repeats indicates whether the central part of the symbol can be partially repeated at the end in order to match the exact desired width. This has to be disabled when the repeated part has a clear period (like the squiggly arrow).

Example

#let xarrowSquigglyBottom = xarrow.with(
  sym: sym.arrow.long.squiggly,
  sections: (20%, 45%),
  partial_repeats: false,
  position: bottom,
)

Limitations

  • The predefined arrows are tweaked with the Computer Modern Math font in mind. With different glyphs, more sophisticated arrows will require manual modifications (of the sections argument) to be rendered correctly.
  • The width argument cannot be given ratio/fractions like other shapes. This would be a nice feature to have, in order to be able to create an arrow that takes 50% of the available line width for instance.
  • I would like to make a proper manual for this library in the future, using something cool like mantys.