# [texhax] Combining symbols (vertical placement of characters)

Daniel Freedman freedman at physics.cornell.edu
Mon Dec 29 04:54:11 CET 2008

Hi,

I'm trying to use symbols in an AMS LaTeX document similar to the
\nwfilledspoon and \sefilledspoon (for those unfamiliar, these are
symbols are provided as part of the MnSymbol package.  Unfortunately,
MnSymbol conflicts with AMS symbols and fonts, both of which I use
heavily (I've looked into working around these conflicts, but it's
proving problematic --- unless anyone has an easier method than those
discussed in the _The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List_).

Based upon advice from _The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List_, I've
decided to try to construct replicas of these symbols, using other
existing ones (AMS or otherwise).  This is where I'm having trouble.
I've consulted the aforemented guide, as well as the TeXHaX mailing
archive, the _LaTeX Companion_ (2nd edition), and Gratzer's _Math
into LaTeX_.

Here's my thought process:

Take a simple diagonal arrow (say: \searrow or \nwarrow) and position
a bullet over the arrowhead.  The bullet is large enough to cover the
arrowheads (especially when bolded) and it could simulate the above
\sefilledspoon or \nwfilledspoon.  The main problem is that I'm having
trouble controlling the vertical placement of the bullet.  The
horizontal overlap is easy enough with suitable negative mspace.  I'm
able to get the bullet higher using \overset's and \vphantom's
(though, it's annoying that I seem to lose the \boldsymbol on the
bullet, which helps fully obstruct the arrowheads, when I use
\overset).  However, it's been hard to get the bullet just a bit lower
(\underset positions it too low, and no \vphantoms seem to help).

I'm avoiding \overset, \stackrel, etc. on the *actual* arrows, but
instead using separate \vphantom's, as I don't want the bullet
centered horizontally on the arrow, since I need it to occlude the

Here are some of my failed attempts:

$\boldsymbol{\bullet\mspace{-14mu}\nwarrow}$
$\boldsymbol{\searrow\mspace{-14mu}\bullet}$

$\boldsymbol{\overset{\bullet}{\vspace{2ex}}\mspace{-12mu}\nwarrow}$

$\boldsymbol{\overset{\bullet}{\vphantom{\rule{0em}{0.4ex}}}\mspace{-12mu}\nwarrow}$
$\boldsymbol{\searrow\mspace{-12mu}\underset{\bullet}{\vphantom{\rule{0em}{-5.0ex}}}}$

I'd be grateful for any and all suggestions.

Thanks,
Daniel

--
Daniel Freedman <{freedman at physics | dfreedman at cs}.cornell.edu>
Post-Doc, Distributed Systems, Computer Science, Cornell University
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