[comp.text.tex] one BIG letter

brian@babbage.csus.edu (Brian Witt) (07/15/90)

I'd like a style definition that produces one large letter at the beginning
of a paragraph.  Actually, just a definition in TeX, not a style in LaTeX.
For an example, check IEEE's COMPUTER articles.  it looks like:

     ********  he first line has
        *      a big letter that
        *      leads the way.  The
        *      rest of the paragraph
        *      has normal sized chars
               that are easy to read
     and easy to follow along.  The
     old Bibles use a similar style.

in Tex, this might be spelled out like:

    end of last paragraph.

    \onebigletter The first line has...

(where \onebigletter would grab the "T" since there are no curly braces
to grab a parameter).

---------------------------------
If a cemetry was to rezone its land fro apartments, should it notify
the next of kin of those buried within 300' of the new zoning?

--- brian witt    //    brian@babbage.ecs.csus.edu     ---

gerland@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (James R. Gerland) (07/16/90)

In article <1990Jul14.201529.9977@csusac.csus.edu>, brian@babbage.csus.edu (Brian Witt) writes...
>I'd like a style definition that produces one large letter at the beginning
>of a paragraph.  

I picked this up off the net quite a while ago but I don't know who to credit.
( \bigfirstlet{T}his works ) :

\def\bigfirstletter#1#2{{\noindent
    \setbox0\hbox{\Huge #1}\setbox1\hbox{#2}\setbox2\hbox{(}%
    \count0=\ht0\advance\count0 by\dp0\count1\baselineskip
    \advance\count0 by-\ht1\advance\count0 by\ht2
    \dimen1=.5ex\advance\count0 by\dimen1\divide\count0 by\count1
    \advance\count0 by1\dimen0\wd0
    \advance\dimen0 by.25em\dimen1=\ht0\advance\dimen1 by-\ht1
    \global\hangindent\dimen0\global\hangafter-\count0
    \hskip-\dimen0\setbox0\hbox to\dimen0{\raise-\dimen1\box0\hss}%
    \dp0=0in\ht0=0in\box0}#2}

Jim...