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LaTex supports emdash via ---, endash via --, and hyphen via -. In Math mode it also supports the minus-sign (not the same as the previous three) and a variety of dash-like entities of various widths and heights above the base-line. It turns out that all of these are distinct characters (yikes!), have differing uses typographically, and really ought to be supported as distinct things.
The thing tompe was asking about for ranges is an endash. Which, strangely enough, is exactly the standard typography for a range of numbers. Not to be confused with the emdash being used for setting of parenthetical clauses. Usually written in plain ascii as
"blah blah--parenthetical clause--blah blah"
but typeset with an emdash in place of the hyphen-hyphen (or sometimes space-hyphen-hyphen-space) sequence. And note that the typeset version has no spaces!
LaTex's usage makes sense, in that emdash is wider than endash is wider than hyphen. But it's at variance with the PG 'standard' which evolved out of trying to make plain ASCII look sort-of-kind-of like typesetting. By comparison, LaTex is trying to actually indicate what the typesetting should be (thus the distinctions between various kinds of hyphen-like entities).
More than anyone wanted to know, I'm sure.
Xenophon
Last edited by Xenophon; 01-09-2008 at 12:33 PM.
Reason: fixing grammar and clarifying example
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