7.15 @small… Block Commands

In addition to the regular @example and similar commands, Texinfo has “small” example-style commands. These are @smallquotation, @smallindentedblock, @smalldisplay, @smallexample, @smallformat, and @smalllisp.

In Info and HTML output, the @small… commands are equivalent to their non-small companion commands.

In TeX, however, the @small… commands typeset text in a smaller font than the non-small example commands. Thus, for instance, code examples can contain longer lines and still fit on a page without needing to be rewritten.

A smaller font size is also retained in the Texinfo XML transliteration.

Mark the end of a @small… block with a corresponding @end small…. For example, pair @smallexample with @end smallexample.

Here is an example of the font used by the @smallexample command (in Info, the output will be the same as usual):

… to make sure that you have the freedom to
distribute copies of free software (and charge for
this service if you wish), that you receive source
code or can get it if you want it, that you can
change the software or use pieces of it in new free
programs; and that you know you can do these things.

The @small… commands use the same font style as their normal counterparts: @smallexample and @smalllisp use a fixed-width font, and everything else uses the regular font. They also have the same behavior in other respects—whether filling is done and whether margins are narrowed.

As a general rule, it’s better to just use the regular commands (such as @example instead of @smallexample), unless you have a good reason for it.