@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 most output formats, the @small… commands are
equivalent to their non-small companion commands.
In printed output, 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.
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 most output formats, 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.