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Create a simple nomenclature with the longtable package

There are plenty of LaTeX packages that enable users to create a nomenclature (also called glossary or list of symbols); some make use of makeindex or xindy, others use bibtex. I think a nomenclature adds a great amount of value to theses or other large documents, but setting up a system to maintain one is a bit of a pain (especially for beginning LaTeX users). So today a post on how to create a nomenclature, simple and fast. This one is probably interesting for beginning users only, but also for TeXers that can’t be bothered to use an additional process like makeindex.

The longtable package

The longtable package provides a longtable environment that allows to create tables spanning multiple pages. This is perfect for the use of a nomenclature:

1. In table environments, you can align the entries. A nomenclature mostly requires two or three columns, which should be aligned!
2. For larger documents, it is likely that your nomenclature will span more than one page and the longtable package handles this perfectly.

To include the longtable package in your LaTeX document, add the following line to your preamble:

\usepackage{longtable}

Setting up the nomenclature

The nomenclature we will create here consists of three columns: the first for the symbol, the middle column for the unit and the last one for a description. Here’s how to implement it:

\begin{longtable}[l]{p{50pt} p{50pt} p{200pt}}
\textbf{Symbol}	& \textbf{Units} & \textbf{Description} \\
$L$	 	& \si{\meter}	 & Length\\
$Ma$	 	& $-$		 & Mach number\\
$p$	 	& \si{\pascal}	 & Pressure
%...
\end{longtable}

This piece of code shouldn’t be all to hard to understand. It’s much like a normal table environment. The arguments after \begin{longtable} contain information about the amount of columns (3) and their widths (respectively 50pt, 50pt, and 250pt). This can of course be changed to your own needs. Also, note that the siunitx package, with the \si command, is used here for the units.

Now that the table is created, let’s put it in a separated section. Assuming your working on a large document with a class like book or report (where \chapter is a valid command), add a section like this:

\chapter*{Nomenclature}

Suppress the section numbering, just like the table of contents, with the asterix (*).

The disadvantage of managing the nomenclature in a way as described in this post is that you’ll have to sort everything manually in order to make the list in alphabetical order. Also, with the alternatives named below you will be able to add content to the nomenclature throughout the complete document (the items will then automatically be added to the nomenclature, similar to the table of contents in LaTeX). However, it does require more time to set up and that might not be worth the trouble. Plus, I find this way more flexible in terms of styling and variance.

What else?

Now that you know how to set up your own simple glossary, let’s expand it a bit. For example, you might want to have different sections for different things (symbols, acronyms, greek symbols, indices and so on). For example, if you want to create a section with acronyms, consisting of a table with two columns, you might want to add this:

\subsection*{Acronyms}
\begin{longtable}[l]{p{50pt} p{200pt}}
RAC & Rear axle carrier  \\
FAC & Front axle carrier \\
... & ...                \\
\end{longtable}

Alternatives

As said before, a lot of alternatives exist for creating nomenclatures. To name a few:

• glossaries: a glossary package that makes use of either makeindex or xindy.
• gloss makes use of bibTeX (where \cite is replaced by \gloss).
• glosstex: this package also makes use of makeindex.
• listofsymbols: This package does not make use of an additional package for the creation of the glossary and is actually quite similar to the way described here. The difference here is that you can use the \newsym command to add items from within the document you are writing.
• nomencl and nomentbl: these packages are alike, both making use of makeindex

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