Detecting current column in multicol

I'm working in a two-column multicol environment, and trying to create pullquotes using wrapfig. The problem is, I'd like these pullquotes to hang in the margin: the left margin if I'm in the left column, the right margin if I'm in the right.

Is there any way to detect the current column number, so that I can tell wrapfig: "Hang the figure left if column number = 1, and hang it right if column number = 2"? I have a lot of this sort of text, and it would be pretty tedious to set this all by hand.

I've tried using this pullquote package, but so far have just gotten a bunch of microtype errors (I'm using XeLaTeX).

Edit: a sort of MWE would look like this, obviously \imaginarycolumnnumberidentifier is what I'm after. Clearly this isn't a "working" example, and I've not actually tried using etoolbox before so there might be other problems with this code, but you get the idea.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage{wrapfig}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{etoolbox}

\newenvironment{pquote}{%
\begin{wrapfigure}{%
\ifnumequal{1}{\imaginarycolumnnumberidentifier}{l}{r}%
}[0.2\columnwith]{0.4\columnwidth}
}{%
\end{wrapfigure}}

\begin{document}

\begin{multicols}{2}
\lipsum
\begin{pquote}
Lorem ipsum!
\end{pquote}
\lipsum
\begin{pquote}
dolor sit amet!
\end{pquote}
\lipsum
\end{multicols}

\end{document}

I don't have enough reputation to post an image, so you'll just have to imagine the output! Trust me, the first pquote is on the left side, and the second pquote is on the right side. In my mind. Let me show you how to implement this for twocolumn layouts rather than via the multicol package. This will fix some of your coding issues. \documentclass[twocolumn]{article}

\usepackage{wrapfig}
\usepackage{lipsum}

\makeatletter
\newenvironment{pquote}[\relax]{%
\ifx#1\relax\def\@mypl{\if@firstcolumn l\else r\fi}%
\else\def\@mypl{#1}\fi%
\wrapfigure{\@mypl}[0.2\columnwidth]{0.4\columnwidth}%
\large\bfseries}{\par\endwrapfigure}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\lipsum
\begin{pquote}
Lorem ipsum!
\end{pquote}
\lipsum[2-4]
\begin{pquote}
Dolor sit amet!
\end{pquote}
\lipsum[5-8]
\begin{pquote}[r]
Mauris ut est.
\end{pquote}
\lipsum

\end{document}

Your general method of setting pquote to a variation of wrapfigure using \begin{wrapfigure} unfortunately doesn't work, as you will see by making a simple test document with fixed positioning. This has something to do with the way the arguments are processed. Instead use \wrapfigure with the appropriate arguments, and balacnce it with \endwrapfigure. Furthermore, the positioning argument needs to expand directly to one of the allowed strings so this should be done via an intermeadiate macro.

Now with twocolumn we have the test \if@firstcolumn which can be used to determine the positioning. Unfortunately it is not 100% foolproof, so my definition above provides an optional argument allowing you to force the positioning.

In multicols things are rather more complicated, and I see no easily accessible variable to do this. Essentially multicol typesets the material in to one long box and then splits off the correct amount from the top for each column. There are some internal variables keeping count of the column number, but they are not easily accessible. Furthermore multicol does some balancing of columns, trying split the given typeset material in to a number of boxes of equal height, if the typesetting is to change in the process, then this is more complicated. One symptom of this is that \marginpars are not allowed in the multicols, see the package documentation, whereas in twocolumn margin pars work (fairly) nicely switiching sides as required.

ADDITION in response to comment:

If you want to use multicols and are prepared to specify placement then the coding is simpler, but still requires avoiding \begin{wrapfigure}: \documentclass{article}

\usepackage{multicol,ragged2e}
\usepackage{wrapfig}
\usepackage{lipsum}

\makeatletter
\newenvironment{pquote}{%
\wrapfigure[#1]{#2}[0.2\columnwidth]{0.4\columnwidth}%
\large\bfseries\Centering}{\par\endwrapfigure}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\begin{multicols}{2}
\lipsum
\begin{pquote}{4}{l}
Lorem ipsum!
\end{pquote}
\lipsum[2-4]
\begin{pquote}{6}{r}
Dolor sit amet!
\end{pquote}
\lipsum[5-8]
\begin{pquote}{5}{r}
Mauris ut est.
\end{pquote}
\lipsum
\end{multicols}
\end{document}
• Yes! Later I tried to implement a version that required explicit arguments for line-height and alignment, and indeed discovered that doing it my way resulted in wrapfigure going haywire. I don't think I'm able to ditch multicols at this point, but your answer at least gets me halfway to abstraction. Thanks! – girzel Apr 20 '13 at 6:58
• One comment about marginpars in multicols: main reason why those are not allowed is that in LaTeX they are added via standard output routine and that concept can't be used with multicols. The other reason of course is that until now there was not mechanism to determine the current column. And finally with 3 or more columns it is a good questions where such a marginpar should go. However with a slight extension of the code in my answer one could record the actual column number and from there always place the marginpar in one or the other margin. – Frank Mittelbach May 5 '13 at 20:10

As Andrew remarked in his answer a solution for multicols is rather more complicated as the "current" column is not at all known while doing the typesetting. So a rather complicated approach with multiple typesetting runs (using the .aux file) is needed.

Below is a first draft of a solution providing \docolaction{left}{middle}{right} for executing conditional code depending on the column type. If the column type is not yet known the first column is assumed (as default).

\begin{filecontents}{mccolaction.sty}
%
%    \begin{macrocode}
\ProvidesPackage{mccolaction}
[2013/05/05 v0.9b  column actions for multicolumn formatting (FMi)]
%    \end{macrocode}
%
%    \begin{macrocode}
\RequirePackage{etoolbox}
\RequirePackage{multicol}[2011/12/20]
%    \end{macrocode}
%
%   Determining the current column in multicols is difficult because
%   (in contrast to the twocolumn mode of standard LaTeX) the
%   multicols columns are determined very late in the game and due to
%   the balancing routine it is not known where a piece of text is
%   going to end up at the time the text is typeset. Only afterwards,
%   when everything has be typeset into a single long galley, that
%   galley is split into individual columns (at the very end in a
%   possibly huge set of trials to balance the column material.
%
%   Therefore the approach taken here is to write out a single line
%   into the .aux file whenever a column is finally typeset:
%\begin{verbatim}
% \mc@col@status{<number>}
%\end{verbatim}
%   The number in the argument denotes the different kind of column: 1
%   for left column 2 for any middle column and 3 for the final column.
%
%   We only set this up for the LR typesetting case here, something
%   similar could be done for the RL version:
%    \begin{macrocode}
\patchcmd{\LR@column@boxes}{\box\count@}
{\protected@write\@auxout{}{\string\mc@col@status
{\ifmc@firstcol 1\else 2\fi}}%
\mc@firstcolfalse
\box\count@}
{\typeout{juhu!}}{\typeout{oje!}}%

\patchcmd{\LR@column@boxes}{\box\mult@rightbox}
{\protected@write\@auxout{}{\string\mc@col@status{3}}%
\box\mult@rightbox}%
{\typeout{juhu!}}{\typeout{oje!}}%

\newif\ifmc@firstcol
\mc@firstcoltrue
%    \end{macrocode}
%
%   Need to reinitiate \verb=\mc@align@columns= as this was let to
%   the old definition of \verb=\LR@column@boxes=.
%
%    \begin{macrocode}
\LRmulticolcolumns

%   Whenever we want to do something that depends on the current
%   column we execute \verb=\docolaction=. This command takes one
%   optional and three mandatory arguments. The mandatory ones denote
%   what to do if this is a left'', middle'', or right'' column
%   and the optional one is simply there to say what to do if we don't
%   know (default is to use the left'' column action in that case).
%
%   We use one counter \verb=\mc@col@check@num= to generate us unique
%   label names. Each time we execute \verb=\docolaction= we increment
%   this counter to get a new name.
%    \begin{macrocode}
\newcount\mc@col@check@num
%    \end{macrocode}

%   The generated labels'' are named
%   \verb=\mc@col-\the\mc@col@check@num= and they hold as values the
%   numbers 1, 2, or 3 denoting the current column type.

%    \begin{macrocode}
\newcommand\docolaction{%
\edef\mc@col@type{\expandafter\ifx
\csname mc@col-\the\mc@col@check@num\endcsname\relax
0\else
\csname mc@col-\the\mc@col@check@num\endcsname
\fi}%
%    \end{macrocode}
%    We prefix with 0 so that an unknown label (that returns
%   \verb=\relax=) will result in case 0
%    \begin{macrocode}
\ifcase \mc@col@type\relax
%    \end{macrocode}
%    If column is unknown we use the default action or the action
%   denoted by the optional argument (so that arg can take the value
%   1, 2, 3)
%    \begin{macrocode}
\ifcase #1\or #2\or#3\or#4\fi   % 0 not known use first col as default
\or
%    \end{macrocode}
%    Otherwise we know (or think we know) that this is a first, middle,
%   or last column:
%    \begin{macrocode}
#2%  % 1 First col
\or
#3%  % 2 any middle col
\or
#4%  % 3 last col
\else
\ERROR
\fi
%    \end{macrocode}
%    But how does the column number get associated with our label? We
%   do do this by writing another line into the aux file at this point:
%    \begin{macrocode}
\edef\next{\write\@auxout
{\string\mc@set@col@status{mc@col-\the\mc@col@check@num}%
{\mc@col@type}}}%
\next
}
%    \end{macrocode}
%
%   Because of extra data writing to the aux file the aux file will
%   now contain something like the following after the document is
%   processed the first time:
%\begin{verbatim}
%\relax
%\mc@col@status{1}
%\mc@set@col@status{lcol-1}{0}
%\mc@col@status{2}
%\mc@set@col@status{lcol-2}{0}
%\mc@col@status{3}
%\mc@set@col@status{lcol-3}{0}
%\mc@col@status{1}
%\mc@col@status{2}
%\mc@col@status{3}
%\mc@set@col@status{lcol-4}{0}
%\end{verbatim}
%   The \verb=\mc@col@status= line denotes the column type and has been
%   writting out just before corresponding the column box was placed
%   onto the page.
%   The\verb=\mc@set@col@status= lines have been written out as part
%   of shipping the column boxes out, e.g.,
%   \verb=\mc@set@col@status{lcol-1}{0}= was therefore somewhere within
%   the first column as it appears between \verb=\mc@col@status{1}=
%   and  \verb=\mc@col@status{2}=
%   The second argument in that line is the value used in the previous
%   run (or zero if there was no previous run. We can use this to
%   determine if a rerun is necessary.
%
%   Thus with this knowledge we can set things up to get the labels
%   working.
%
%   When the aux file is read in \verb=\mc@col@status= is used to set
%   \verb=\mc@curr@col@status=:
%
%    \begin{macrocode}
\def\mc@col@status#1{\gdef\mc@curr@col@status{#1}}
%    \end{macrocode}

%   And when \verb=\mc@set@col@status= is executed we can simply set
%   up the label by associating it with the \verb=\mc@curr@col@status=
%   and ignore the second argument:
%    \begin{macrocode}
\def\mc@set@col@status#1#2{%
\global\expandafter\let\csname #1\endcsname\mc@curr@col@status}
%    \end{macrocode}
%
%   The above definition is being used when the \texttt{.aux} file is
%   read in at the beginning. At the end we need a different
%   definition to test if another typesetting run is needed. There we
%   compare the value used in the current run (stored in the second
%   argument) with the value used on the next run. If those two values
%   differ we set \verb=@tempswa= to false which will trigger the
%   Label(s) may have changed'' warning.
%    \begin{macrocode}
\AtEndDocument{\def\mc@set@col@status#1#2{%
\ifnum #2=\mc@curr@col@status\else
\@tempswatrue
\fi}%
}
%    \end{macrocode}
\end{filecontents}

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{mccolaction}

\usepackage{wrapfig}
\usepackage{lipsum}

% An application of \docolaction. We put the whole wrapfigure into the
% args so that the  internal label used is placed after wrapfigure.

\newcommand\pquote{%
\docolaction
{\begin{wrapfigure}[#1]{l}[0.2\columnwidth]{0.4\columnwidth}%
\raggedright\large\bfseries #2\end{wrapfigure}}%
{\begin{wrapfigure}[#1]{l}[0pt]{0.4\columnwidth}%
\raggedright\large\bfseries #2\end{wrapfigure}}%
{\begin{wrapfigure}[#1]{r}[0.2\columnwidth]{0.4\columnwidth}%
\raggedright\large\bfseries #2\end{wrapfigure}}%
\ignorespaces
}

\setlength\columnseprule{.7pt}
\setlength\emergencystretch{2em}

\begin{document}

\begin{multicols}{3}
\lipsum
\pquote{4}{Lorem ipsum!}
\lipsum
\pquote{5}{Dolor sit amet!}
\lipsum[4-5]
\pquote{4}{Mauris ut est.}
\lipsum[6-7]
Only a few words left \ldots
Here the pquote comes in the middle of the paragraph for a change
\pquote{6}{Final test related to the edge}
as we can see. Only a few words left so this drops off the column \ldots
\end{multicols}

\end{document}

If we run this file we get The second page then shows that not all will be perfect but that is in this case due to the fact that I deliberately placed the \pquote too close to the end. If we change the file to use 4 columns we end up with one wrapfigure cut across columns, clearly something where the two packages do not work together well enough to resolve this automatically. In summary, I would say it works well enough. In combination with something like wrapfigure it will need some help in places, but this is to be expected as wrapfigure has no clue about multicols splitting up the columns later on.

Update

I slightly improved the code, so that it now also keeps track of any changes in the column types. If due to that the need for another LaTeX run is detected, it will generate the well-known warning "Label(s) may have changed. Rerun to get cross-references right."

Thus output like the following should only happen if the user ignores that warning. Update II

The above version of mccolaction was written against the SVN version which is not on CTAN at the moment. In answer Column break only if within first column of multicol I provided an updated package that works with both versions of multicol.

Update III

The functionality described above is now available in multicol version 1.8 and above. It is not automatically enabled (as it is costly) --- you have to request it using the option colaction. Afterwards \docolaction is enabled for use in your document.

• Great! Thanks so much for looking into this. I'll try to settle on this as a solution, since it requires less manual intervention. Much appreciated! – girzel May 9 '13 at 1:06
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