TeXipedia

url

Provides intelligent line-breaking and formatting for URLs, file paths, and similar technical strings within documents.

Overview

Enables clean and readable presentation of technical strings like URLs, email addresses, file paths, and system directories in documents. The package intelligently handles line breaks at appropriate points, maintaining readability while preserving the exact content.

  • Offers the versatile \url command that automatically determines suitable break points in long strings.
  • Supports customizable breaking rules to match specific formatting needs.
  • Includes the \urldef command for robust handling in complex document structures.
  • Particularly valuable for technical documentation, academic papers, and any content containing long URLs or file paths.
  • Features an optional mode to properly handle spaces in file names and paths, essential for modern operating systems.

Getting Started

To use url, include it in your document preamble:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{url}

If you need to allow spaces in URLs (for example, when using file paths with spaces):

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[spaces]{url}

Examples

Basic usage of the url package to format URLs with automatic line breaks at appropriate points.

Visit our website at \url{https://www.example.com/very/long/path/that/might/need/to/break/across/lines/automatically/without/hyphenation/marks.html} for more information.

Email us at \url{contact@example.com} with any questions.

Using the 'spaces' option to properly handle URLs or file paths containing spaces.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[spaces]{url}
\begin{document}
The document is located at \url{C:\Users\John Smith\Documents\My Important File.pdf} on the local drive.

You can also access it via the network path \url{\\server\shared folder\project files\report draft.docx}.
\end{document}

Creating robust URL commands with \urldef for use in other command arguments.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{url}
\urldef\mywebsite\url{https://www.example.org/very/long/path/that/might/break}
\urldef\myemail\url{contact@example.org}

\begin{document}
\section{Contact Information}

Please visit \mywebsite for more information.

You can reach us at \myemail with any questions.

% The \urldef commands create robust commands that can be used in places
% where \url might not work directly, such as in section titles:
\section{Visit \mywebsite}
This section has a URL in its title.
\end{document}