[texhax] vspace around {multline}

[Barbara Beeton]

alex scorpan asks,

    I'm noticing that {multline} adds extra vspace around itself.  What  
    is that space, and can it be killed?

assuming that you're referring to the {multline}
environment in amsmath, what you need to know is
that this is display math, and as such always
begins with \abovedisplay[short]skip.

what may be happening is that you've left a blank
line (or other paragraph break) before {multline},
in which case the space will be the sum of the
display skip and the paragraph skip.  don't put
a paragraph break before any display math.

if that's not what's happening, then, depending
on how \abovedisplayskip is set (it will be in
the documentclass you're using), you will need to
either reset it, or insert a negative vspace of
that amount above it.  (yes, in the latter case,
that does put you into vertical, end-of-paragraph
mode, so you will have to compensate for that
as well.)
							-- bb