Is there a dotted box placeholder symbol?
Not a dotted box, but a dashed box with adapted parameters. Here is a code with dashbox
: I defined a \dashedph
command with an optional argument (default: capital H). I also suggest a simple \colorph
(colorbox place holder):
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}%
\usepackage[svgnames]{xcolor}%
\usepackage{dashbox}%
\usepackage{mathtools, amssymb}
\newcommand\dashedph[1][H]{\setlength{\fboxsep}{0pt}\setlength{\dashlength}{2.2pt}\setlength{\dashdash}{1.1pt} \dbox{\phantom{#1}}}
\newcommand\colorph[1][H]{\setlength{\fboxsep}{0.3pt}\setlength{\dashlength}{2.2pt}\setlength{\dashdash}{1.1pt} \colorbox{lightgray!40!Lavender!40!}{\phantom{#1}}}
\begin{document}
\[ \sqrt{\dashedph} \enspace \sqrt{\colorph}\]%
\end{document}
A simple approach (not long tested) is to use tikz. You can adjust the vertical space to your needs by replacing A
in \vphantom
.
\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\def\dottedbox{\tikz\node[draw=black,dotted] {\vphantom{A}};}
\begin{document}
\dottedbox
$\sqrt{\dottedbox}$
\end{document}
The stix
package provides a \dottedsquare
symbol that could fit.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{stix}
\begin{document}
$\dottedsquare\sqrt{\dottedsquare}$
\end{document}