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Conference vaxuum::online_bookbuilding

Title:Online Bookbuilding
Notice:This conference is write-locked: see note 1.3.
Moderator:VAXUUM::UTT
Created:Fri Aug 12 1988
Last Modified:Mon Jul 15 1991
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:440
Total number of notes:2134

166.0. "<P> handled differently now..." by AITG::WARNER (Ross Warner) Wed Jul 19 1989 15:42

The latest versions of the online doctypes ONLINE.REFERENCE and ONLINE.HANDBOOK
treat <P> tags differently than the previous versions.

The doctypes put more vertical space in wherever a <P> tag is used. This was
probably done to make the books easier on the eyes for online.

However, this causes problems:

1. When you use <P> to begin a paragraph after a section heading, DOCUMENT puts
more space between the head and the paragraph it introduces than it puts
between the head and text from the previous section. This is strange -- the
head seems to go with the previous section, not with the section it belongs
with. For example:

	text from previous section...
	text from previous section...
	text from previous section...

	HEAD FOR NEXT SECTION



	text for new section...
	text for new section...
	text for new section...

This is especially bad when the heading is a subhead that doesn't look much
different from the regular font; it doesn't seem to go with the next section at
all.


2. When you use <P> after a line of code example, the space before the next bit
of text is too big and looks strange. For example:

	
	The screen displays this message:

	All systems GO for trip.	( <- this in code example)


					( <- unwanted extra space here)

	In addition....



In the previous versions, the code example was centered vertically between the
text before and after it.

I liked the old way better.
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
166.1CLOSET::UTTThu Jul 20 1989 07:518
    Yes, adding 'chunkiness' to the <p> tags (for better addressability
    from the index) introduced some formatting glitches. We are looking
    at these and will be refining the formatting to improve the spacing
    around paragraphs.
    
    Thanks for your comments. They will be helpful to us.
    
    Mary
166.2Probably same as 166.0AITG::ISENJoyce, 291-8230 DLB5-2Tue Jul 25 1989 11:1436
    This is probably the same item as Ross reported in 166, but I didn't
    notice it until I looked at the <interactive> sections:
    
There is a lot of white space following an <interactive> example.  This does
not happen in hardcopy doctypes.

Here's my source code:

block of text
<interactive>
<s>($ )<u>(HELP OPS5)
<endinteractive>
<P>
second block of text

In hardcopy, I get this result:

block of text

$ HELP OPS5

second block of text



But in ONLINE.HANDBOOK, I get this extra white space:

block of text

$ HELP OPS5



second block of text
166.3mostly fixed in 24-JUL online toolsAITG::WARNERWho ya gonna call? TOOLBUSTERS!Tue Jul 25 1989 13:2911
    The new 24-JUL online bookbuilding tools have fixed most of the <P>
    problems. The problem with code example remains, as Joyce points out.
    
    The problem of too much space between a head that is lower than the
    argument to <set_online_topic>, and the <P> that follows it, is gone
    now.
    
    I can live with the space after code_example, in the interest of
    improved index access, for the September CDROM.
    
    Ross
166.4<P> following <endlist> still problemAITG::WARNERWho ya gonna call? TOOLBUSTERS!Tue Jul 25 1989 13:372
    ...also, you still get too much space between a list and <P> (and no
    space before the list)...
166.5My two cents AITG::MARCUSTue Jul 25 1989 13:527
I'd like to add that the space around lists is still uneven -- there's not 
enough above the list and way too much below.  

Thanks for fixing the rest of the spacing problems.  It looks much better,
even with the bottom-heavy lists.

claudia
166.6New Bookbuilding Tools???ELUDE::GREMBOWICZWed Jul 26 1989 09:2312
    
    re: .3
    
    > The new 24-JUL online bookbuilding tools have fixed most of the
    > problems. The problem with code example remains, as Joyce points
    > out.
      
    
    What new 24-JUL online bookbuilding tools?  I didn't see any mention
    of them in Note 64.*.
166.7VAXUUM::UTTThu Jul 27 1989 15:568
    On July 24 we issued an updated version of the tools to fix some
    specific problems that folks in ZK were having. These people had a
    deadline this week for the September CD. We didn't issue it any more
    widely than a few sites so we could make sure the problems were in fact
    solved. The update should be announced in this notes file within the
    week.
    
    Mary