Re: Big Bag o' Questions

[Ted Harding]

On 11-Aug-99 Valeriy E. Ushakov wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 11, 1999 at 02:01:08PM -0400, Colin Klipsch wrote:
> 
>> (7) Here's another feature request, if this isn't already possible...
>>     It would be nice to have a text "wrap-around" feature for small
>>     figures and tables, perhaps as a new value for the @Location
>>     parameter.  The figure (or table) would then be set alongside the
>>     current paragraph -- hugging either the left or right margin
>>     according to the user's choice -- with the text wrapping around
>>     it.  I'm referring to something like the DropCap feature, only
>>     much more flexible.
> 
> Generic flow-around (L-shaped paragraphs) is impossible in Lout, but
> one can perhaps adapt @DropCap* symbols to do flowing semi-manually
> (one will need to specify the size of the "window").

In [g]troff I achieve this by using a 'trap'. With a macro, the following
is done:

1. Place the object to be wrapped round and get its dimensions; fly back
   to the start of it.

2. Compute a trap position at or just beyond the end of object, and
   nominate the macro which will be invoked when the trap is hit.

3. Redefine line-length, left margin and/or indent as required for
   wrap-round text.

Then continue with the text. When the trap is hit, line-length etc are
automatically restored by the macro invoked by the trap.

This can be made to work well. It could be handy if, for instance, you
want to put little thumb-nail images on the right of certain paragraphs
or (drop-cap style) on the left -- or on the left for even pages and on
the right for odd pages ...

There are some advantages in being able to access what you might call the
"machine code" of page assembly, as you can (up to a point) in [g]troff.
Are such things totally out of reach in Lout?

Best wishes to all,
Ted.

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E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <address@hidden>
Date: 11-Aug-99                                       Time: 22:11:31
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