RE: [Groff] The quest for a high-end typesetting system: A few questions

[Mats Broberg]

Werner Lemberg wrote:

> > 8: I found a discussion about making the linebreaking algorithm 
> > paragraph-based (as in TeX)? Can this be done or has it been done 
> > already?
> 
> It hasn't been done.  The lack of elastic horizontal and 
> vertical space together with missing paragraph formatting are 
> indeed typographical handicaps.

Werner,

Thank you for your replies. I agree that the lack of a paragraph-based
line-breaking algorithm indeed is a handicap. Most times, a
paragraph-based algorithm outputs better typesetting.

> > 12: If the last line on a page has a footnote reference, 
> what happens 
> > in groff? Does the footnote get printed on the next page, 
> or does the 
> > last line move over to the next page, so that the footnote 
> reference 
> > and the footnote get printed at the same page? This is 
> something many 
> > programs have severe problems with.
> 
> Without actually testing I think that you can write macros so 
> that the last line moves over to the next page.

Sounds promising!

Another general groff question:

Does groff handle floats, i.e. graphics that does not necessarily need
to be inserted at a specific point on the page but are allowed to queue
until there is enough space to put them without getting alot of white
space? I found a a few references to floats in the UTP book, but only in
relation to something called "displays".

Best regards,
Mats Broberg