At 01:20 19/09/2009 -0400, John Kaufmann wrote:
Does OO Writer deprecate the traditional practice ...
Traditional? Does that mean "as beloved of typewriter users"? ;^)
... of inserting a return (newline = "carriage return" = "hard return" = "line break") between paragraphs?
This conversation is going to become difficult if we confuse different ideas. In word processors, a hard return, created by pressing Enter (and the closest thing to the typewriter user's carriage return) is a *paragraph* break (or new paragraph), not a new line. Writer also has Shift+Enter, which creates a line break within a paragraph (also called a soft return). So all those things are not equal.
What this means is that if you press Enter twice (instead of once) between paragraphs, you create not a blank line but instead an empty paragraph. That empty paragraph has its own properties (including vertical spacing), which may or may not be the same as those of the surrounding paragraphs.
If not, how can Writer handle the case where the end of a paragraph coincides with the end of a page, such that the line return between paragraphs begins the next page?
It does it very easily if you use the word processor as it is designed to be used. If you want vertical spacing between paragraphs, do not insert empty paragraphs. Instead, use the "Spacing | Above paragraph" or "Spacing | Below paragraph" settings. These are available for individual paragraphs at right-click | Paragraph... | Indents & Spacing and for paragraph styles at right-click | Edit Paragraph Style ... | Indents & Spacing.
Some word processors or publishing programs might call such a return a "dormant" return (or similar name) - something given normal linespace in other contexts, but no space as the first line on a page.
If you set your spacing as described above, you will see that the extra space disappears in normal text flow when it would otherwise appear at the bottom or top of a page. But it will reappear if the page break is inserted manually (and at the start of a document). (Oh, and with the concept of "linespace" you are drifting back to typewriter-speak!)
Does OO have such utility, or is the return between paragraphs simply deprecated?
I cannot speak for OpenOffice, but I deprecate it! I trust this helps. Brian Barker --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
