In a message dated 2009.09.19 05:27 -0500, Brian Barker wrote:
Does OO Writer deprecate the traditional practice of inserting a
return (newline = "carriage return" = "hard return" = "line break")
between paragraphs?
Traditional? Does that mean "as beloved of typewriter users"? ;^)
I mentioned "traditional" in the sense of "traditional" word processors,
consistent with the earlier practice of combining editors (like vi) with
formatters (like roff). After posting that, I realized one need not go
back to the dawn of word processors to find the practice of inserting a
return between paragraphs: We do it routinely today when working in text
editors - as, for example, in email, which we are using now.
However, early word processors (and text editors, then and now)
admittedly share a fundamental objective with typewriters: the
processing of words, rather than the layout of illustrated publications
(which came later). To that end, a double-return indicates a paragraph
break. I accept that Writer sees each Enter as a paragraph break, and
thus must deprecate returns between paragraphs. But this has been
gnawing at me: Is it not a problem, both functional and philosophical,
when a "/word/ processor" deprecates words, departing from editors and
other word-oriented tools in this regard?
Word-oriented word processors treat:
- line justification, at line breaks, by making the line's initial and
final inter-word spaces spatially "dormant" (that is, assigned zero space);
- page justification, at page breaks, by making the page's initial and
final inter-paragraph spaces (lines) spatially dormant.
I'm not suggesting that that approach is "better" (whatever that would
mean), but it seems spatially as well as syntactically elegant. I do
see a philosophical, and perhaps functional, loss in departing from it.
Still, thanks for answering my question about how Writer is supposed to
work,
John <still considering the implications>
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