Mike Maxwell wrote:
> Again, a question that is not really about XMLmind, but rather about a
> converter: in this case the conversion process to RTF. If this isn't
> the right forum, can you please direct me where to ask or find out.
Yes, the XMLmind FO Converter (XFC) support list (xfc-support at xmlmind.com)
is the most appropriate place.
> I've modified our local style sheet (that converts from DocBook to FO,
> if I understand the process correctly) to use a different font as follows:
> <xsl:param name="body.font.family" select="'Doulos SIL'"/>
> A side effect of this is that after the conversion, Word is using a
> rather large spacing between lines. I suspect it's doing this because
> the SIL font is for IPA characters, and some of these are extra-high, so
> the font tells Word to reserve some extra vertical space just in case.
> But we're not using any of those tall characters, so the spacing just
> makes the paragraphs look odd.
>
> I can fix the spacing problem in Word if I change the line spacing in
> the paragraphs from "single" to "exactly 15 points".
>
> But I says to myself, "Now that's the sort of thing you should be able
> to set in a style sheet", says I. So I goes in and edits our style
> sheet some more, adding:
>
> <xsl:attribute-set name="root.properties">
> <xsl:attribute name="line-height">15pt</xsl:attribute>
> </xsl:attribute-set>
>
> (The "normal" font is 12 points, and I know I should set the height to a
> multiple of the current font size, but so far I'm just experimenting.)
>
> This doesn't work. Word no longer uses "single" spacing, to be sure,
> but instead of "exactly 15 points" it chooses "at least 15 points." The
> result is exactly the same as if I had chosen "single" for spacing. And
> of course there's nothing in the style sheet that makes the same
> distinction as Word's "exactly" vs. "at least" (at least, I don't think
> there's anything there).
>
> My guess is that this choice of "at least" happens in the conversion
> from FO to RTF. But I didn't find any documentation about any way to
> adjust the FO to RTF converter at the XMLmind site (one of the things I
> checked was the User's guide to the XMLmind FO Converter).
You're right, XFC always specifies the line height as a minimum value. The
main reason for this choice was that it accommodates most situations while
providing a protection against inappropriate use of the 'line-height'
property (e.g. on a block that contains in-line images). Now you may
legitimately argue that this behaviour doesn't really conforms to the XSL-FO
Recommendation...
> Suggestions? Is there some flag for the converter from FO to RTF that I
> can set, or something in our style sheet?
No, I'm afraid there is currently no way to achieve what you want. We'll try
to improve this in the future but I can't give you my word that we'll find a
satisfactory solution.
> OK, Microsoft actually tells how to do this: the RTF code for inter-line
> distance is \sl. With a positive number following it, this is
> interpreted as "at least N", whereas with a negative number following it
> means "exactly |N|" (the absolute value of N, measured in some units
> that appear to be 1/20th of a point). So I guess I could send the RTF
> file that XML mind produces through the Unix 'sed' command and insert a
> minus sign. That is called a kludge, but it would work.
Yes, for sure.
Regards,
--
Jean-Yves Belmonte - XMLmind.com
