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List:       koffice-devel
Subject:    Re: [odf-discuss] Non-portable paragraph rendering settings,
From:       Stefan =?iso-8859-1?q?L=FCcking?= <office () stefanluecking ! de>
Date:       2006-05-18 21:00:41
Message-ID: 200605182300.41549.office () stefanluecking ! de
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Sorry, that I write as a user in the developers list, but for me the
different behavior of OpenOffice and KWord regarding paragraph
margins is an important issue.

Maybe the point of view of a user can help further development of
KWord.

There are two different issues concerning vertical paragraph
margins:
(1) adjoining vertical margins
(2) vertical margins at the top of a page

ad (1) adjoining vertical margins

The default behavior of OpenOffice 1.X for adjoining vertical
margins was to use the maximum height of the top and bottom
margins.

For compatibility reasons there is an option (on document level) to
add both margins, because this is the default behavior of Microsoft
Word.

In the GUI you can set this option in writer options ->
compatibility.

In OpenOffice 2 the default has changed to the behavior of Microsoft
Word, i.e. use the sum of both margins.

From my point of view the original behavior, i.e. to take the
maximum of both margins, is far more convenient, specially if you
use styles.

Normally you use top and bottom margins for text structuring. And in
most cases the margin you use separate two parts of a text should
also be the maximum

Take for example headings: Heading 1 has a top margin of two lines
and a bottom margin of 1 line, Heading 2 has 1 line on top and no
bottom margin. What happens if a Heading 2 follows a Heading 1:
in the first case (using the maximum space) you have a space of one
line between both headings,
in the second case (summing up both margins) you have a space of two
lines, or to avoid this you have to create an extra style for
Headings 2 following Heading 1 (which is a normal practice in
Microsoft Word).

ad (2) vertical margins at the top of a page

As vertical margins serve to structure a text they are redundant at
the top of a page. In professional books the first line begins
always at the very top of the page, even if it is a heading that
normally has a space above.

My colleagues who work with Microsoft Word have always difficulties
to find the option to make Word ignore vertical margins at the top
of a page. There is an option but very hidden.

The only case where an additional vertical space at the top of a
page makes sense is at the beginning of chapter, that always start
with a new page  and this page should differ from other pages to
make it easier to find the start of a new chapter.

In KWord it?s completely viceversa. The top margin of a paragraph
style is only ignored when the option "Page break before" is used.
Therefore if you define a style for chapter headings that always are
at the top of a page, you cannot assign an additional top margin
for the space, while normal headings that have a top margin to
separate them from the previous paragraph, they retain this margin
also on top of a page, although they are already separated form the
previous paragraph be the page break.

In OpenOffice normally paragraph top margins are ignored on top of a
page. For chapter headings you have the option to use a special
page style.

For compatibility reasons there is also the option to change this
behavior (on the same place in the GUI).

In KWord the right behavior (from my point of view) could be
realized when paragraph top margins are ignored on of a page unless
it is combined with the option "Page break before".


But to be compatible with OpenOffice the only solution is to offer
an option to choose between these two behaviors.

But even then you have to answer the question which behavior should
be the default.

I write this because the the actual behavior of KWord regarding
paragraph top and bottom margins, is one reason the prevents my to
use KWord more often.

I hope these reflections on the sense of vertical paragraph margins
help you to decide how to solve these issues in KWord 2.

Stefan
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