[latinreq] Table alignment and table sizing

More Robust Table Alignment

   1.

   Align-on character support (e.g., align-on decimal)
   1.

      if content has align-on character in column, table formatting
      software should
      1.

         find longest line in table body in each column (exclude table
         heading as they have their own independent rules)
         2.

         center line
         3.

         align all other lines in that column on position of align-on char
         (e.g., decimal) of longest line
         4.

         In cases where the largest number of whole numbers and largest
         number of decimal numbers appear in different rows (e.g., 1234.11 and
         12.1234), the left indent to the entry with the most whole
numbers should
         match the right indent of the entry with the most decimal entries
         5.

         When a collection of whole numbers with no decimal points are in a
         column and are asked to align, the longest whole number
should center in
         the column and the rest of the whole numbers should right align on the
         right indent of the longest whole number
         6.

         don't wrap cells that contain the alignment character in a cell
         that contains the align-on instruction
         7.

         although the align-on instruction is applied in the context of a
         full column, any given cell within the column might not be part of the
         content that should be factored in to the align-on layout.
         2.

   Flush left center (variation of flush left, flush right, and center) -
   also known as block centering
   1.

      To properly set the alignment for left aligned text in a column
      2.

      scan all cells in a column (excepting table header and footer cells.
      or a cell that is to be excluded because of other special conditions)
      3.

      find the longest line in the column and center it
      1.

         if cell is horizontally spanning, don't consider its contents for
         longest line purposes
         4.

      Flush left all other lines within same column on left edge of
      centered longest line
      3.

   Prevent line-wrapping on aligned-on cells or single word cells
   4.

   Table widths
   1.

      In print, tables are not randomly sized but typically set to one of a
      few fixed widths. This requirement necessitates that a composition engine
      know how to "snap to" one of the desired widths.
      2.

      I have a bunch of notes regarding snapping to specific widths, where
      to throw extra white space, etc. but want to confirm with group that they
      feel that this specific requirement is something they want in digital
      layout as well before i write it all down.
      3.

      One argument for having tables be able to set to certain fixed widths
      is that it shows the relationships between related tables.


References:

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4484826.html, "Automatic intertext column
spacing"
http://www.amazon.com/Typesetting-Tables-System-Henry-McGilton/dp/0962628905