Re: keep-with-next.within-column="always"

At 2003-09-08 09:57 -0700, michelleaiken-webboards9999@mailblocks.com wrote:
>I am using keep-with-next.within-column="always" but it does not seem to work.
>...
>When I have enough Customers in my XML file to fill up more than one page, 
>it breaks in the middle of a customer inspite of the 
>keep-with-next.within-column="always" commands, and it also leaves the 
>first page blank and prints the first customer on the second page (doesn't 
>do this when the customers fit on one page).

I'm guessing it is keeping any preamble to the table on the first page and 
the table just begins on the second page.  I'm surprised you are getting a 
third page, as from what you've described, I'd expect to see an overflow 
condition.

The "always" condition should be used sparingly, because it has an 
unexpected effect.  This has always surprised my students when we go 
through the details of keeps and breaks.

According to XSL-FO 1.0, "always" is different than "a very big strength 
number".  Keep strengths that are numeric are allowed to be broken when 
you've asked for something that doesn't fit to fit.  The keep strength 
"always" means just that: always keep it together, move it to the next page 
if it doesn't fit the current page and it is an error if it doesn't fit the 
next page.

You've got keep-with-next as "always" for *every* row of your table, so 
eventually you will get an error on a long table.  I recommend you use a 
keep-with-next of a low number on the table-rows, and a keep-together with 
a higher number on each row.  This way if the entire set of rows doesn't 
fit on a page, it should break between rows but not in the middle of a row 
unless the one row itself doesn't fit on a page.

I hope this helps.

....................... Ken

p.s. be aware that not all XSL-FO processors act correctly on keep strengths


--
Next public European delivery:  3-day XSLT/2-day XSL-FO 2003-09-22
Next public US delivery:        3-day XSLT/2-day XSL-FO 2003-10-13
Instructor-led on-site corporate, government & user group training
for XSLT and XSL-FO world-wide:  please contact us for the details

G. Ken Holman                 mailto:gkholman@CraneSoftwrights.com
Crane Softwrights Ltd.          http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/f/
Box 266, Kars, Ontario CANADA K0A-2E0    +1(613)489-0999 (F:-0995)
ISBN 0-13-065196-6                       Definitive XSLT and XPath
ISBN 0-13-140374-5                               Definitive XSL-FO
ISBN 1-894049-08-X   Practical Transformation Using XSLT and XPath
ISBN 1-894049-11-X               Practical Formatting Using XSL-FO
Member of the XML Guild of Practitioners:     http://XMLGuild.info
Male Breast Cancer Awareness  http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/f/bc

Received on Monday, 8 September 2003 13:09:18 UTC