Re: Fixed Width Spaces (was: Printing and Displaying Dependent Vowels)

From: Peter Kirk (peterkirk@qaya.org)
Date: Tue Mar 30 2004 - 17:35:55 EST

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    On 30/03/2004 11:46, Asmus Freytag wrote:

    > ...
    >
    >> Still, there is a need for a fixed width space with a width equal to the
    >> unjustified width of a normal space .
    >
    >
    > Perhaps you would like to elaborate where and when that is used. What
    > problem does a fixed width space solve? Are those circumstances where
    > it flows with the line, or are those uses limited to tables?
    >
    I can think of several places where one might want to use a fixed width
    space in a paragraph that is otherwise justified and so has varying
    width spaces, circumstances where it would be inappropriate to open up
    an extra wide gap between two "words". A particular example would be
    following a numbered list in the following format, so that the start of
    the following text lines up properly, e.g.

    1. Text of item 1.

    2. Text of item 2, which is in fact long enough to spread over on to
    more than one line and so if justified the spaces may be expanded.

    3. Text of item 3.

    In such a case it looks much better for the words "Text" to be aligned,
    and so for the spaces after the numbers to be fixed width.

    Another case related to my own field of Biblical studies is in the name
    of Bible books like 1 Samuel, 2 Kings. The space between the number and
    the name needs to be fixed, not to expand in justified texts. Also in
    typeset biblical texts the space after a verse number needs to be fixed,
    and perhaps narrower than a regular space.

    In each of these cases FIGURE SPACE may be appropriate. Are any of these
    alternative spaces non-breaking? That is also a requirement in my last
    two applications.

    -- 
    Peter Kirk
    peter@qaya.org (personal)
    peterkirk@qaya.org (work)
    http://www.qaya.org/
    


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