On 01.03.2005 22:25:12 Simon Pepping wrote: > On Tue, Mar 01, 2005 at 07:52:27AM -0700, Victor Mote wrote: > > Jeremias Maerki wrote: > > > > > processing time and additional memory requirements. This > > > leads me to the question if we shouldn't actually implement > > > two page-breaking strategies (in the end, not both right > > > now). For a speed-optimized algorithm, we could even think > > > about ignoring side-floats. > > > > > > Obviously, in this model we would have to make sure that we > > > use a common model for both strategies. For example, we still > > > have to make sure that the line layout gets information on > > > the available IPD on each line, but probably this will not be > > > a big problem to include later. > > > > This is an excellent idea. It has from time to time gone under the moniker > > LayoutStrategy or pluggable layout. To do it without duplicating everything > > requires that the other pieces of the system be modularized, the concerns > > separated so that they can be reused. The upside is tremendous and the cost > > pays for itself in developer productivity. > > The idea of having two page breaking strategies is OK. But it is also > a goal that is yet far over the horizon.
Right. What I'd like to achieve is having a usable layout engine with the minimum of effort for most use cases but without blocking our way in terms of full compliance like what happened with the old code base. I also don't want to invest to much time in an infrastructure to support pluggable strategies, only that we keep it in mind while we build the first one. > I hope this is smaller than having pluggable layout. My hope, too. The critical part is to determine the model that helps us express all the elements of the XSL-FO standard. > We should try to > express the layout constraints in a simple language, which can be used > by the algorithms of both strategies. Knuth's model is an effort to > achieve that, and a PageLayoutManager which receives the Knuth > elements and invokes the appropriate algorithm goes with it. That's what I'm currently trying to figure out. I guess we'll need to sketch all the different layout elements that we need to support like you started. > Such a setup should not only enable multiple page breaking strategies, > but also help us implement a simple strategy to start with, and > gradually evolve it to a higher level of sophistication. That's the idea. Jeremias Maerki
