On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 08:57:36PM +0100, Tadziu Hoffmann wrote: > Subject: Re: [Groff] Typesetting dashes > > ... > Anyhow, 1/4 en thus corresponds to half a normal space in > groff's TR font. Don't ask me why the "\:" converts the > following space into a nonstretchable (but discardable) space. > > I'm not really happy with this solution. I'd prefer space > that stretches proportionally to the font size, but this > doesn't seem to work in groff: groff appears to compute the > total stretch divided by the number of spaces, and then *adds* > this to *all* spaces, independent of their nominal size. > I think this is wrong and should be changed.
If I understand the question properly, the implication is that a line might consist of words or characters at different point sizes, therefore the the spaces separating words of the same point size ought to stretch proportionately. (Am I in the ball park here?) If that's the idea, then I disagree. I can't think of a situation where you would want to mix point sizes on a line. Small caps, inferior or superior characters, and so on are ideally taken from fonts at the same point size as the regular text (if they're faked by changing point size, you wouldn't want the spacing around them to reveal the fake). Adding the same amount of stretch to each of the objects in the line maintains symetry and rhythm. I think the same holds true for a line with math characters in it that may need to change their size as part of a formula. My problem with a dash joined to adjacent words with a small fixed space or no space is that it can easily pull those words together; yet in terms of readability those words have a weaker relationship to each other than they do to the rest of the words in the phrase they are part of, so pulling them together makes them look almost like a compound word, especially if the spaces on the line are stretched. -- Steve -- Steve Izma st...@press.wlu.ca Computing Systems Administrator 519-884-0710 ext. 6125 Wilfrid Laurier University Press http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca Waterloo, Ont., Canada N2L 3C5 http://nestor.wlu.ca/blog Our e-newsletter http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/press/General/signupform.shtml