Insets and Tables: container paragraphs with no additional spacing

[Stuart Rogers]

Offline exchanges with other subscribers to this list prompted me to do 
an experiment, and it was a success, so I'll share it.

If you prefer to have your tables in dedicated paragraphs, you run into 
the problem of unwanted space above the table caused by the otherwise 
empty paragraph. Some people minimize the extra space by creating a tag 
with 2-pt font and no space above or below, but that makes the paragraph 
hard to see, and does still add the extra 2 points. With text insets, 
you end up with a similar problem of unwanted space below the inset, due 
to the tag of the containing paragraph.

I have long used a trick to place a table in its own paragraph so that 
the top of the table aligns with the top of the container paragraph – 
zero extra space above the table, in other words. I've learned that the 
same trick can be applied to text insets.

For tables, create a pgf tag, e.g., TableAnchor:
Font Size: 12 pt
Color: (something other than black, so it stands out)
Spacing Below Pgf: –12.0 pt (negative 12 points)

and change all yourTable tags to have Spacing Above: –12.0 pt

Insert a blank paragraph where you want the table to start and tag it 
TableAnchor.
Insert a table in that paragraph.
The top of the table will be even with the top of the TableAnchor paragraph.

For insets (harder to maintain, depending on inset content), create a 
pgf tag in the container document, e.g., InsetAnchor:
Font Size: 12 pt
Color: (something other than black)
Spacing Above Pgf: –12.0 pt

In the inset source document, create a variant tag based on the last 
paragraph of the inset (e.g., BodyInsetLast as a variant of Body):
Spacing Below Pgf: –12.0 pt (negative 12 points)
Apply that tag to the last paragraph of the inset.

In the container document, create a new empty paragraph where you want 
the inset to go.
Tag the paragraph InsetAnchor.
In that paragraph, type a non-breaking space (to overcome the bug that 
reformats the paragraph on updating the inset).
Place your cursor just before the non-breaking space and import the inset.

For both these methods, if you want to move your cursor into the 
containing paragraph after the table or inset is in place, use the arrow 
keys -- the mouse pointer will only select the table or inset, because 
that's the uppermost "layer."

-- 
Stuart Rogers
Technical Communicator
Phoenix Geophysics Limited
3781 Victoria Park Avenue, Unit 3
Toronto, ON, Canada  M1W 3K5
+1 (416) 491-7340 x 325

http://www.phoenix-geophysics.com

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