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Side by Side Category
The Side by side category provides options for specifying the alignment of block elements that will be displayed next to each other in output.
The following table describes the properties on the Side by side category.
Property
Description
Default Value
Align side by side with following
Specifies whether the current element starts a side by side region. The element will appear to the side of the element that follows it in the source XML file, when the document is output. The tops of the two elements will be vertically aligned.
The choices in this field are :
• <Derive> - Specifies side by side setting based on system default, property set, or ancestor settings.
• Yes
This setting will continue until the formatting process encounters one of the following:
◦ An element that sets End previous alignment
◦ The end of an element that sets End all contained alignments
• No (default)
If you set this field to Yes, the Placement, Horizontal offset, Width, Horizontal Gap fields will be activated.
No
Placement
Specifies whether the current element should be on the left or right of the following element(s).
Left
Horizontal offset
Shifts the current element horizontally.
Use a positive value to move from the page edge toward the center. A negative value will move from the center out. The effect depends on the Placement setting:
• Left: a positive Horizontal offset value will shift the current element to the right from the left indent inherited from the parent element. A negative value will move it to the left.
• Right: a positive Horizontal offset value will shift the current element to the left from the right indent inherited from the parent element. A negative value will move it to the right.
* 
em is not a valid unit of measurement for this field. If a value in em is used, either by typing in the field or referencing a Size definition, it will be processed as follows:
• FOSI, XSL-FO, and HTML outputs will treat 1em as 1pc
• PTC ALD will treat 1em as the current font size
The effects of indent settings vary in different output formats. Refer also to Differences in Behavior of Indent Settings Between Outputs for further points to keep in mind when configuring side by side settings.
0pc
Width
Specifies the width of the block allocated for the current element.
Note that any indents specified for the current element on the Indent category can affect the positioning of text within that block.
* 
em is not a valid unit of measurement for this field. If a value in em is used, either by typing in the field or referencing a Size definition, it will be processed as follows:
• FOSI, XSL-FO, and HTML outputs will treat 1em as 1pc
• PTC ALD will treat 1em as the current font size
It is recommended that you do not reference a Size definition with a value of 0 in this field. This may produce unexpected results.
12pc
Horizontal gap
Specifies the space between the block allowed for the current element and the content of the following element.
* 
em is not a valid unit of measurement for this field. If a value in em is used, either by typing in the field or referencing a Size definition, it will be processed as follows:
• FOSI, XSL-FO, and HTML outputs will treat 1em as 1pc
• PTC ALD will treat 1em as the current font size
It is recommended that you do not reference a Size definition with a negative value in this field. This may produce unexpected results.
0pc
End previous alignment
Confirms whether the current element will be placed alongside the previous element styled with side by side alignment.
• Yes - End the side by side alignment set for the previous element at the current element.
• No - Continue the side by side alignment set for the previous element. The current element will be placed alongside the previous element styled with side by side alignment.
When working with HTML outputs, a setting of Yes in this field will end all previous alignments, not just the one immediately preceding the current element.
No
End all contained alignments
Confirms whether any side by side alignments started within the current element will end at the end of the current element.
Yes
* 
The Horizontal offset, Width, Horizontal gap fields in this category allow you to either type an arbitrary size in the field or choose a defined size by selecting from the list of Size objects configured for your stylesheet. For the latter option, click the Select Size button The Select Size icon - 3 horizontal lines, a green double ended arrow and a green x, all bounded by vertical lines, with a black down arrow to their right next to the field for which you wish to set the measurement and select the name of the required Size object from the resulting list. Once you have selected a Size object the measurement it defines will be displayed wrapped in angle brackets (< > characters) in the relevant field. For example, the Size object InchSize defines a measurement of 1.00in:
This is an image of the Top field with the InchSize Size listed in the Size definition list activated for the measurement, and the measurement <1.00in> shown in the field
Differences in Behavior of Indent Settings Between Outputs
The effect of indent settings in general is as follows. Note that the current element is the element being styled with side by side alignment.
• The Horizontal offset value determines where the aligning edge occurs relative to the align side margin. Positive values move from the align side margin toward the center of the page, and negative values move toward the page edge.
For example, if Placement is Left, then the Horizontal offset determines where the left edge of the current element occurs relative to the left margin. A positive Horizontal offset moves the edge of the current element to the right.
• The Width value determines the amount of space reserved for the current element, starting at the aligning edge and moving toward the page center.
• The available horizontal space for the current element is defined by a combination of Horizontal offset and Width values. Indent settings made for the current element in the Indent category control the position of its content within that horizontal space.
• You may find that position and indent settings mean that the current element overlaps the following content. If this is the case the indent set for the following content will be ignored on the side adjacent to the current element until the following content has passed the bottom of the current element and the current element’s Spacing after measure. The edge of the following content block adjacent to the current element will be separated from the current element by the current element’s Horizontal gap measure. Once the following content block has passed the bottom of the current element its indents will become effective, creating the wrapping effect shown below.
• If position and indent settings mean that the current element does not overlap the following content, the following content will not wrap around the current element.
* 
When working with HTML outputs, the current element’s indent settings must be specified in the same object (context, property set, or condition) that holds its side by side properties. You may see unexpected results if this is not the case.
Indent behavior is consistent with these general rules in print/PDF output generated via the PTC ALD engine and in HTML outputs.
You will encounter some different effects in output generated via the FOSI and XSL-FO print engines:
• When Placement is Right, FOSI and XSL-FO engines ignore the Horizontal offset value configured for the current element. They use the left indent and first line indent settings from the Indent category to determine the left edge of the current element instead.
• When Horizontal gap for the current element is greater than zero, the position of the following content is determined by adding the Horizontal gap value and the indents set for the following content to the adjacent edge of the current element.
If it is not possible for the following content to have an indent of 0 (for example with hanging shaped numbered content), use FOSI edited source to produce output with the correct gap between side by side items.