Objects of this class provide access to the styling properties of paragraphs. They can be passed to fFormatting::paragraphStart() to specify the default settings for the new paragraph.

An instance of this class is also available as formatting.currentParagraph which allows changing attributes of the paragraph that is currently being formatted. Note that unless changes are made at the very start of a paragraph, they will likely not take effect until the next line, or later.

A further instance of this class can be accessed using formatting.defaultParagraph. This provides access to the paragraph properties that were in effect at the start of the paragraph and which take effect if any currentParagraph properties are set to undefined.

These constants define horizontal alignment of the paragraph contents. These constants are used with textAlign.

The HorizontalAlignment enumeration has the following constants of type int.

Specifies the way text is formatted vertically within its minimum or maximum paragraph heights.

The VerticalFormatMode enumeration has the following constants of type int.

Constants for use with keepWithNext and keepWithPrev.

The KeepMode enumeration has the following constants of type int.

The priority on widows and orphans, used with orphanPriority.

The OrphanPriorities enumeration has the following constants of type int.

Positions hash rules precisely around text, (hash rules are not governed by the margins of a paragraph style). Hash rules are measured exactly from the edge of text at the start and end of a line.

The RuleHashWidths enumeration has the following constants of type int.

PI: tal

Activates/deactivates auto leading of text.

PI: talainc

Specifies the amount to increase the leading incrementally, above the baseline. The property autoLeadingAboveMaximum determines whether leading is needed.

PI: talamax

Specifies the value at which leading will be automatically increased.

PI: talamaxdt

Specifies the value at which leading will be automatically increased when topDrop was used to control the leading.

PI: talamaxdtc

Specifies the value at which leading will be automatically increased when topDropCell was used to control the leading.

PI: talbbx

Activates/deactivates auto leading of text in a similar way to autoLeading, but instead of assuming a 3/4-1/4 ratio from the text height it measures the bounding box of each character used.

PI: talbinc

Specifies the amount to increase the leading incrementally, below the baseline. The property autoLeadingBelowMaximum determines whether leading is needed.

PI: talbmax

Specifies the value below the baseline at which leading will be automatically increased.

PI: talgap

Specifies the size of the gap that auto-leading should use if the gap is less than autoLeadingGapLimit.

PI: talglim

Specifies the gap limit between the lowest point of a descender below the baseline and the highest point of an ascender above the baseline. If this limit is exceeded, auto leading will be applied.

PI: taltootall

If set to true, an item that is to tall to fit and cannot be split, is allowed to overhang the bottom of the frame. This property is used in conjunction with the autoLeading property.

PI: tpavtxt

Specifies that the style should be avoided by other text styles, therefore ensuring that text does not overlap it. The tpavtxt macro turns avoid this text mode for paragraphs on and off.

When false, text from other styles will be able to overwrite this style. When true, Arbortext APP will prevent text from other styles overwriting this style.

PI: tpbgc

Sets the paragraph background colour.

PI: tpbghash

This property positions hash rule background colour precisely around text, (hash rules are not governed by the margins of a paragraph style). The background colour can be set precisely around text, instead of filling the entire frame within paragraph margins.

When false, the default paragraph rule background colour settings are on. Therefore the background colour will be positioned as normal. When true, hash rule background colour is applied to the paragraph, according to the hash rule settings specified in the Paragraph Rules dialogue box or in the ruleHashWidth property.

PI: tpbalbase

Instructs APP that when balancing text in columns that it uses the baselines, overriding the current setting of fParagraph-fitDescenders.

This is useful when using professional leading mode in combination with autoleading. It means the balance isn't affected by whether the lines at the bottom of columns have descenders or not. As a result the 1st column might be shorter if it doesn't have descenders, but there's a greater chance that the columns will contain similar numbers of line.

N.B. this mode is meant to help with text descenders - it can be cancelled for paragraphs with a minimum height, for displaymaths, or for lines containing inline maths which the auto-leading determines is the deepest thing in the line.

PI: tpbalbef

Balances columns of text above a paragraph for which this attribute is turned on. This is the equivalent of selecting Balance cols Before para in the Paragraph Breaks dialogue box.

PI: tpbal

Switches 'column balance' on or off for the current paragraph. When a page which contains two or more columns of text is formatted (with trf or tformat), and the last paragraph on the page has this attribute, additional space will be added to the bottom margin so that the text in each column balances. This is the equivalent of selecting Balance cols After para in the Paragraph Breaks dialogue box.

PI: tpbalfrom

Specifies the position to balance columns from; either from the first column, the earliest possible position or the latest possible position.

To get results, you need to have balance enabled: paragraph.balanceBefore = true. You also need to specify how many columns should be balanced: paragraph.spanColumnsNum = 2.

PI: tpbalmult

Specifies if columns should be spanned in multiples of the value specified using the column span property, spanColumnsNum.

To get results, you need to have balance enabled: paragraph.balanceBefore = true. You also need to specify how many columns should be balanced: paragraph.spanColumnsNum = 2.

PI: tpbalspan

Specifies the number of columns to span across. You can either span all columns or span the same number of columns as specified using the column span macro, spanColumnsNum.

When false , all columns are spanned. When true, the same number of columns as specified using the column span macro, spanColumnsNum.

To get results, you need to have balance enabled: paragraph.balanceBefore = true. You also need to specify how many columns should be balanced: paragraph.spanColumnsNum = 2.

PI: ttdch

Specifies the character on which decimal tabs align. By default this is a ' . ' (full stop), but can be changed to any other character, for instance a ' , ' (comma). The decimal tab character set specifies the set of characters that APP uses to perform decimal alignment. By default this set contains a ' . ' (full stop). It is possible to specify additional characters to this set (maximum of four) so that APP uses any of the characters to perform decimal alignment.

PI: tfdef

Defines a default font for a paragraph to use if a character is not present within the selected font. If the character is also not present in the default font, a missing glyph will be output.

PI: tpdir

Changes the direction of text drawing and column flowing. Useful only in Arabic systems or any other language which reads from right to left.

PI: tpxbrk

The tpxbrk turns Extended breaks mode on and off. When Extended breaks mode is on, Arbortext APP will apply Breaks settings to text in partial columns (columns that have been interrupted or split by other frames). See fFrame::extendedBreaks.

PI: tpxorph

When a paragraph is broken by a frame, the extended break keeps hold of the orphans after this frame. See fFrame::extendedOrphans.

PI: tpigfill

This property will override a frame filler stream ( fFrame::fillStream) for a frame, if the paragraph that it is applied to is the last in a column. If ignoreFill has been turned on, Arbortext APP will not fill any space left after the paragraph in the column with text from a filler stream.

When true, even if a frame filler stream has been specified for the frame, Arbortext APP will not use it to fill gaps in the column.

PI: tpnoscan

Prevents Arbortext APP using the forward scan limit for fill mode when re-formatting a document.

PI: tpfitb

Instructs APP to include text descenders, ie. anything that appears below the text baseline, when measuring text size for column fit. This affects the way text is vertically centerd in a column, flushed to the bottom, or vertically justified.

When Arbortext APP works out whether a line of text fits into a column, it usually allows descenders, i.e. anything below the baseline, to overhang the bottom of the column. You can tell Arbortext APP to measure from the bottom of the text line instead, in which case the descenders must fit in as well or the line is taken over to the next column. This affects the way text is vertically centered in a column, flushed to the bottom, or vertically justified; but in this case measuring from the bottom means that paragraph rules are taken into account too.

PI: tpfitbr

Instructs APP to measure text from the bottom of the text line instead of from the baseline when fitting a line of text into a column: with this option set there must be sufficent space left in the column to fit descenders, otherwise the line will be taken over to the next column. This affects the way text is vertically centered in a column, flushed to the bottom, or vertically justified; it also means that paragraph rules are taken into account during the fit calculation

When Arbortext APP works out whether a line of text fits into a column, it usually allows descenders, i.e. anything below the baseline, to overhang the bottom of the column. You can tell Arbortext APP to measure from the bottom of the text line instead, in which case the descenders must fit in as well or the line is taken over to the next column. This affects the way text is vertically centered in a column, flushed to the bottom, or vertically justified; but in this case measuring from the bottom means that paragraph rules are also taken into account.

This property is identical to fitDescenders but has been adapted for paragraphs with rules.

PI: tpignme

Ignore this paragraph for most formatting purposes.

PI: tpignrw

Ignore the rule widths for this paragraph, so that they don't take up any space and are centred on the paragraph boundaries.

An Array that contains the left indents for this paragraph.

An Array that contains the right indents for this paragraph.

PI: tjl

Sets the justification limit of the current paragraph. If, when the paragraph is formatted, there is less than justify limit amount of space on the last line of the paragraph, then that last line will be force justified to fit the measure.

PI: tpkend

When applied to a paragraph, the tpkend macro forces its last line to stay in the same column as the next paragraph. Therefore, if the next paragraph starts in another frame or column, the last line of the paragraph would be moved to stay with it. See KeepMode.

PI: tpkeep

Switches 'keep with next' on or off for the current paragraph. 'Keep with next' ties a paragraph to the start of the next paragraph such that they always appear in the same column together. If the next paragraph moves to the top of the next column or page then the current paragraph will move also. See KeepMode.

PI: tpprev

When applied to a paragraph, keepWithPrev forces its first line to stay in the same column as the previous paragraph. Therefore, if the previous paragraph starts in another frame or column, the first line of the paragraph would be moved to stay with it. See KeepMode.

PI: tlb

Sets the line spacing of text to the specified value. The distance between the baselines of successive lines of text, sometimes also called 'leading'. In some circles, the term 'leading' is used to describe the extra space inserted between lines. To get this sort of leading in Arbortext APP, set your line spacing values like this: fLength('2pt+h'), fLength('5mm+h'), fLength('1pc+h'), etc.

Ignore this paragraph for line numbering.

PI: tpb

Sets the paragraph bottom margin for the current paragraph. If used with formatting.currentParagraph, this attribute may be set anywhere in a paragraph.

PI: tpct

Sets the top margin for a paragraph that starts at the top of a column. The attribute must appear at the start of a paragraph, or be included in the paragraph style itself.

PI: tpl

Sets the left margin for a paragraph. If used with formatting.currentParagraph, this attribute should be set at the start of a paragraph.

PI: tpr

Sets the right margin for a paragraph. If used with formatting.currentParagraph, this attribute should be set at the start of a paragraph.

PI: tpt

Sets the top margin for a paragraph that is not at the top of a column. If used with formatting.currentParagraph, this attribute should be set at the start of a paragraph. It has no effect in paragraphs for which the fFormatting::breakTop() has been called with BREAK_COLUMN or BREAK_PAGE.

PI: tpmaxh

Sets the maximum paragraph height. The paragraph will not be allowed to extend beyond this height. This attribute, similar to minHeight, is useful for classified advertising. Another use could be to format address labels in which even long addresses get squeezed onto the label (replacing carriage returns with soft returns, so that each address just uses one paragraph).

PI: tpkpallmax

Specifies the maximum size of a region that is allowed to be left empty, possibly as the result of applying keeps. If this maximum is exceeded an error will be logged and the text will be allowed to extend beyond the bottom of the frame.

So specifying a value of 2in will ensure that only small frames are allowed to be formatted without any resulting content.

PI: tpminh

Sets the minimum paragraph height. This is the height that a paragraph must always fit and is particularly useful for things like paid classified advertising or chapter headings. This attribute is similar to maxHeight.

PI: tpor

The orphanLines attribute enables you to define the minimum number of orphan lines for the current paragraph. Orphans are the first lines of a paragraph which occur at the bottom of a column or page.

PI: tporphp

Sets the priority on widows and orphans. Orphan is a typographical term that describes a single word appearing at the bottom of a paragraph or column. A widow is a single word or short phrase appearing alone at the top of column. See OrphanPriorities.

PI: tporwl

The maximum word length to be considered an orphan.

PI: tpofmt

This command allows the text in a frame or a cell to overflow. According to the specific parameters, the text is placed on a single line that can overflow a frame or a cell.

PI: tpprop, tpattr

Specifies whether APP should reset properties at the start of new paragraphs. If 1, APP does not reset properties at the start of new paragraphs. If 2, properties will also be preserved into blocks and tables

PI: tprall

When you have a very large paragraph with rules set with rounded or outside corners with a large radius, this macro makes the rules more aesthetically pleasing.

PI: tprhash

Positions hash rules precisely around text, (hash rules are not governed by the margins of a paragraph style). Hash rules are measured exactly from the edge of text at the start and end of a line. See RuleHashWidths for the various values.

PI: trub

Sets the bottom position for paragraph rules relative to the paragraph's bottom margin.

PI: trul

Sets the left-hand starting position for paragraph rules relative to the paragraph's left margin.

PI: trur

Sets the right-hand starting position for paragraph rules relative to the paragraph's right margin.

PI: trut

Sets the top position for paragraph rules relative to the top margin.

PI: tprules

Provides access to the rules around this paragraph.

PI: tpacr

Allows a paragraph to straddle two or more columns in a frame.

PI: tcspan

Sets the column span of paragraphs, allowing the paragraph to span a specified number of columns in a frame.

The attribute is only effective if used within a paragraph style or immediately in front of any text in the paragraph.

In Fill Mode Arbortext APP will always find the highest space that can accommodate the full column span. The columns can be different widths, or have different gutters, with no adverse effects. The default column span is 0, meaning that any available space can be used for the paragraph. A column span of 1 means that the space chosen must be exactly one whole column wide. Partial columns (widthwise), such as those created when another frame is being avoided, can only be filled with column span 0 paragraphs.

PI: tpsquash

Allows you to specify a value which restricts justification of lines in a paragraph. The space between the words can be increased or decreased accordingly.

The following example specifies that 3B2 should use 5mm less than normal when evaluating how much text fits on a line, although it will still justify to the full measure afterwards.

PI: tstretchzwsp

Activates/deactivates justification of Unicode ZWSP charater using word space extra.

An Array that contains the active tab stops in this paragraph.

PI: tptabstops

Specifies the distance between automatic tabstops that get used when tabs are encountered and the text has already gone past the location of all specified tabs.

So specifying a value of 10mm will create tabstops every 10mm from the left hand measure, but starting after the last defined tab.

PI: tpfmt

Sets the paragraph format structure. In most cases the attribute affects the line after which it is set. Except when it appears at the start of the paragraph where the whole paragraph will be affected.

PI: tpdt

Specifies a distance that lines up the top of the upper-case letters in a column with the column top margin when an exact column-top to text-baseline distance has been specified for a column. This has the effect of dropping the top of a paragraph.

A value of around .68h will usually align the characters as required, although this will vary according to the font used

PI: tpdtc

Works in the same way as topDrop, but this one will be used instead if it's non-zero and occurs at the top of a table cell.

PI: tpvf

Specifies the way text is formatted vertically within its minimum or maximum paragraph heights. See VerticalFormatMode.

PI: tpvauto

Specifies the point at which vertical formatting of text within its minimum or maximum paragraph heights switches from being 'Justified In' to the more economical 'Justified Out'. This macro works in conjunction with verticalFormat, which must be set to 5 (VERTICALFORMAT_AUTO).

PI: tpabsvj

Turns absolute vertical justification mode on and off. By default, if the sum of all VJ margins is less than the space available, all margins will be proportionately increased to take up the remaining space. The vjAbsolute property will prevent this from happening.

PI: tpfvj

Switches force vertical justification for the current paragraph on or off. If the paragraph is the last in a column when the page is formatted, the column will be forced to vertically justify using any vertical justification settings that have been specified for text in the column.

Vertical justification must have been enabled either by applying vj attribute to any one of the paragraphs used in a column of text or at frame level with the fFrame.vjType attribute. The justification settings of each paragraph style are automatically taken into account when a column of text is vertically justified, whether or not that particular paragraph has vj enabled.

PI: tvjmline

Specifies maximum amount by which the space between lines of a paragraph can be stretched when a column is vertically justified.

PI: tvjpline

Determines the position of the leading to receive extra space during vertical justification. Priority 0 is the first position to receive extra space ("highest priority"), and 9 is the last position to receive extra space ("lowest priority").

PI: tpfvjl

If a paragraph is the last in a column, you can set the vjLimit property to force vertical justification. You will need to set a limit for the minimum amount of space that is to be left in the column before vertical justification is forced.

Instructs Arbortext APP the minimum amount of space that is to be left in the column before vertical justification should be forced. If a unit of measurement has not been specified then the default will be used.

PI: tvjafill

Alignment in Arbortext APP allows you to align text horizontally between multiple streams. The principle within alignment (VJ) vertical justification is to vertically spread out all of the streams together so that the text fills the page whilst maintaining the horizontal alignment at each level. Using vjAlignmentFill = true tells Arbortext APP to spread the shorter paragraph of text at each alignment level, to align with the deepest one.

PI: tvjmamid

With vertical justification on multiple streams, space can be assigned inside the alignment levels with a fixed margin.

PI: tvjpamid

Determines the position of the middle alignment margin to receive extra space during vertical justification. Priority 0 is the first position to receive extra space ("highest priority"), and 9 is the last position to receive extra space ("lowest priority").

PI: tvjanest

For allocating space within alignment groups, you can pick up the paragraph margins from within the blocks on the critical path. This is done by setting "Nested VJ using internal settings" vjAlignmentNested = true.

PI: tvjpaprop

In vertical justification, if you want to extend the depth of all the alignment groups in proportion to their size, you can do so by setting the Proportional Nested VJ Priority. This defaults to 10 which is off but setting it to a lower value brings it into effect.

PI: tvjmatop

With vertical justification on multiple streams, space can be controlled between the alignment levels with the align top margin.

PI: tvjpatop

Determines the position of the top alignment margin to receive extra space during vertical justification. Priority 0 is the first position to receive extra space ("highest priority"), and 9 is the last position to receive extra space ("lowest priority").

PI: tvjmbot

Specifies the maximum amount by which the paragraph bottom margin can be stretched when a column is vertically justified.

PI: tvjpbot

Determines the position of the bottom margin to receive extra space during vertical justification. Priority 0 is the first position to receive extra space ("highest priority"), and 9 is the last position to receive extra space ("lowest priority").

PI: tvjmctop

Specifies the maximum amount by which the paragraph column top margin can be stretched when a column is vertically justified.

PI: tvjpctop

Determines the position of the column top margin to receive extra space during vertical justification. Priority 0 is the first position to receive extra space ("highest priority"), and 9 is the last position to receive extra space ("lowest priority").

PI: tvjmrbot

Specifies the maximum amount of space that can be added between the paragraph and its bottom rule (irrespective of whether the paragraph is at the bottom of a column or not) when a column is vertically justified.

PI: tvjprbot

Determines the position of the bottom rule margin to receive extra space during vertical justification. Priority 0 is the first position to receive extra space ("highest priority"), and 9 is the last position to receive extra space ("lowest priority").

PI: tvjmrctop

Specifies the maximum amount of space that can be added between the paragraph and any top rule, (if the paragraph is at the top of a column or table cell or just underneath a paragraph with break across columns set) when a column is vertically justified.

PI: tvjprctop

Determines the position of the column top rule margin to receive extra space during vertical justification. Priority 0 is the first position to receive extra space ("highest priority"), and 9 is the last position to receive extra space ("lowest priority").

PI: tvjmrtop

Specifies the maximum amount of space that can be added between the paragraph and any top rule (if the conditions for a column top margin are not met (see vjMarginRuleColumnTop) when a column is vertically justified.

PI: tvjprtop

Determines the position of the top rule margin to receive extra space during vertical justification. Priority 0 is the first position to receive extra space ("highest priority"), and 9 is the last position to receive extra space ("lowest priority").

PI: tvjmtop

Specifies the maximum amount by which the paragraph top margin can be stretched when a column is vertically justified.

PI: tvjptop

Determines the position of the top margin to receive extra space during vertical justification. Priority 0 is the first position to receive extra space ("highest priority"), and 9 is the last position to receive extra space ("lowest priority").

PI: tpwid

Allows you to set up the minimum number of widow lines for the current paragraph. Widows are the last lines of a paragraph which overflow to the top of a column or page.

Specifying a value of '1' effectively means that widows should be avoided.

Creates a new, uninitialized fParagraph instance.

Return the object corresponding to the given serialized representation.

Create a serializable representation of this object.