Attribute Inheritance and Minimization in OASIS Exchange Tables

Table 23. Attribute Inheritance and Minimization in OASIS Exchange Tables
Attribute	Defaults from the element:	To:	To:	To:	To:	To:	To system default
rowsep	entry	row	spanspec	colspec	tgroup	tgroup parent	show below
colsep	entry	spanspec	colspec	tgroup	tgroup parent		show right
align	entry	spanspec	colspec	tgroup			show left
valign	entry	row	tbody/tfoot/thead				top for tbody;bottom for tfoot and thead

Arbortext Editor follows a set path in determining the values for OASIS Exchange table attributes. Where possible, the inherited value is saved rather than the value explicitly set at the <entry> level. This process may change attributes at the <entry> level.

Use the table_model_operation call to minimize the rowsep and colsep attributes. This operation maximizes the number of times table cells get their colsep and rowsep attributes by inheriting them from parents of <entry>, instead of using explicit values set at the <entry> level.

To minimize rowsep attributes, Arbortext Editor inspects the rowsep values for all occurrences of <entry> in a <row>, then sets the value of <row rowsep> to the most frequently occurring value. Next, Arbortext Editor traverses all the <entry> items in the row again. If an <entry>rowsep value matches the <row rowsep> value, Arbortext Editor deletes the attribute (since it now defaults to <row rowsep>). If an <entry>rowsep value does not match <row rowsep>, Arbortext Editor adds an attribute to the <entry rowsep>. Locally, this overrides the <row rowsep> value the next time Arbortext Editor loads the table.

When spanning cells, it is important to remember that an <entry> gets its default values from its starting column and row. For example, when spanning rows, the last row in the span will inherit its rowsep from the first row in the span. And, when spanning columns, the last column in the span will inherit its colsep from the first column in the span. This complies with both CALS and OASIS Exchange standards.

Then, Arbortext Editor applies the same scheme between <row rowsep> and <tgroup rowsep> to minimize the number of <row> attributes.

The following table describes the paths Arbortext Editor follows when determining attribute minimization:

Attribute	Minimization path
rowsep	entry rowsep→ row rowsep→ tgroup rowsep
colsep	entry colsep→ colspec colsep→ tgroup colsep
align	entry align→ colspec align→ tgroup align
valign	entry valign→ row valign→ tbody/thead/tfoot valign

Attribute minimization is not done for rowsep, colsep, and align attributes on entry elements that are spanned by a spanspec element.