This manual describes, for the new or experienced user, the DECdocument doctype-independent, or global, tags used in all types of DECdocument documents.
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| Contents | Index |
This book describes how to use the DECdocument global tags. Global tags are SDML tags that you can use in any doctype, with a few exceptions. Using Doctypes and Related Tags describes the rest of the DECdocument tags: the doctype-specific tags. Doctype-specific tags are tags restricted for use in certain doctypes.
For example, the <LIST> tag is a global tag that you can use in any doctype. The <SALUTATION> tag, however, is a doctype-specific tag that you can use only in the LETTER doctype.
This book is intended for writers, editors, and general users who wish to produce manuals, brochures, business letters, overhead slides, or online documentation using DECdocument. Familiarity with a text editor is presumed, as is a basic knowledge of the operating system.
This manual is part of the DECdocument documentation set that includes the following books:
Chapter 1 contains, in a fixed order, a discussion of each global tag. First, the name of the tag is followed by a brief overview that describes the purpose of the tag. Following the overview is a syntax section that displays the syntax of the tag: any required or optional arguments. Following the syntax section is an arguments section that describes any arguments, any related tags, any restrictions on the use of the tag and any required terminating tags.
The related tags, restrictions, and required terminator sections are omitted if there is no relevant information. |
The category of "related tag" is defined broadly. A tag is related to the tag under discussion if one of the following criteria is met:
Next is a description section. The description expands the overview and presents more detailed information on using the tag.
The discussion of a tag concludes with an examples section, with at least one example or a reference to an example. The example shows how to code the tag in an SDML file, and, when possible, shows what the formatted result is when the file is processed for printing.
Each output example is introduced by a form of the sentence, "This example produces the following output:". The examples were processed using a local doctype based on one of the six SOFTWARE doctypes, SOFTWARE.REFERENCE. Your output of these examples may vary, however, depending on the doctype you use and on whether any doctype modifications have been made to your local installation of DECdocument.
Table 1 lists the typographical conventions used in this manual.
| Convention | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
.
. . |
In examples, a vertical ellipsis represents the omission of data that the system displays in response to a command or to data you enter. |
| ... | In examples, a horizontal ellipsis indicates that you can enter additional parameters, values, or other information. In tag syntax, a horizontal ellipsis indicates that arguments to the tag have been omitted. |
| TERM | A term that appears in bold type is defined in the glossary in the Producing Online and Printed Documentation manual. |
| <TAG>(argument) | Parentheses enclose an argument to a tag. A lowercase word as an argument to a tag indicates that a user-specified argument must be entered. |
| <TAG>[(argument)] | Brackets indicate that the enclosed argument to the tag is optional. |
| <TAG>[(argument-1 [ \argument-2])] | This tag syntax indicates that both arguments are optional. Only if you use argument-1, however, do you have the choice of using argument-2. |
| <TAG>[([argument-1] \ [argument-2])] | This tag syntax indicates that both arguments are optional. You can use either argument as the first argument. |
<TAG> [(
|
This tag syntax indicates that all arguments are optional. The braces indicate a choice between argument-1 and KEYWORD-1. You must choose your first argument. If you choose KEYWORD-1, you also have the option of indicating KEYWORD-2 as the second argument. |
| <TAG>(KEYWORD) | An uppercase word within an argument to a tag indicates that the word is a keyword, and that you must enter the specific keyword. |
| <TAG>(\KEYWORD) | A keyword following a backslash in an argument to a tag indicates that that keyword must follow a backslash. |
| \ | A backslash separates multiple arguments to a tag. |
This chapter provides descriptions of all global tags. The tags are listed alphabetically. Terminating tags, which are tags that you must use to terminate a tag (such as <LIST> and its terminating tag <ENDLIST>), are not listed separately, except when the terminating tag has an argument. Each terminating tag is listed in the description of the tag it terminates. You can also find terminating tags listed in the index.
Begins a summary description of a document on the title page or part page of the document.
<ABSTRACT> [(heading)]
heading
Specifies a heading for the abstract.
- <FRONT_MATTER>
- <PART_PAGE>
- <TITLE_PAGE>
Valid only in the context of a <TITLE_PAGE> or <PART_PAGE> tag.
<ENDABSTRACT>
The <ABSTRACT> tag begins a summary description of a document on the title page or part page of the document. A part page is a dividing page between major sections of a document.
See the example in the discussion of the <PART> tag.
Supplies a freestanding acute, grave, or umlaut accent mark.
<ACCENT> (
)
- ACUTE
- GRAVE
- UMLAUT
ACUTE
GRAVE
UMLAUT
Specifies one of these keywords to indicate the type of accent mark.
- <MCS>
- <PARENDCHAR>
Invalid in math.
The <ACCENT> tag supplies a freestanding acute, grave, or umlaut accent mark. This tag has no effect for Bookreader output.
The following example shows how to use the <ACCENT> tag. The <PARENDCHAR> tag in this example simply provides better spacing of the accent characters within the parentheses. See the <PARENDCHAR> tag description for more information.
<P>Accents used in the Digital Multinational Character Set include the following: <LIST>(UNNUMBERED) <LE>Acute accents <PARENDCHAR>(<ACCENT>(ACUTE)) <LE>Grave accents <PARENDCHAR>(<ACCENT>(GRAVE)) <LE>Umlauts <PARENDCHAR>(<ACCENT>(UMLAUT)) <ENDLIST> |
This example produces the following output:
Accents used in the DEC Multinational Character Set include the following:
- Grave accents (`)
- Acute accents (')
- Umlauts (¨)
Allows you to position text in a list after the text specified in the argument.
<ALIGN_AFTER> (text)
text
Specifies the string of text after which you want to align the text that follows.
- <ALIGN_NUMBER>
- <ALIGN_CHAR>
- <LINE>(INDENT)
- <LIST>(STACKED)
Invalid in math.
The <ALIGN_AFTER> tag allows you to position text in a list after the text specified in the argument.
The following example shows how to create a stacked list where the text is aligned after the string "UN."
<LIST>(STACKED\BRACES) <LE><ALIGN_AFTER>(UN)ALPHABETICAL <LE>UNNUMBERED <ENDLIST> |
This example produces the following output:
- ALPHABETICAL
- UNNUMBERED
Identifies a nonprinting character you want to use to align numeric information in text or within a column of a list or table.
<ALIGN_CHAR> (character [\DELTA])
character
Specifies the character to be used for alignment. The character must be one of the following special characters:
{ } ^ # $ % * ~ @ [ ] < > DELTA
This is an optional keyword argument. It specifies that the character indicated for alignment be replaced in your output with a delta character to indicate spacing.
- <ALIGN_AFTER>
- <ALIGN_NUMBER>
- <TABLE_ROW>
Invalid in math, in any major section tag (such as <CHAPTER>, <APPENDIX>, <SECTION>, and <COMMAND_SECTION>), and in any heading tag (such as <HEAD1>, <SUBHEAD1>, and <CHEAD>).Do not nest an <ALIGN_CHAR> tag in another <ALIGN_CHAR> tag.
Invalid in monospaced examples. Aligned characters can be referenced in an example, but you must place the <ALIGN_CHAR> and <ENDALIGN_CHAR> tags outside the example.
<ENDALIGN_CHAR>
The <ALIGN_CHAR> tag identifies a nonprinting character you want to use to align numeric information in text or within a column of a list or table. This character signifies a space, so that the tag translator replaces each occurrence of the character with a space. The space is the same width as the numeric characters in the font that is active. (All numeric characters of a font have a uniform width.)Items in a column are aligned on the left by default. You may want to display a column of numbers aligned on the right, however. If so, use the <ALIGN_CHAR> tag to define "#," for example, as the alignment character. You make all the numeric entries an equal length by prefixing the shorter entries with the alignment character. Because the numeric characters are of uniform width, they will then align on the right.
You can also use the alignment character to add space within the number. For example, you could separate the digits of a number at the thousands position.
The following example defines the number sign as the alignment character in a table.
| #1 |
|---|
<ALIGN_CHAR>(#) <TABLE> <TABLE_SETUP>(2\16) <TABLE_ROW>(0#123#456#781\01234567.89) <TABLE_ROW>(#######35#279\#######6.0) <TABLE_ROW>(########4#341\####1429.857) <ENDTABLE> <ENDALIGN_CHAR> |
This example produces the following output:
0 123 456 781 01234567.89 35 279 6.0 4 341 1429.857 The following example shows the table used in the previous example without using the alignment character.
| #2 |
|---|
<TABLE> <TABLE_SETUP>(2\16) <TABLE_ROW>(0123456789\01234567.89) <TABLE_ROW>(35279\6.0) <TABLE_ROW>(4361\1429.857) <ENDTABLE> |
This example produces the following output:
0123456789 01234567.89 35279 6.0 4361 1429.857 The following example defines the number sign as the alignment character in a list.
| #3 |
|---|
<ALIGN_CHAR>(#) <LIST>(numbered) <LE>(0#123#456#781) <LE>(#######35#279) <LE>(########4#341) <ENDLIST> <ENDALIGN_CHAR> |
This example produces the following output:
- 0 123 456 781
- 35 279
- 4 361
The following example shows the list used in the previous example without using the alignment character.
| #4 |
|---|
<LIST>(numbered) <LE>0123456781 <LE>35279 <LE>4341 <ENDLIST> |
This example produces the following output:
- 0123456781
- 35279
- 4341
The following example shows how you can represent blank output characters in text. The <KEEP> tag ensures that the text specified in its argument will not be broken across lines. See the <KEEP> tag description for more information.
| #5 |
|---|
<P>The sum may be padded on the left with blanks, resulting in <ALIGN_CHAR>(#) <KEEP>(<SINGLE_QUOTE>###7.56<SINGLE_QUOTE>) <ENDALIGN_CHAR> |
This example produces the following output:
The sum may be padded on the left with blanks, resulting in ' 7.56'
The following example shows how you can represent delta output characters in text.
| #6 |
|---|
<P>The sum may be padded on the left with delta characters, resulting in <ALIGN_CHAR>(#\DELTA) <KEEP>(<SINGLE_QUOTE>###7.56<SINGLE_QUOTE>) <ENDALIGN_CHAR> |
This example produces the following output:
The sum may be padded on the left with delta characters, resulting in '---7.56'
Specifies a number that you want to be aligned with other numbers in the same column of a table.
<ALIGN_NUMBER> (number)
number
Specifies a number, which can include commas and decimal points, that is to be aligned with other numbers in the same column. Fields in the number that are to be left blank may contain pound sign (#) characters representing blank numbers or semicolon (;) characters representing commas or decimal points.
- <ALIGN_AFTER>
- <ALIGN_CHAR>
- <TABLE_ROW>
Invalid in the context of a <MATH> tag.
The <ALIGN_NUMBER> tag specifies a number that you want to be aligned with other numbers in the same column of a table. Items in table columns are aligned on the left by default. To display a column of numbers aligned on the right or aligned around the decimal point, use the <ALIGN_NUMBER> tag. Use the pound sign and semicolon characters to represent fields in the number that are to be blank in your output.
The following example shows a series of numbers aligned at the decimal point.
| #1 |
|---|
<table> <table_setup>(2\8) <table_row>(one\<align_number>(100,000,000.##)) <table_row>(one\<align_number>(###;###;240.40)) <table_row>(one\<align_number>(###;###;###.60)) <table_row>(one\<align_number>(###;230,425)) <endtable> |
This example produces the following output:
one 100,000,000. one 240.40 one .60 one 230,425 The following example is visually more elaborate, although the series of numbers are again aligned at the decimal point.
| #2 |
|---|
<table> <table_setup>(3\15\10) <table_heads>(Item\Net Revenue\Percentage) <table_row>(Knives\<align_number>(#;#20;435;##)\<align_number>(%#10.44)) <table_row>(Forks\<align_number>(1,432,064.23)\<align_number>(%#45.0#)) <table_row>(Spoons\<align_number>(#;###;245;##)\<align_number>(%###.86)) <endtable> |
This example produces the following output:
Item Net Revenue Percentage Knives 20,435 %10.44 Forks 1,432,064.23 %45.0 Spoons 245 %.86
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