Inline Stacking and Block Stacking

XSL-FO Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples

∟Inline Stacking and Block Stacking

This section describes inline stacking and block stacking, which are processes to stack smaller areas inline-wise are block-wise to form new larger areas.

Rendering formatted information on presentation medium usually involves two processes: the first process is to stack information to build a line, and the second process is to stack lines to build a page.

In XSL-FO, the above two processes are abstracted as two types of area stacking: Inline Stacking and Block Stacking.

Inline Stacking - A process of stacking formatted information areas inline-wise to form a new area like a line. For example, in English writing style, glyph areas are stacked one by one horizontally from left to right to form a new line of text.

Block Stacking - A process of stacking formatted information areas block-wise to form a new area like a page. For example, in English writing style, paragraph areas are stacked one by one vertically from top to bottom to form a new page area.

Inline Progression Direction - A formatting parameter indicates in which direction inline stacking should be constructed. For example, in English writing style, inline progression direction should point from left to right.

Block Progression Direction - A formatting parameter indicates in which direction block stacks should be constructed. For example, in English writing style, block progression direction should point from top to bottom.