Alan Stone wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Some/oftentimes, the more I read the scattered
> documentation, the more I'm confused... and
> wasting my valuable time testing and trying to
> figure out how things work.

(1) main layout areas:

    keywords to \setuplayout: header text footer

    dimension variables: \headerheight etc

(2) space above and below main layout area:

    keywords to \setuplayout: topspace bottomspace

    dimension variables: \topspace, \bottomspace

(3) virtual layout areas: (used for interactive documents where
    one wants to keep the main text area unchanged by setting these;
    the virtual areas extend into the topspace and bottomspace)

    keywords to \setuplayout: top header text footer bottom

    dimension variables: \topheight, \headerheight etc

the system is set up in such a way that one can easily shift the text
area as well as disable header and footer

Hans