Re: [NTG-context] imbalanced columns

Am 15.07.2010 02:35, schrieb Idris Samawi Hamid ادريس سماوي حامد:

Hi Peter,

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:26:10 -0600, Peter Rolf wrote:

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Am 14.07.2010 20:42, schrieb Idris Samawi Hamid ادريس سماوي حامد:

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Dear fellow gangsters,

MkIV:

\starttext \starttables[|c|c|c|c|c|] \HL \VL Sevens \VL \Use{2}[c]{Al-Yaʿqūbī} (d.~283{\sc ah})\VL \Use{2}[c]{Al-Munādī} (d.~334{\sc ah}) \VL\AR \HL \VL \VL ʿAlī \VL Zayd \VL ʿAlī \VL Zayd \VL\AR \HL \stoptables \stoptext

In row 2, the space between columns 2-3, and 3-4 are not even. Is this a bug? If not, how do I balance them?

probably just automatic width balancing.

I'm sure you are right :-) The question is, what is the logic here? If this is correct behavior, I'd like to understand why. Can someone explain it?

has to do with the way the column width is calculated. the combined entries (2+3,4+5) in row one can only influence (increase) the total width of the involved columns, but they can not give an answer to the question how wide the single columns should be. in the end you need a linear system of equations (and metapost) to solve this. and there is also no guarantee that it is solvable in all (more complex) cases. col2=col3; col4=col5; col2+col3= ....; col4+col5= ....; also: i can't imagine how a user interface for this should look like. :)

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maybe like this...

That's a great workaround, and I appreciate it. But what about new users? There has got to be a more elegant solution to this seemingly simple table. Row two just does not look right...

true, but this is font related. you can see this by using \ruledhbox{ʿAlī}. you have to add some manual kerning (\kern-0.??em ...) then.

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\starttext

\setbox\scratchbox\hbox{Al-Yaʿqūbī (d.~283{\sc ah})} \newdimen\colA \colA\wd\scratchbox \advance\colA-2em % sub column offsets \setbox\scratchbox\hbox{Al-Munādī (d.~334{\sc ah})} \newdimen\colB \colB\wd\scratchbox \advance\colB-2em

\starttables[|c|cp(.5\colA)|cp(.5\colA)|cp(.5\colB)|cp(.5\colB)|] \HL \VL Sevens \VL \Use{2}[c]{Al-Yaʿqūbī} (d.~283{\sc ah})\VL \Use{2}[c]{Al-Munādī} (d.~334{\sc ah}) \VL\AR \HL \VL \VL ʿAlī \VL Zayd \VL ʿAlī \VL Zayd \VL\AR \HL \stoptables \stoptext

Thanks again, Peter, and

Best wishes Idris