DOCBOOK-APPS: Space-after issues with DSSSL/OpenJade

[Nick Hunt <magmouse at ntlworld dot com>]

Hi All,

Using DSSSL/OpenJade/pdfJadeTex, I am having problems with the amount of
space that appears after block elements.

For example, I have DocBook XML in the form:


<para>Some text here.</para>
<itemizedlist>
   <listitem>
      <para>Some text</para>
      <procedure>
         <step>
            <para>Text of the step</para>
         </step>
      </procedure>
   </listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>Final paragraph text.</para>


The problem is that when output as PDF, there is an excessively large space
between the end of the <itemizedlist> and the final paragraph.

I assume that this is because all the "space-after" attributes of all the
elements that are closed at this point (the <para> inside the <step>, the
<step>, the <procedure>, the <listitem>, and the <itemizedlist>) all get
added together.

It seems to me that what should happen is that the space between the end of
the list and the start of the final paragraph should be calculated on the
basis of the largest of the spacing values, not the sum of them.

I can't see that this is very easy as part of the style sheet - one would
have to look back at all the preceding elements in the hierarchy to find the
best value to use.

Any thoughts, anyone?


Best wishes,

Nick.