Paragraphs

The tag you use most often in information regions is the P (paragraph) tag. Use the P tag to arrange text as you would arrange a paragraph in your usual writing (to join one or more sentences related by their subject matter into a single block of text).

When the paragraph text formats for display, the text starts at the current margin and the words automatically wrap to fit within the margin. In addition, the conversion utility normally inserts a blank line before each paragraph.

The P tag has an optional attribute, COMPACT, which causes the blank line before the paragraph to be omitted. The P tag does not require a matching end tag.

We'll illustrate the use of the P tag with this example:

<!doctype dm system>
<panel name=infopan1 width=42>Information
  <area>
    <info width=40>
      <p>This is a paragraph.
      This sentence is also part of the paragraph.
    </info>
  </area>
</panel>

Notice that we coded the second sentence of the paragraph on a different line. It doesn't matter, because the conversion utility treats it as part of the same paragraph and formats it accordingly. That is, two blanks are automatically inserted between the sentences. Here is how the paragraph looks:

Figure 1. Paragraph

               Information

 This is a paragraph. This sentence is
 also part of the paragraph.

As you can see, the text of the paragraph is left-justified on the panel and the words automatically wrap to fit within the defined dimensions of the information region.

We'll add another paragraph to the panel to illustrate how two paragraphs format:

<!doctype dm system>
<panel name=infopan2 width=42>Information
  <area>
    <info width=40>
      <p>This is a paragraph.
      This sentence is also part of the paragraph.
      <p>Here is another paragraph.
      Paragraphs are useful for providing
      information on panels.
    </info>
  </area>
</panel>

Figure 2 shows the result:

Figure 2. Multiple paragraphs

               Information

 This is a paragraph. This sentence is
 also part of the paragraph.

 Here is another paragraph. Paragraphs
 are useful for providing information on
 panels.

In addition to the placement and wrapping of the text, the compiler separated the paragraphs with a blank line.