Rik Kabel schrieb am 13.08.18 um 19:09:
> On 8/13/2018 12:04, Wolfgang Schuster wrote:
>>
>> Hi Rik,
>>
>> what do you want to achieve and why do you need a buffer for it?
>>
>> Wolfgang
>>
> Fair question.
>
> I have a document with many (400+) block quotations. Each consists of 
> a text extract, which may be prose or poetry, and additional optional 
> components (alternate versions or transliterations, translations, 
> attribution). The optional components are distinguished 
> typographically – enlarged square brackets around alternate versions, 
> enlarged parentheses around translations, leading en-dash and hanging 
> indent for attributions. Each component is in a buffer. The structure 
> looks like:
>
>     \startBlockQuotation[label=abc,authors={...},precis={short
>     extract},translators={...},tprecis={{short extract},{short
>     extract}}...]
>
>     \startExtract[language=agr,align=yes,font=abc,tolerance=...,...]
>
>       text of extract
>
>     \stopExtract
>
>     \startTransliteration[language=en,align=yes,font=abc,...]
>
>       text of transliteration
>
>     \stopTransliteration
>
>     \startTranslation[...]
>
>       text of translation
>
>     \stopTranslation
>
>     \startAttribution[tolerance=,...]
>
>       attribution of quotation
>
>     \stopAttribution
>
>     \stopBlockQuotation
>
> and the code to handle it generates author index entries, a quotation 
> precis index, and so on from the attributes of the envelope, and 
> typesets each component based on the provided settings or defaults, 
> placing the appropriate decorations around those components that call 
> for them. The components are nestable, so one extract may contain 
> another, and components can be used separately without the envelope 
> (\startBlockQuotation or \startEpigraph) as well.
>
> (I have written it this way to ease the move to an XML-based format 
> for storing the quotations. I realize I am combining presentation 
> elements, like label, tolerance, and precis, and content elements, 
> like language, and some that may be either, like align and font, in 
> the attributes, but will deal with that later.)
>
> I prefer to leave blank lines around blocks of text and around macro 
> commands, so:
>
>     \startparagraph
>
>       some text
>
>     \stopparagraph
>
> but when this is done with, for example, \startAttribution, and no 
> optional arguments are provided, I run into the problem I have described.

Try to avoid blank lines at the begin/end of environments.

> I realize that I can simply not include the blank line after 
> \startAttribution. I would prefer, however, to see consistent parallel 
> structures without having to distinguish them at the time it is 
> written. Perhaps I am being too picky, but that is what I am attempting.
>
> At this point, the \setupparagraphintro hack handles my needs, so I 
> will proceed with that.

\starttext

\BeforePar{\dontleavehmode\llap{? }}\GotoPar

\input knuth

\startnarrower

\BeforePar{\dontleavehmode\llap{? }}\GotoPar

\input knuth

\stopnarrower

\stoptext

Wolfgang