Okay, I think I'm getting close, but I'm not quite= there yet.=C2=A0The pagecolumns source code is found in page-pcl.mkiv (source.contextgarden.net/tex/context/base/mkiv/page-pcl.mkiv), and in= that code, the \page_col_stop_yes macro seems to have something to do with= the issue:

```
\unexpanded\def\page_col_stop_yes
=C2=A0 {\col= umn % \page_otr_eject_page
=C2=A0 =C2=A0\page
=C2=A0 =C2=A0\endgroup<= br>=C2=A0% \setupoutputroutine[\s!singlecolumn]%
=C2=A0 =C2=A0\page_otr_= command_set_vsize
=C2=A0 =C2=A0\page_otr_command_set_hsize
=C2=A0 =C2= =A0\page
=C2=A0 =C2=A0\endgroup}
```

If I redefine this macro = in my MWE as follows, I can remove the extra page that is added when the la= st page ends with text in the last column:

```

\unprotect

\def\page_col_stop_yes

{\column %\page_otr_eject_pa= ge

%\page

\endgroup

% \setupoutputroutine[\s!sing= lecolumn]%

\page_otr_command_set_vsize=

\page_otr_command_set_hsize=

%\page

\endgroup}

\protect

```

Commenting out the \page calls does the trick in this case, but now,= =C2=A0if the last page ends with its text in a column before the last one,= then the last page is not typeset at all, and a blank page takes its place= .

On Sun, May 10, 2020 at 8:34 PM Thangalin <thangalin@gmail.com> wrote:

Bump.

See also: https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/542993/2148=

On Mon, May 4, 2020 at 11:46 AM Joey McCollum
<jmccol= lum20140511@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> After continuing to look into this a bit, I noticed that a similar iss= ue involving the insertion of a blank page after a columnset environment ha= s been discussed on the mailing list in the thread "Blank page inserte= d when text reaches column's end" (dated 08 Dec 2019). In that thr= ead, a proposed solution was to redefine the \page_grd_stop macro found in = page-cst.mkiv as follows:
>
> ```
> \unprotect
> \def\page_grd_stop{%
>=C2=A0 =C2=A0\endgraf % needed, else wrong vsize in one par case
>=C2=A0 =C2=A0\vfill % otherwise weird \placenotes[endnotes]
>=C2=A0 =C2=A0\page_grd_command_set_vsize % needed
>=C2=A0 =C2=A0\penalty\c_page_otr_eject_penalty
>=C2=A0 =C2=A0%\page_grd_command_flush_page
>=C2=A0 =C2=A0\page_otr_fill_and_eject_page
>=C2=A0 =C2=A0\page_grd_command_set_vsize % why here
>=C2=A0 =C2=A0\egroup
>=C2=A0 =C2=A0\page_otr_command_set_vsize
>=C2=A0 =C2=A0\page_otr_command_set_hsize
> }
> \protect
> ```
>
> Unfortunately, this approach was found to have potential issues in tha= t thread, and it does not fix the problem with pagecolumns in my MWE. Are p= agecolumns commands aliased to pagegrid commands like columnset commands ar= e, or are they defined somewhere else? I checked page-col.mkiv, but it seem= s to be too short to be the file that defines pagecolumns behavior.
>
> Joey
>
> On Sat, May 2, 2020 at 11:46 AM Joey McCollum <jmccollum20140511@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I recently found the pagecolumns manual (http://www.pragma-ade.com/general/manuals/pagecolumns.pdf), and = in several of the examples (including those for side floats and footnotes),= the addition of a blank page after the end of the pagecolumns environment = also seems to occur. So when the manual says, "We always start at a ne= w page and end on a new one," does it mean that this is a feature of p= agecolumns? And if so, is there any way to disable it? I have no problem wi= th a page break after the end of the pagecolumns environment, but an empty = page added after the break seems unnecessary. I checked for a wiki page on = the \definepagecolumns command to get more information on its accepted inpu= ts, but there doesn't appear to be a page for this command.
>>
>> Joey
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 28, 2020 at 1:40 PM Joey McCollum <jmccollum20140511@gmail.co= m> wrote:
>>>
>>> I am typesetting a document using pagecolumns to ensure that m= y footnotes are set ragged-bottom in columns. I have observed some unexpect= ed behavior whenever the last column on a page is left incomplete: a blank = page is added at the end of the document. A minimal working example follows= :
>>>
>>> ```
>>>
>>> \starttext
>>>
>>> \startpagecolumns[n=3D2]
>>>
>>> \dorecurse{3}{\par\input zapf}
>>>
>>> \stoppagecolumns
>>>
>>> \stoptext
>>>
>>> ```
>>>
>>> I typeset this using ConTeXt version 2020.03.10, as released w= ith TeXLive 2020. Notably, if \dorecurse{3} is changed to \dorecurse{2} or = \dorecurse{6} (so that the text ends in the first column of a page), then t= here is no problem. I have tried to fix this by specifying page=3Dno in the= \startpagecolumns arguments, but it did not change anything. Is there some= thing else I am missing?
>>>
>>> Thank you,
>>>
>>> Joey
>
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