Re: multi-column spread control (was Re: beginner's questions)

[Ed L Cashin <ecashin@coe.uga.edu>]

Hans Hagen <pragma@wxs.nl> writes:

> Kind of, either by multiple output per page or by making a page n times as
> high as possible and then splitting. A painful programming process,
> especially if you want spacing okey. 
> 
> \input tufte 
> 
> \startcolumns
> \input tufte 
> \stopcolumns 
> 
> \input tufte 
> 
> is far from trivial.

Yes, I remember you saying that.  Is the problem with balancing
columns something like this:

given a sequence of vboxes and vglue with infinite stretchability,
arrange the little vboxes into two big vboxes such that ...

        - the two big vboxes have equal height

        - the following distance must be the same for the two big
          vboxes: the distance from the top of the big vbox to the
          bottom of the last little vbox in the big vbox

So the trick is to do something like what tex does with pagination,
but I don't know what that is ... maybe ...

        put as many little vboxes into big vbox 1 as will fit

        discard glue after the last little vbox in big vbox 1

        put as many little vboxes into big vbox 2 as will fit

        discard glue after the last little vbox in big vbox 2

        evaluate for penalty and re-try if necessary

The glue between the little vboxes in each big vbox will expand, and
the bottoms of the columns (big vboxes) will certainly align.

Is that the kind of problem it is?

-- 
--Ed Cashin                     PGP public key:
  ecashin@coe.uga.edu           http://www.coe.uga.edu/~ecashin/pgp/