1@Section
2    @Title { Plain text tables }
3    @Tag { tbl_plai }
4@Begin
5@PP
6@Code "@Tbl" changes the default values of several options when
7printing plain text (Section {@NumberOf plain}):
8@ID @OneRow @Code @Verbatim {
9@Tbl
10    marginvertical { 2f }
11    marginhorizontal { 2s }
12    rulehorizontalwidth { 1f }
13    ruleverticalwidth { 1s }
14    rulehorizontalgap { 0f }
15    ruleverticalgap { 0s }
16}
17When using plain text it is best to make vertical distances whole
18multiples of {@Code "1f"}, and horizontal distances whole multiples of
19{@Code "1s"}, since this avoids fractional spacing which cannot be
20successful in plain text files and produces quite messy results.
21If this is done, the results can be good:
22tables. @RawIndex { tables }
23tables.plaintext @SubIndex { plain text output }
24plain.text.tables @Index { plain text tables }
25@CD @OneRow 0.9 @Scale 1.0fx @Break @F @Verbatim {
26...................................................
27.                .                                .
28. Johnson        . Johnson suddenly uttered, in   .
29. suddenly       . a strong determined tone, an   .
30. uttered,       . apophegm, at which many will   .
31. in a strong    . start:  `Patriotism is the     .
32. determined     . last refuge of a scoundrel.'   .
33. tone, an       .                                .
34. apophegm, at   .                                .
35. which many     ..................................
36. will start:    .               .                .
37. `Patriotism    . Johnson       . Johnson        .
38. is the last    . suddenly      . suddenly       .
39. refuge of a    . uttered,      . uttered,       .
40. scoundrel.'    . in a strong   . in a strong    .
41.                . determined    . determined     .
42.                . tone, an      . tone, an       .
43.                . apophegm, at  . apophegm, at   .
44.                . which many    . which many     .
45.                . will start:   . will start:    .
46.                . `Patriotism   . `Patriotism    .
47.                . is the last   . is the last    .
48.                . refuge of a   . refuge of a    .
49.                . scoundrel.'   . scoundrel.'    .
50.                .               .                .
51.                .               .                .
52..................................                .
53.                                .                .
54. Johnson suddenly uttered, in   .                .
55. a strong determined tone, an   .                .
56. apophegm, at which many will   .                .
57. start:  `Patriotism is the     .                .
58. last refuge of a scoundrel.'   .                .
59.                                .                .
60.                                .                .
61...................................................
62}
63This table was produced by a separate run of Lout and pasted into this
64document.
65@PP
66A @Code ruleplainchar option for changing the character used to
67tables. @RawIndex { tables }
68tables.ruleplainchar @SubIndex { @Code "ruleplainchar" option }
69ruleplainchar.tables @Index { @Code "ruleplainchar" option (tables) }
70draw rules.  For example,
71@ID @Code @Verbatim {
72@Tbl
73    ruleplainchar { - }
74}
75would be good if you draw only horizontal rules.  This option can be
76set anywhere as usual.
77@PP
78If you use rules it is worth pondering the implications of the last
79part of Section {@NumberOf tbl_rule}.  Right and below rules are
80drawn outside the boundary of the cell, which is unimportant in
81ordinary output, but means that they will appear one space to the
82right and one line below the cell in plain text output.  This explains
83the slight asymmetry in the example above; you can correct it with
84@ID @Code @Verbatim {
85@Tbl
86    marginright { 1s }
87    marginbelow { 1f }
88}
89but rules at the extreme right of the page will still go off the edge,
90and rules below the last line will bump into whatever follows the table.
91The first can be fixed by not using full width tables with right rules;
92the second by inserting an extra @Code "@DP" after a table that ends
93with a below rule.
94@End @Section
95