HTML The Definitive Guide (62 page)

To emulate a vertical spacer of the form: n
>

use this HTML fragment:

n
>

The
tags are needed to emulate the line-breaking behavior of the vertical spacer. Again, replace
n
with the desired height.

To emulate a block spacer of the form:

w
height=
h
align=
a
> use this tag:

w
height=
h
align=
a
> Replace
w
,
h
, and
a
with the desired width, height, and alignment values.

Given that simple replacements exist for all the variants of the tag, you might wonder why it is needed at all. If nothing else, the tag will render faster, since the equivalent tag will require that an image be retrieved from a server and scaled before it is inserted into your text. While this is a small issue for most users, there may be cases where using the tag in lieu of an tag makes sense.

5.6 Other Multimedia Content

6.2 Multicolumn Layout

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Chapter 6

Document Layout

6.2 Multicolumn Layout

Multicolumn text formatting is one of the most commonly used features of desktop publishing. In addition to creating attractive pages in a variety of formats, multiple columns let you present your text using shorter, easier-to-read lines. HTML page designers have longed for the ability to easily create multiple text columns in a single page, but have been forced to use various tricks, such as multicolumn tables (see
Chapter 15, Tips, Tricks, and Hacks
).