Re: [docbook-apps] Zero-width space as line-wrapping workaround?

[Thomas Schraitle <tom_schr@web.de>]

Hi Stefan,

On Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:09:24 +0100
Stefan Hinz <stefan.hinz@oracle.com> wrote:

> Does anyone have experience using &#8203; -- the Unicode "zero-width 
> space" character (see 
> http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/200b/index.htm)?

Yes. :)


> [...]
> I presume the idea is to have a character that has no visible effect 
> within a keyword, but allows it to be split across lines anyway.
> 
> Personally, I don't like invisible things like this that could get in 
> the way of grepping through the source.
> 
> Any other pros and cons? Maybe other/better ways to work around the
> problem?

I had the same concerns with grepping through the sources.

For URLs, the solution is very easy. Use the following two parameters:

* $ulink.hyphenate
  Set it to the ZERO WIDTH SPACE character (&#x200B; or &#8203;). By
  default, it is empty.

* $ulink.hyphenate.chars
  Defines which characters are considered to contain the ZWS after
  that character. By default, it's "/", but you could extend it with
  other characters like "_", "-", "&", ...

These two parameters are used in the "hyphenate-url" template. This
template goes through the string and checks each character, if it's in
the set of $ulink.hyphenate.chars. You could use this template as a
base for your <option> template. 

You can find an example of my modification of hyphenate-url in the daps
repository. I needed a finer control which characters should contain the
ZWS before or after that character. You can find the code here:

https://svn.code.sf.net/p/daps/svn/trunk/daps/suse/xslt/fo/hyphenate-url.xsl

Hope this helps. :)


-- 
Gruß/Regards,
    Thomas Schraitle