Quantum Boundaries for Last Line Adjustments
Type
Event
Date
Jul 17, 2024 — Jul 19, 2024
Location
Alt Hotel
635 Confluence Way SE, Calgary, Alberta T2G 0G1
Abstract
The glue model of TeX is a powerful and elegant abstraction allowing for
many typographic applications. One such application is the typesetting of a
paragraph’s last line, which requires special treatment. By adding
infinitely stretchable glue at the end of a paragraph, the need for
special-casing the final line is avoided, albeit at the cost of sub-optimal
typesetting. In conscientious typography, optimally typesetting the last
line of a paragraph turns out to be a non-trivial problem, especially if one
wants to take into account such aesthetic concerns as runt or full-out
lines. In this paper, we present an algorithm for optimal last line
adjustment, introducing the concept of quantum boundaries: potential line
breaks whose exact state remains unknown until an actual paragraph solution
is observed.