Editing XSL Formatting Objects (section)

==Capabilities of XSL-FO v1.0==

XSL-FO is capable of a great deal of textual layout functionality. In addition to the information as specified above, XSL-FO's language allows for the specification of the following.

===Multiple columns===

A page can be defined to have multiple columns. When this is the case, blocks flow from one column into the next by default. Individual blocks can be set to span all columns, creating a textual break in the page. The columns above this break will flow into each other, as will the columns below the break. But no text is allowed to flow from the above section to the below section.

Because of the nature of XSL-FO's page specification, multiple pages may actually have different numbers and widths of columns. As such, text can flow from a 3 column page to a 5 column page to a 1 column page quite easily.

All FO features work within the restrictions of a multi-column page.
    
We can span multiple columns by specifying two attributes i.e.,. span, padding-after .

===Lists===

An XSL-FO list is, essentially, two sets of blocks stacked side by side. An entry consists of a block on the "left", or start inline direction, and a block sequence on the "right", or end inline direction. The block on the left is conceptually what would be the number or bullet in a list. However, it could just as easily be a string of text, as one might see in a glossary entry. The block on the right works as expected. Both of these blocks can be block containers, or have multiple blocks in a single list entry.

Numbering of XSL-FO lists, when they are numbered, is expected to be done by the XSLT, or whatever other process, that generated the XSL-FO document. As such, number lists are to be explicitly numbered in XSL-FO.

===Pagination controls===

The user can specify [[widow (typesetting)|Widow]] and [[orphan (typesetting)|Orphan]] for blocks or for the flow itself, and allow the attributes to cascade into child blocks. Additionally, blocks can be specified to be kept together on a single page. For example, an image block and the description of that image can be set to never be separated. The FO processor will do its best to adhere to these commands, even if it requires creating a great deal of empty space on a page.

===Footnotes===

The user can create footnotes that appear at the bottom of a page. The footnote is written, in the FO document, in the regular flow of text at the point where it is referenced. The reference is represented as an inline definition, though it is not required. The body is one or more blocks that are placed by the FO processor to the bottom of the page. The FO processor guarantees that wherever the reference is, the footnote cited by that reference will begin on the same page. This will be so even if it means creating extra empty space on a page.

===Tables===

An FO table functions much like an HTML/CSS table. The user specifies rows of data for each individual cell. The user can, also, specify some styling information for each column, such as background color. Additionally, the user can specify the first row as a table header row, with its own separate styling information.

The FO processor can be told exactly how much space to give each column, or it can be told to auto-fit the text in the table.

===Text orientation controls===

FO has extensive controls for orienting blocks of text. One can, in the middle of a page, designate a block of text to be oriented in a different orientation. These oriented blocks can be used for languages in a different orientation from the rest of the document, or simply if one needs to orient the text for layout purposes. These blocks can contain virtually any kind of content, from tables to lists or even other blocks of reoriented text.

===Miscellaneous===

* Page number citations. A page that contains a special tag can be cited in text, and the FO processor will fill in the actual page number where this tag appears.
* Block borders, in a number of styles.
* Background colors and images.
* Font controls and weighting, as in CSS.
* Side floats.
* Miscellaneous Inline Elements.