Bug 48457

See https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=48459 for similar in-line headings proposal.

Bug 48459 was recently marked 'needs info' because of the linkage to an external bugzilla for another product.  I notice this one has not been.   In the spirit of co-operation I shall add similar notes here.

This proposal is that paragraph styles, especially those used as heading styles, could be specified to appear in the left (or right?) margin rather than between the margins.  This would allow the creation of marginal headings such as are frequently used in text books, where the marginal headings can be included in TOC as required.

The linked bug includes several examples and it might be good to summarise these:

----------------------------------------------------------
            1. REGULAR HEADING

            Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
            bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
            bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
            bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla.

  SIDE HEAD Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
            bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
            bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla.


            2. ANOTHER REGULAR HEADING

       LONG Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
  SIDE HEAD bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
            bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla.

   PATHETIC Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla.
  SIDE HEAD 

            Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
            bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
            bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla
            bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla.
------------------------------------------------------

Note that the long side heading wraps independently within the margin relative to the succeeding body text.   The 'pathetic' side heading, when wrapped, is longer than the succeeding body text, requiring additional white space to be enforced in the next paragraph of body text to avoid accidental alignment (imagine if the pathetic side head were actually 5 lines long.  The second paragraph of body text would still have to start below it)  This is why using text boxes to contain the heading would not work.



The other issue is what happens with odd-and-even page styles.  In a book layout the marginal header always wants to be on the outside, and to adjust itself as the page length reflows - something else that can't be automatic with the use of text boxes.  A side heading or marginal heading should insert itself in the appropriate margin without operator interaction.

<-----left page ---------><-----right page--------->
SIDE HEAD fred fred fred ||  nellie nellie
          fred fred fred ||  nellie nellie
          jock jock jock ||
          jock jock jock ||  fred fred fred SIDE HEAD
          mary mary mary ||  fred fred fred



I don't know whether design decisions for this sort of change would also affect Bug 48459, the proposal for run-in headings.

A colleague reading this suggests, and I think she is right, that the additional white space in the body enforced to align a second paragraph with the bottom of the 'pathetic side heading' should be optional.  Paragraph flow in the body may want to be normal, or it may want to avoid the preceeding side heading.