Difference between revisions of "Template:Spaced en dash/doc"

From Timelines
Jump to: navigation, search
(expanded)
(Reworked the documentation.)
Line 2: Line 2:
 
<noinclude>{{template doc page viewed directly}}</noinclude>
 
<noinclude>{{template doc page viewed directly}}</noinclude>
 
<!-- EDIT TEMPLATE DOCUMENTATION BELOW THIS LINE -->
 
<!-- EDIT TEMPLATE DOCUMENTATION BELOW THIS LINE -->
This template substitutes for the html markup sequence '''&amp;nbsp;&amp;ndash;''', i.e. a short dash ("&ndash;") preceded by a [[non-breaking space]].
+
__NOTOC__
 +
This template looks like this " &ndash; ".  
  
== Use ==
+
It works similarly to the html markup sequence "'''&amp;nbsp;&amp;ndash;'''&nbsp;". That is, a [[non-breaking space]], a short dash and a normal space. However this template includes some extra code that makes it behave slightly better than the html markup sequence.
<code><nowiki>...blah{{ndash}} blah...</nowiki></code><br/><small>produces</small><br/>...blah{{ndash}} blah...
 
  
== Examples ==
+
This template is used when you want something stronger than a [[Template:·|middot]] "·", but shorter than a [[Template:Mdash|mdash]] "&mdash;".
Two possible uses for this template are (1) to avoid linewrap before a dash within a sentence, i.e.
+
 
<pre>...blah blah blah&nbsp;&ndash;
+
=== Normal usage ===
blah blah...</pre>
+
 
rather than
+
The recommended usage is to use no space before the template
<pre>...blah blah blah
+
and one space after the template, like this:
&ndash; blah blah...</pre>
+
<nowiki>[[Salt]]{{ndash}} [[Pepper]]</nowiki>
...and (2) as a stronger list separator than the bold middot used by the {{tn|·}} template. For something even stronger than <nowiki>{{ndash}}</nowiki>, try {{tn|mdash}}, which uses the slightly longer mdash character ("&mdash;").
+
 
 +
It will render one space on each side of the dash, like this:
 +
:[[Salt]] &ndash; [[Pepper]]
 +
 
 +
If it line breaks then the line break will come after the dash, not before, like this:
 +
:[[Salt]] &ndash;
 +
:[[Pepper]]
 +
 
 +
=== Incorrect usage ===
 +
 
 +
If the template is used slightly wrong it will in most cases still behave well. Like these examples:
 +
 
 +
<nowiki>[[Salt]]{{ndash}}[[Pepper]]</nowiki>
 +
<nowiki>[[Salt]]{{ndash}}  [[Pepper]]</nowiki>
 +
 
 +
Both of them will render exactly as before, with just one space on each side of the dash, like this:
 +
:[[Salt]] &ndash; [[Pepper]]
 +
 
 +
And it will still only line break after the dash, like this:
 +
:[[Salt]] &ndash;  
 +
:[[Pepper]]
 +
 
 +
But if the template is used very wrong, like these examples:
 +
<nowiki>[[Salt]] {{ndash}}[[Pepper]]</nowiki>
 +
<nowiki>[[Salt]]  {{ndash}}[[Pepper]]</nowiki>
 +
<nowiki>[[Salt]] {{ndash}} [[Pepper]]</nowiki>
 +
<nowiki>[[Salt]]  {{ndash}}  [[Pepper]]</nowiki>
 +
 
 +
Then it will still only render just one space on each side of the dash, like this:
 +
:[[Salt]] &ndash; [[Pepper]]
 +
 
 +
But if it line breaks it might break before the dash, like this:
 +
:[[Salt]]
 +
:&ndash; [[Pepper]]
 +
 
 +
=== Technical details ===
 +
 
 +
The space before the dash is a "non-wrapping" but "collapsing" space. That means it will not line break, but it will collapse together with normal spaces that come before the template to form one single space. It is not simply a <code>&amp;nbsp;</code> since that one will not collapse.
 +
 
 +
The space after the dash is a normal space. That is it wraps and it collapses.
 +
 
 +
=== See also ===
 +
 
 +
* [[Template:·|<nowiki>{{·}}</nowiki>]] - The similar middot template. Mostly used for dotted lists.
 +
* [[Template:Mdash|<nowiki>{{mdash}}</nowiki>]] - The similar mdash template. Mdash "&mdash;" is a longer dash than the ndash "&ndash;".
  
  
 
<includeonly>
 
<includeonly>
<!--Categories-->
+
<!-- ADD CATEGORIES BELOW THIS LINE -->
[[Category:Formatting templates|{{PAGENAME}}]]
+
[[Category:Formatting templates| ]]
 +
 
 +
<!-- ADD INTERWIKIS BELOW THIS LINE -->
  
<!--Other languages-->
 
 
</includeonly>
 
</includeonly>

Revision as of 08:16, 11 August 2007

Template:Template doc page viewed directly

This template looks like this " – ".

It works similarly to the html markup sequence "&nbsp;&ndash; ". That is, a non-breaking space, a short dash and a normal space. However this template includes some extra code that makes it behave slightly better than the html markup sequence.

This template is used when you want something stronger than a middot "·", but shorter than a mdash "—".

Normal usage

The recommended usage is to use no space before the template and one space after the template, like this:

[[Salt]]{{ndash}} [[Pepper]]

It will render one space on each side of the dash, like this:

SaltPepper

If it line breaks then the line break will come after the dash, not before, like this:

Salt
Pepper

Incorrect usage

If the template is used slightly wrong it will in most cases still behave well. Like these examples:

[[Salt]]{{ndash}}[[Pepper]]
[[Salt]]{{ndash}}   [[Pepper]]

Both of them will render exactly as before, with just one space on each side of the dash, like this:

SaltPepper

And it will still only line break after the dash, like this:

Salt
Pepper

But if the template is used very wrong, like these examples:

[[Salt]] {{ndash}}[[Pepper]]
[[Salt]]   {{ndash}}[[Pepper]]
[[Salt]] {{ndash}} [[Pepper]]
[[Salt]]   {{ndash}}   [[Pepper]]

Then it will still only render just one space on each side of the dash, like this:

SaltPepper

But if it line breaks it might break before the dash, like this:

Salt
Pepper

Technical details

The space before the dash is a "non-wrapping" but "collapsing" space. That means it will not line break, but it will collapse together with normal spaces that come before the template to form one single space. It is not simply a &nbsp; since that one will not collapse.

The space after the dash is a normal space. That is it wraps and it collapses.

See also

  • {{·}} - The similar middot template. Mostly used for dotted lists.
  • {{mdash}} - The similar mdash template. Mdash "—" is a longer dash than the ndash "–".