Command/blank

\blank

Summary

The command \blank is used for inserting vertical blank space.

Settings

\blank[...,...]

[...,...]

preference samepage max force enable disable nowhite packed back overlay always weak strong default before inbetween after fixed flexible none small medium big line halfline quarterline formula white height depth standard number*small number*medium number*big number*line number*halfline number*quarterline number*formula number*white number*height number*depth category:number order:number penalty:number dimension name

Option	Explanation
The first set of options are behaviour modifiers. Starting with default there are size options.
preference	good break (shortcut for penalty:-500)
samepage	no break (shortcut for penalty:10000)
max	only if larger
force	force even if smaller
disable	ignore following
nowhite	kill whitespace
packed	does not add whitespace but prohibits \parskip
back	discard previous blank
overlay	position back to the start of the current line and set the next text overlaid on top of what's already there
weak	shortcut for order:0
strong	shortcut for order:100
default	alias for white
none	\zeropoint
small	\smallskipamount / .25\bodyfontlineheight with grid
medium	\medskipamount / .5\bodyfontlineheight with grid
big	\bigskipamount / \bodyfontlineheight with grid
line	\openlineheight / \bodyfontlineheight with grid
halfline	.5\openlineheight / .5\bodyfontlineheight with grid
quarterline	.25\openlineheight / .25\bodyfontlineheight with grid
formula	\medskipamount / .5\bodyfontlineheight with grid
white	\parskip / \bodyfontwhitespace with grid
height	\strutht / \bodyfontstrutheight with grid
depth	\strutdp / \bodyfontstrutdepth with grid
standard	.75\openlineheight
order:number	use the order number as precedence level when multiple blanks are combined
penalty:number	use the number as vertical break penalty
dimension	hardcoded dimension
name	use a named (predefined) blank

Description

Insert vertical blank space. A keyword can be added to specify that the whitespace should have a certain height, such as [small], [medium], or [big].

The keyword [disable] disables the next \blank[...], and the key [back] undoes a \blank[...] directly preceding it.

Keywords accept multipliers: to insert whitespace as large as four lines, for example, type \blank[4*big].

In the #Settings table the documentation for the size options gives an overview of what skip is actually inserted for the amount specified. To maintain grid consistency the amounts differ if gridsnapping is enabled. You may notice that all of these values are given in relative units. This is due to the fact that vertical spacing is and should be dependent on the current font size.

Examples

Example 1

• % To fit all the examples on one page, we need a taller page
  \definepapersize[tall][width=15cm,height=32cm]
  \setuppapersize[tall]
  \setuplayout
    [topspace=1cm,
     header=0pt,
     headerdistance=0pt,
     footer=0pt,
     footerdistance=0pt,
     height=30cm]
  
  \defineparagraphs
    [whiting]
    [     n=3,
     before={\blank[none]},    % Minimal padding, please.
      after={\blank[nowhite]}] %
  
  \definestartstop
    [whiteafter]
    [before={\blank[none]},    % No padding, please
      after={\blank[medium]}]  % The blank of interest
  
  \definestartstop
    [whitebefore]
    [before={\blank[medium]},  % The blank of interest
      after={\blank[none]}]    % No padding, please
  
  \define[1]\example
    {\startwhiting
       \type{#1}\crlf
       Antelope, caribou, ocelot.
       \blank[#1]
       Don’t want an antelope nibbling the hoops.
     \whiting
       medium + {\tt #1}
       % No crlf here, or it'll combine with \blank[none] to create a blank line anyway.
       % (I assume it's equivalent to \crlf\crlf, or something.)
       \startwhiteafter
         Antelope, caribou, ocelot.
       \stopwhiteafter
       \blank[#1]
       Don’t want an antelope nibbling the hoops.
     \whiting
       {\tt #1} + medium \crlf
       Antelope, caribou, ocelot.
       \blank[#1]
       \startwhitebefore
         Don’t want an antelope nibbling the hoops.
       \stopwhitebefore
     \stopwhiting
     \hairline}
  
  \starttext
  
  The table below has a row for each \type{\blank[#1]} keyword, and three columns:
  
  \startitemize[packed]
  \startitem column 1 demonstrates \type{\blank[#1]} on its own; \stopitem
  \startitem column 2 shows what \type{\blank[#1]} does when it comes after a \type{\blank[medium]}; \stopitem
  \startitem column 3 shows what \type{\blank[#1]} does when it comes before a \type{\blank[medium]}. \stopitem
  \stopitemize
  
  \example{small}
  \example{medium}
  \example{big}
  \example{nowhite}
  \example{back}
  \example{white}
  \example{disable}
  \example{line}
  \example{halfline}
  \example{formula}
  \example{fixed}
  \example{flexible}
  \example{none}
  \example{samepage}
  
  \stoptext
  

• 

Example 2

• % Doesn't work quite right on the Wiki
  \hfill right side first
  \blank[overlay]
  then left side
  

• 

See also

• spac-ver.mkiv
• \defineblank to define a blank keyword that combines the properties of several existing keywords
• \setupblank
• \setupwhitespace to set up the whitespace between paragraphs
• \emptylines
• \godown (but note that \blank is preferred)

Help from ConTeXt-Mailinglist/Forum

All issues with:

• \blank on the mailing list (all results)
• \blank on the mailing list (subject only)
• \blank on stack exchange
• \blank in ConTeXt's source