Anybody know how to do columns in EPUB?
So I'm handmaking an epub book that uses a lot of "parallel passages" - ie. quoting one work on the left with notes on the right... something that looks very ugly if done in a linear way...
I've tried two methods on my PRS-505 and both roughly got the same result.
Table Method:
Code:
<table rules="cols" width="100%">
<tr><td>
<p class="text">
<i>Gautama's Words.</i>
</p>
<p class="text">
Beloved, popular, respected among his fellows, victorious over
discontent * and lust; over spiritual danger and dismay;
will bestow upon him the ecstasy of contemplation; † will
enable him to reach with his body, and remain in, those stages of
deliverance which are incorporeal and pass beyond phenomena;
</p>
</td><td>
<p class="notes">
<i>Parallel Passages.</i>
</p>
<p class="footnote">
* "Were mankind murderous or jealous upon you my brother, my
sister? I am sorry for you, they are not murderous or jealous upon me,
all has been gentle with me, I keep no account with lamentation (what
have I to do with lamentation?)" [193: 71]. "The holy breath kills
lust, passion and hate" [M. C. L. infra].
</p>
<p class="footnote">
† "Yet O my soul supreme! Knowest thou the joys of pensive
thought? Joys of the free and lonesome heart, the tender, gloomy
heart?" [193: 147].
</p>
</td></tr>
</table>
This is the easiest method to code into XHTML... since the class values aren't lost within the table... but the passage runs beyond the bottom margin of my 505... and doesn't re-appear after turning the page...
Apparently using table is frowned upon by the CSS gurus, so I tried using DIVs, giving the left column a "float:left" class... but it also breaks after turning the page.
As a sidenote, by the looks of it, I would rather figure out the table method, as it also automatically balances the columns, while the CSS method requires me to specify a width for the floating column...