inserting blank lines into rtf/txt/html

[errata]

I like to have extra space between paragraphs on my jetbook lite. It makes the text more readable.

But I've noticed a little quirk on my jetbook lite: if I add blank lines between paragraphs to a .txt or .rtf file, the JBL just ignores them. But if I do the same to .html, the text comes out as expected.

No big deal really, as MS Word can save a file to any of these formats (use filtered html), but I can't help wondering why. Perhaps this should be a fix to a future firmware update?

[Pranananda]

Have you tried using the CSS margin-bottom property in your HTML?

[steven522]

HTML has special coding to for line breaks ( <br> ). Plain text does not. I have been asking in different forums if anyone knew of any special formatting for plain text used in the JBL decoder software.

[jblitereader]

Originally Posted by errata

I like to have extra space between paragraphs on my jetbook lite. It makes the text more readable.

But I've noticed a little quirk on my jetbook lite: if I add blank lines between paragraphs to a .txt or .rtf file, the JBL just ignores them. But if I do the same to .html, the text comes out as expected.

No big deal really, as MS Word can save a file to any of these formats (use filtered html), but I can't help wondering why. Perhaps this should be a fix to a future firmware update?

Haha, when I first started reading on the jbl, I wanted to see a blank line between paragraphs, too. But after reading a couple pages of it, I decided that the blank lines were too much of a distraction. I'd rather not have any blank line at all.

[JSWolf]

Blank lines between paragraphs is just not a nice way to format eBooks. I don't mind blank space between sections, but to have a blank between each paragraph takes away from enjoying whatever it is I am reading.

[errata]

The point was not whether someone prefers extra space or not, the point was that the extra space (ie, carriage returns) is ignored in txt and rtf files, but not in html. The question is, should it or should it not do that? I tend to think the behavior should be the same regardless of the file format, and that this should probably be seen as a bug.

[Ron46]

I USED to be able to get double returns between paragraphs with txt files but cannot anymore. I think it is controlled by the firmware, but I never noticed when this changed because I don't format my books that way.

However, I agree. TXT files ought to display exactly as you format them. A similar behavior is the automatic indentation of the first line of a paragraph, even in a txt file. This makes it impossible to format poetry or verse like Homer's Odyssey. This has been brought to Ectaco's attention a few times, but it seems they have no intention of fixing it. I maintain that txt (ASCII for one) represents an industry STANDARD with rules that are supposed to be adhered to. This reader has epub, pdf, pdb and other file types that are designed to embellish formatting, so the reader should leave ASCII alone. For poetry, there is NO way to get rid of that indent, in txt, epub, or pdb. The only way to defeat it is to create pdfs which brings its own set of problems.

I prefer simple txt files and want them to look the way I format them.

[mlknack]

I like a certain amount of whitespace, altho not between *every* paragraph. I'm using 33g and usually read prc or epub files. I find it annoyingly disorienting when I'm reading along and the next paragraph is a change of perpective. It breaks the flow as I struggle to realize what's happened. In paper, these perpective changes are mostly dealt with by extra white space. THAT'S why I wish programs wouldn't automatically collapse double or more blank lines.

The calibre viewer shows the whitespace is there in the prc file I just looked at, so it's definitely the jetbook reading program.

Mary Lou Knack