There are three options for wrapping text in Amigaguide documents, explained below. Because the options were introduced in different versions, there can be issues with backwards-compatibility. A solution is proposed at the end of this page.
- Default wrapping
- In the default wrapping mode, text does not wrap unless there is a newline in the source code. Authors usually position newlines so that a horizontal scrollbar is not needed when the document is viewed using topaz font on a 640-pixel wide screen.
- Wordwrap
- Introduced in V39 (Workbench 3.0) and turned on through the @wordwrap command, this wraps lines that would otherwise cause a horizontal scrollbar to appear. Authors only position newlines where newlines are required in the output document — this means that the standard editor Ed cannot be used (as it only supports 256 characters between newlines).
- Smartwrap
- Introduced in V40 (Workbench 3.1) and turned on through the @smartwrap command, this wraps lines that would otherwise cause a horizontal scrollbar to appear, and outputs newlines when either the @{par} command or two consecutive newlines occur in the source document — single newlines are ignored. The position of newlines in the source document has no effect on the output document.
When using wordwrap, problems occur if the user is not using V39. Very long lines of text will appear causing the user to have to scroll back and forth to read the document. A similar problem can occur with smartwrap if the newlines are carelessly positioned. There is a solution however — use smartwrap, using two consecutive newlines rather than the @{par} command to indicate new lines, and include newlines in the source document where they would be needed for default wrapping. If a user is using a version prior to V40, the only difference they would see from a document intended to use default wrapping are the occasional double newlines.