8.3 Formatting

Write files contain both character and paragraph formatting information. There can be no gaps in either; each must begin with the first text character (byte 128) and continue through the last. The format descriptors (FODs) for the first and last paragraph must, therefore, have the value of fcLim equal to the value of fcMac, as defined in the header section.

There is a difference between paragraph and character FODs. A character FOD may describe any number of consecutive characters with the same formatting. However, there must be exactly one paragraph FOD for each text paragraph. In either case, it is advisable to have multiple FODs point to the same formatting properties (FPROPs) on a given page because it saves space in the file. No FOD may point off its page.