Heading Styles

OnTap allows six levels of headings. A heading element implies all the font changes, paragraph breaks before and after, and any white space necessary to render the heading. The heading elements are H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6 with H1 being the highest (or most important) level and H6 the least.

Supported Attributes (H1..H6)

ALIGN

Headings are usually rendered flush left. The ALIGN attribute can be used to explicitly specify the horizontal alignment:

• align=left  The heading is flush left (the default).
• align=center  Center the heading.
• align=right  The heading is aligned flush right.

CLEAR

This attribute is common to all block-like elements. The CLEAR attribute allows you to move down unconditionally before displaying the block:

• clear=left  move down until left margin is clear
• clear=right  move down until right margin is clear
• clear=all  move down until both margins are clear
• clear="10 pixels"  move down until there is at least 10 pixels free
• clear=page  move to the top of the next screen

Paragraphs

The <P> element is used to define a paragraph. The text up to the </p> or the next <p> element is treated as being part of the current paragraph.

Supported Attributes (P)

ALIGN

Paragraphs are usually rendered flush left. The ALIGN attribute can be used to explicitly specify the horizontal alignment:

• align=left  The paragraph is flush left (the default).
• align=center  The paragraph is centered.
• align=right  The paragraph is flush right.

CLEAR

This attribute is common to all block-like elements. The CLEAR attribute allows you to move down unconditionally before displaying the block:

• clear=left  move down until left margin is clear
• clear=right  move down until right margin is clear
• clear=all  move down until both margins are clear
• clear="12 pixels"  move down until there is at least 12 pixels free
• clear=page  move to the top of the next screen

The Block Quote

The <BLOCKQUOTE> element (or <BQ>) is used for extended quotations. For example:

<BLOCKQUOTE>
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth to this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
</BLOCKQUOTE>

produces:

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth to this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Supported Attributes (BQ)

ALIGN

BlockQuotes are usually rendered flush left. The ALIGN attribute can be used to explicitly specify the horizontal alignment:

• align=left  The block is flush left (the default).
• align=center  The block is centered.
• align=right  The block is flush right.

CLEAR

This attribute is common to all block-like elements. The CLEAR attribute allows you to move down unconditionally before displaying the block:

• clear=left  move down until left margin is clear
• clear=right  move down until right margin is clear
• clear=all  move down until both margins are clear
• clear="12 pixels"  move down until there is at least 12 pixels free
• clear=page  move to the top of the next screen

Unordered Lists

An unordered list typically is a bulleted list of items. The opening list tag must be <UL>. It is followed by an optional list header (<LH>caption</LH>) and then by the first list item (<LI>). For example:

<UL>
<LH>Table Fruit</LH>
<LI>apples
<LI>oranges
<LI>bananas
</UL>

produces:

Table Fruit
• apples
• oranges
• bananas

Supported Attributes (UL)

PLAIN

The presence of this attribute suppresses the display of bullets, e.g. <ul plain>.

COMPACT

The presence of this attribute indicates causes OnTap to display the list in a compact form, with tighter vertical spacing.

CLEAR

This attribute is common to all block-like elements. The CLEAR attribute allows you to move down unconditionally before displaying the block:

• clear=left  move down until left margin is clear
• clear=right  move down until right margin is clear
• clear=all  move down until both margins are clear
• clear="12 pixels"  move down until there is at least 12 pixels free
• clear=page  move to the top of the next screen

Ordered Lists

An ordered list typically is a numbered list of items. The opening list tag must be <OL>. It is followed by an optional list header (<LH>caption</LH>) and then by the first list item (<LI>). For example:

<OL>
<LH>Table Fruit</LH>
<LI>apples
<LI>oranges
<LI>bananas
</OL>

produces

Table Fruit
1. apples
2. oranges
3. bananas

Supported Attributes (OL)

COMPACT

The presence of this attribute indicates causes OnTap to display the list in a compact form, with tighter vertical spacing.

CLEAR

This attribute is common to all block-like elements. The CLEAR attribute allows you to move down unconditionally before displaying the block:

• clear=left  move down until left margin is clear
• clear=right  move down until right margin is clear
• clear=all  move down until both margins are clear
• clear="12 pixels"  move down until there is at least 12 pixels free
• clear=page  move to the top of the next screen

CONTINUE

Don't restart the sequence number, i.e. continue where previous list left off, e.g. <ol continue>

SEQNUM

Set the starting number for the first item, e.g. <li seqnum=3>

Definition Lists

A definition list is a list of terms and corresponding definitions. The definition text is typically indented with respect to the term.

The opening list tag must be <DL>. It is followed by an optional list header (<LH>caption</LH>) and then by term names (<DT>) and definitions (<DD>). For example:

<DL>
<LH>List Header</LH>
<DT>Term 1
<DD>This is the definition for Term1.
<DT>Term 2
<DD>This is the definition for Term2.
</DL>

produces:

List Header

Term1

This is the definition for Term1.

Term2

This is the definition for Term2.

Supported Attributes (DL)

COMPACT

The presence of this attribute indicates causes OnTap to display the list in a compact form, with tighter vertical spacing.

CLEAR

This attribute is common to all block-like elements. The CLEAR attribute allows you to move down unconditionally before displaying the block:

• clear=left  move down until left margin is clear
• clear=right  move down until right margin is clear
• clear=all  move down until both margins are clear
• clear="12 pixels"  move down until there is at least 12 pixels free
• clear=page  move to the top of the next screen

Hypertext Links

The anchor <A> element is used to define the start and/or destination of a hypertext link. For example:

<A NAME="target"> defines the destination named, target.

<A HREF="#target">any text here</A> defines the link to the name, target.

Supported Attributes (A)

HREF

The HREF attribute implies that the anchor acts as the start of a hypertext link.

NAME

This attribute is used to define a named anchor for use as the destination of hypertext links.

Images 

The image <IMG> element is used to place an image in the document. For example:

<IMG SRC="icon.gif"> places the image in the file icon.gif into the document.

OnTap accepts color, greyscale, or black & white GIF images. Images are restricted to approximately 140 pixels wide by 140 pixels in height (the OnTap screen size). Also, when attaching files to send to the OnTap Server, attach the image files first.

Supported Attributes (IMG)

SRC

The SRC attribute specifies the name of the image file. This attribute is required.

ALIGN

Images are by default rendered as part of the text line and centered vertically in the line. The ALIGN attribute can be used to explicitly specify the image's vertical alignment in the line or to specify its the horizontal placement on the screen.

• align=left  The image is placed to the left. Text flows down the right.
• align=right  The image is placed to the right. Text flows on the left.
• align=middle  The image is part of the text line and centered vertically in the line (default).
• align=top  The image is part of the text line and aligned vertically along its top edge.
• align=bottom  The image is part of the text line and aligned vertically along its bottom edge.

Miscellany

Center
<CENTER>...</CENTER> can be used to center text. Usually the ALIGN=CENTER option of the block elements is a better choice.

Break

The <BR> tag forces a line break. <BR clear=page> is a handy way to force text to the top of the screen of a Palm OS device.

Supported Attributes (BR)

CLEAR

The CLEAR attribute allows you to move down unconditionally:

• clear=left  move down until left margin is clear
• clear=right  move down until right margin is clear
• clear=all  move down until both margins are clear
• clear="12 pixels"  move down until there is at least 12 pixels free
• clear=page  move to the top of the next screen

Tabs and Columns

Use tabs to create neatly formatted columns. You can set tabs, clear tabs, tab to a specific screen location, and align tabs left, center or right. Use the <TAB> tag as follows:

<TAB> move to next tab stop
<TAB TABTO=n ALIGN=?> move directly to n
<TAB CLEARALL> clear all tab stops
<TAB SET TABTO=n ALIGN=?> set a new stop at n

n - is the horizontal position in pixels (0 to 160)
? - is one of left, right, or center.

For example:

<tab clearall>
<tab set tabto=36 align=right>
<tab set tabto=44 align=left>
<tab set tabto=116 align=right>
<tab set tabto=124 align=left>

<!-- align center headings in two columns -->
<tab tabto=40 align=center>Southbound
<tab tabto=120 align=center>Northbound
<br>

<!-- put sub headings in four columns -->
<tab>time<tab>/train<tab>time<tab>/train<br>

<!-- data follow -->
<tab>9:45a<tab>/34<tab>11:23a<tab>/37<br>
<tab>10:34a<tab>/36<tab>1:10p<tab>/41<br>

produces:

Southbound		Northbound
time	/train	time	/train
9:45a	/34	11:23a	/37
10:34a	/36	1:10p	/41

Supported Attributes (TAB)

CLEARALL

Clear all tab stops.

SET

Set a new tab stop.

TABTO=n

Horizontal position in pixels.

ALIGN=?

Tab alignment: left (default), center or right.

Other Extensions

OnTap adds two non-standard character entities to its HTML.

&tm; inserts a trademark symbol (&tm;) into the text.

&newline; is used to begin a new line within the <TITLE>...</TITLE> tags. The OnTap Reader displays these extra lines in a document's info dialog.

Special META Attributes
By using the <META...> tag in a document's <HEAD> section, OnTap offers these special features:

CATEGORY

The CATEGORY="name" sets the PalmOS category to "name" for this document

STYLE

STYLE="plain | page | random | flash" sets the paging options for the OnTap document:

• style=plain  page up/down move to the next/previous screen (default).
• style=page  page up/down move to the next/previous page break.
• style=random; page up/down move to a random page break.
• style=flash;  page down moves to a random even numbered page (question page). Page up switches between the question page and the next page (answer page). The first and last pages of the document are excluded.

PALMIII

Use the large, bold PalmIII font in headings, etc.

Supported HTML Tags

<A>, <ADDRESS>, <B>, <BLINK>, <BLOCKQUOTE>, <BODY>, <BR>, <BQ>, <CENTER>, <CITE>, <DD>, <DL>, <DT>, <EM>, <FONT SIZE>, <H1>..<H6>, <HEAD>, <HTML>, <I>, <IMG>, <LH>, <LI>, <META>, <OL>, <P>, <STRONG>, <SUB>, <SUP>, <TAB>, <TITLE>, <TT>, <U>, <UL>, more...