Area Tree

| Area Tree |
| Area Tree |
The Area Tree is an internal representation of the result document. This is a set of java classes that can put together a set of objects that represent the pages and their contents. This information is created by the layout managers and is rendered to the output using a renderer. The Area Tree follows the description of the area tree in the XSL:FO specification. The Area Tree consists of a set of pages, the actual implemenation places these in a set of page sequences.
| Pages |
A page consists of a page+viewport pair. The PageViewPort and Page with the regions is created by the LayoutMasterSet. The contents are then placed by the layout managers. Once the layout of a page is complete then it is added to the Area Tree. Inside the page is a set of RegionViewport+Region pairs for each region on the page.
| Blocks |
Block level areas contain either other blocks or line areas (which is a special block area). A block is either positoned or stacked with other block areas.
| Inline Areas |
Inline areas are stacked in a line area. Inline areas are objects such as character, viewport, inline-container, leader and space. A special inline area Word is also used for a group of consecutive characters. The image and instream foreign object areas are placed inside a viewport. The leader (with use content) and unresolved page number areas are resolved to other inline areas. Once a LineArea is filled with inline areas then the inline areas need to be aligned and adjusted to fill the line properly.
| Traits |
A trait is information associated with an area. This could be information such as text colour or is-first. Traits provide information about an area. The traits are derived from properties on the formatting object or are generated during the layout process. Many of the layout traits do not have actual values but can be derived from the Area Tree. Other traits that apply when rendering the areas are set on the area. Since setting the same value on every area would use a lot of memory then the traits are derived from default or parent values. A dominant trait on a block area is set, for example font colour, so that every line area with the same dominant value can derive it. The text inline areas then get the font colour set on the inline area or from the line area or from the block area.
| Forward References |
The Area Tree maintains a set of mappings from the reference to pages. The PageViewPort holds the list of forward references that need resolving so that if a references is resolved during layout the page can be easily found and then fixed. Once all the forward references are resolved then the page is ready to be rendered. To layout a page any areas that cannot be resolved need to reserve space. Once the inline area is resolved then the complete line should be adjusted to accomodate any change in space used by the area.
| Caching |
We may need to cache pages due to forward references or when keeping all pages. This is done by serializing the Page. The PageViewport is retained to be used as a key for page references and backward references. The Page is serialized to an object stream and then all of the page contents are released. The Page is then recoved by reading from the object stream. The PageViewport retains information about id areas for easy access.
| Extensions |
The Area Tree holds the Output Document extensions. This is information such as pdf bookmarks or other output document specific information that is not handled by XSL:FO. It is also possible to create custom areas that extend a normal area. The actual data that is rendered could be set in a different way or depend on resolving a forward reference.
| Area Tree Handlers |
To handle different situations the handler for the Area Tree handles each page as it is added. The RenderPagesModel sends the page directly to the renderer if the page is ready to be rendered. Once a page is rendered it is discarded. The StorePagesModel stores all the pages so that any page can be later accessed. The Area Tree retains the concept of page sequences (this is not in the area tree in the spec) so that this information can be passed to the renderer. This is useful for setting the title and organising the groups of page sequences.
| Associated Tasks |
Sort out extensions concept, access to AreaTree. Sort out trait handling. Caching implementation.

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