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17.3 Element Header and Footer Formatting ¶

By default, the function associated with format_element_header formats the header and navigation panel of an output unit.

Function Reference: $formatted_header format_element_header ($converter, $command_name, \%element, \%output_unit) ¶

\%element is the element in which the navigation header is formatted (sectioning command, @node or special output unit). $command_name is the associated command name. It may be undef for special output units. \%output_unit is the associated output unit (see Texinfo Tree Elements in User Defined Functions).

Returns the formatted navigation header and panel.

In the default code, the function reference select a buttons list (see Simple Navigation Panel Customization). The navigation header can then be formatted with a call to format_navigation_header (see format_navigation_header). It is also possible to format directly the navigation panel, depending on customization variables values and location in file.

Similarly, the function associated with format_element_footer formats the footer and navigation panel of a output unit.

Function Reference: $formatted_footer format_element_footer ($converter, $output_unit_type, \%output_unit, $content, $command) ¶

\%output_unit is the output unit in which the navigation footer is formatted. $output_unit_type is the associated type. $content is the formatted element content. $content can be undef. $command is an optional argument, the @-command associated with the \%output_unit.

Returns the formatted navigation footer and panel.

In the default code, the function reference select a buttons list (see Simple Navigation Panel Customization). The navigation header can then be formatted with a call to format_navigation_header (see format_navigation_header).

Many customization variables have an effect on the footer formatting, such as SPLIT (see HTML Splitting in Texinfo), customization variables used for the customization of headers such as HEADERS or WORDS_IN_PAGE (see Customization of Navigation and Headers in Texinfo) and customization variables setting inserted HTML code such as DEFAULT_RULE (see Customization of HTML Code Inserted in Texinfo).

To select the list of buttons for header and footer formatting, it may be handy to be able to determine if the output unit being formatted is the Top output unit. To determine if a output unit is associated with the top output unit, use unit_is_top_output_unit:

Function: $is_top_output_unit = $converter->unit_is_top_output_unit (\%output_unit) ¶

Returns true if the \%output_unit output unit is the Top output unit (see Output Units) and is either associated with the @top sectioning command or with the Top @node.