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Commands
DefineMasterPage

DefineMasterPage

Define a master page. A master page is chosen depending on the criterion given with the attribute “test”.

Child elements

AtPageCreation, AtPageShipout, ForAll, PositioningArea

Parent elements

Layout, Section

Attributes

margin (text, optional)
Set the margin of the page. One to four values can be provided, similar to CSS. If the attribute is omitted, the margins are taken from the CSS @page rule of the same name (see remarks), or 1cm without such a rule.
name (text)
Name of the master page. It is used as a selection for ClearPage and couples the master page to the CSS rule @page name in a StyleSheet.
test (XPath expressions)
If this xpath expression evaluates to true, this page is taken as a master page.

Remarks

The contents of the element at AtPageCreation is executed, as soon as something will be placed on the page. The commands inside AtPageShipout are executed when switching to a new page.

When creating a new page, all page types are tried in reversed order. That means that the later defined master pages have a higher priority. This is important if more than one test in a Masterpage definition evaluates to true.

A CSS rule @page name { ... } in a StyleSheet belongs to the master page with the same name, the generic @page { ... } rule is the base for all master pages. The page margin boxes of that rule (@top-left, @bottom-center and so on) are placed in the page margin when the page is written to the PDF, so counter(page) is the final page number. They never occupy grid cells. The margin declaration of the rule is used only when the margin attribute is missing; if both are given and differ, the attribute wins and a warning is issued. The CSS page selectors :first, :left and :right have no effect, use the attribute test instead.

Example 

<DefineMasterPage name="right page" margin="1cm" test=" sd:odd( sd:current-page() ) "/>
<DefineMasterPage name="left page" margin="1cm" test=" sd:even( sd:current-page() ) "/>
<DefineMasterPage name="main part right" margin="1cm" test=" sd:odd( sd:current-page() ) and $chapter='main' "/>
<DefineMasterPage name="right page" margin="1cm" test="sd:odd( sd:current-page() )">
  <PositioningArea name="frame1">
    <PositioningFrame width="12" height="30" column="2" row="2"/>
    <PositioningFrame width="12" height="30" column="16" row="2"/>
  </PositioningArea>
  <AtPageCreation>
    <PlaceObject column="1">
      <!-- header -->
    </PlaceObject>
  </AtPageCreation>
  <AtPageShipout>
    <PlaceObject column="1">
      <!-- footer -->
    </PlaceObject>
  </AtPageShipout>
</DefineMasterPage>

See also

DefineColorElement