# Using standard text formatting conventions for paragraphs

ID: T1

Technology: text

Type: Technique

## When to Use

Plain text documents. Not applicable to technologies that contain markup.

## Description

The objective of this technique is to recognize a paragraph in a plain text document. A paragraph is a coherent block of text, such as a group of related sentences that develop a single topic or a coherent part of a larger topic.

The beginning of a paragraph is indicated by

- the beginning of the content, that is, the paragraph is the first content in the document, or
- exactly one blank line preceding the paragraph text

The end of a paragraph is indicated by

- the end of the content, that is, the paragraph is the last content in the document, or
- one or more blank lines following the paragraph text

A blank line contains zero or more non-printing characters, such as space or tab, followed by a new line.

## Examples

Two paragraphs. Each starts and ends with a blank line.

    This is the first sentence in this
    paragraph. Paragraphs may be long
    or short.

        In this paragraph the first line is
    indented. Indented and non-indented
    sentences are allowed. White space within
    the paragraph lines is ignored in
    defining paragraphs. Only completely blank
    lines are significant.

## Tests

### Procedure

For each paragraph:

1. Check that the paragraph is preceded by exactly one blank line, or that the paragraph is the first content in the Web page
2. Check that the paragraph is followed by at least one blank line, or that the paragraph is the last content in the Web page.
3. Check that no paragraph contains any blank lines

### Expected Results

- All checks above are all true for each paragraph.

## Related Techniques

## Resources