@Section
    @Title { Plain text tables }
    @Tag { tbl_plai }
@Begin
@PP
Tables work well with plain text output (Section {@NumberOf plain}):
plain.text.tables @Index { plain text tables }
@CD @OneRow -1px @Break @F @Verbatim {
...................................................
.                .                                .
. Johnson        . Johnson suddenly uttered, in   .
. suddenly       . a strong determined tone, an   .
. uttered,       . apophegm, at which many will   .
. in a strong    . start:  `Patriotism is the     .
. determined     . last refuge of a scoundrel.'   .
. tone, an       .                                .
. apophegm, at   .                                .
. which many     ..................................
. will start:    .               .                .
. `Patriotism    . Johnson       . Johnson        .
. is the last    . suddenly      . suddenly       .
. refuge of a    . uttered,      . uttered,       .
. scoundrel.'    . in a strong   . in a strong    .
.                . determined    . determined     .
.                . tone, an      . tone, an       .
.                . apophegm, at  . apophegm, at   .
.                . which many    . which many     .
.                . will start:   . will start:    .
.                . `Patriotism   . `Patriotism    .
.                . is the last   . is the last    .
.                . refuge of a   . refuge of a    .
.                . scoundrel.'   . scoundrel.'    .
.                .               .                .
.                .               .                .
..................................                .
.                                .                .
. Johnson suddenly uttered, in   .                .
. a strong determined tone, an   .                .
. apophegm, at which many will   .                .
. start:  `Patriotism is the     .                .
. last refuge of a scoundrel.'   .                .
.                                .                .
.                                .                .
...................................................
}
This table was produced by a separate run of Lout and pasted into this
document.
@PP
@Code "@Tbl" changes the default values of several options when used
in a plain text document:
@ID @Code @Verbatim {
@Tbl
    marginvertical { 2f }
    marginhorizontal { 2s }
    rulehorizontalwidth { 1f }
    ruleverticalwidth { 1s }
    rulehorizontalgap { 0f }
    ruleverticalgap { 0s }
}
When using plain text it is advisable to make vertical distances whole
multiples of {@Code "1f"}, and horizontal distances whole multiples of
{@Code "1s"}, since this avoids fractional spacing which cannot be successful
in plain text files and produces quite messy results.  There is also a
@Code ruleplainchar option for changing the character used to
draw rules.  For example,
@ID @Code @Verbatim {
@Tbl
    ruleplainchar { - }
}
would be a good choice if you plan to draw only horizontal rules.  This
option can be set anywhere as usual.
@PP
If you do use rules it is worth pondering the implications of the last
part of Section {@NumberOf tbl_rule}.  Right and below rules are drawn
outside the boundary of the cell, which is unimportant
in ordinary output, but means that they will appear one space to the
right and one line below the cell in plain text output.  This explains
the slight asymmetry in the example above; you can correct it with
@ID @Code @Verbatim {
@Tbl
    marginright { 1s }
    marginbelow { 1f }
}
but you still have to worry about rules at the extreme right of the
page going off the edge, and rules below the last line bumping into
whatever follows the table.  The first can be fixed by not using
full width tables with right rules; the second by inserting an extra
@Code "@DP" after a table that ends with a below rule.
@End @Section