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Wordprocessing Paragraphs

Related Open Office/ODF Discussion
Related HTML/CSS Discussion
Indentation

Indentation is defined with the <w:ind> element.

<w:pPr>
<w:ind w:left="1440" w:right="1440" />
</w:pPr>

Values are in twentieths of a point: 1440 twips = 1 inch; 567 twips = 1 centimeter. To specify units in hundreths of a character, use attributes leftChars/endChars, rightChars/endChars, etc. Negative values are possible. See attributes below.

Reference: ECMA-376, 3rd Edition (June, 2011), Fundamentals and Markup Language Reference § 17.3.1.12.
Word 2007 Example:
Simple Indent

Attributes:

The most commonly used attributes are:

AttributeDescription
left/start Specifies the indentation to be placed at the left (for paragraphs going left to right).

Note: The 2006 version of the OOXML standard specified left but the 2011 version specifies start. Microsoft Word 2007 does not seem to recognize start.

right/end Specifies the indentation to be placed at the right (for paragraphs going left to right).

Note: The 2006 version of the OOXML standard specified right but the 2011 version specifies end. Microsoft Word 2007 does not recognize end.

hanging Specifies indentation to be removed from the first line. This attribute and firstLine are mutually exclusive. This attribute controls when both are specified.
firstLine Specifies additional indentation to be applied to the first line. This attribute and hanging are mutually exclusive. This attribute is ignored if hanging is specified.

Word 2007 Example:
<w:pPr>
<w:ind w:left="1440" w:right="1440" w:hanging="1080" />
</w:pPr>

Simple Indent


Related Open Document Format (ODF) Property:

There are two related ODF properties. First, indentation of a paragraph can be specified by setting the fo:margin, fo:margin-left, or fo:margin-right attribute on the <style:paragraph-properties> element within the style applied to the paragraph. Values can be either a length or percentage referring to the margin of the parent style.

Second, the indentation for the first line of a paragraph is specified by setting the fo:text-indent attribute on the <style:paragraph-properties> element. Values are either lengths or, if the attribute is contained in a common style, the value may be a percent that refers to the text indent of the parent style.

Reference: Open Document Format for Office Applications Version 1.2 (May, 2011) §§20.198, 20.200, 20.201, and 20.218.
<style:style style:name="P1" style:family="paragraph" style:parent-style-name="Standard">
<style:paragraph-properties fo:margin-left="0.5in" fo:margin-right="0in" fo:text-indent="0.2402in" style:auto-text-indent="false"/>
</style:style>

Related HTML/CSS Property:

margin-left: 35px;
margin-right: 35px;
text-indent: 15px;
CSS Example:
voice the spell is broken. We have delivered them: they have overcome death and return to share our life.
And so it is with our own past. It is a labour in vain to attempt to recapture it: all the efforts of our intellect must prove futile.
The past is hidden somewhere outside the realm, beyond the reach of intellect, in some material