Pagination
Encyclopedia
Pagination is the process of dividing information
(content) into discrete pages, either electronic page
s or printed pages
. Today the latter are usually simply instances of the former that have been outputted to a printing device, such as a desktop printer or a modern printing press
. For example, printed books and magazines are created first as electronic files (for example, PDF
or QXD
files) and then printed. Pagination encompasses rules and algorithms for deciding where page break
s will fall, which depends on semantic or cultural senses of which content belongs on the same page with related content and thus should not fall to another (e.g., widows and orphans). Pagination is sometimes a part of page layout
, and other times is merely a process of arbitrary fragmentation. The difference is in the degree of intelligence that is required to produce an output that the users deem acceptable or desirable. Before the rise of information technology
(IT), pagination was a manual process, and print output was its sole purpose. Every instance of a pagination decision was made by a human. Today, most instances are made by machines, although humans often override particular decisions. As years go by, software developer
s continually refine the programs to increase the quality of the machine-made decisions (make them "smarter") so that the need for manual overrides becomes ever rarer.
In reference to books made in the pre-IT era, in a strict sense of the word, pagination can mean the consecutive numbering to indicate the proper order of the pages, which was rarely found in documents pre-dating 1500, and only became common practice circa 1550, when it replaced foliation, which numbered only the front sides of folios.
, desktop publishing
, and digital typesetting
are technologies built on the idea of print as the intended final output medium, although nowadays it is understood that plenty of the content produced through these pathways will be viewed onscreen by most users rather than being printed on paper.
All of these software tools are capable of flowing the content through algorithms to decide the pagination. For example, they all include automated word wrap
ping (to make line-ending decisions), machine-readable
paragraphing (to make paragraph-ending decisions), and automated pagination (to make page-breaking decisions). All of those automated capabilities can be manually overridden by the human user, via manual line breaks (that is, forced soft return
s), hard return
s, and manual page breaks.
, pagination is used for such things as displaying a limited number of results on search engine results page
s, or showing a limited number of posts when viewing a forum
thread. Pagination is used in some form in almost every web application
to divide returned data and display it on multiple pages. Pagination also includes the logic of preparing and displaying the links
to the various pages.
Pagination can be handled client-side
or server-side
. Server-side pagination is more common. Client-side pagination can be used when there are very few records to be accessed, in which case all records can be returned, and the client can use JavaScript
to view the separate pages. By using AJAX
, hybrid server/client-side pagination can be used, in which Javascript is used to request the subsequent page which is loaded and inserted into the Document Object Model
via AJAX.
Server-side pagination is appropriate for large data sets providing faster initial page load, accessibility
for those not running Javascript, and complex view business logic
Correctly implementing pagination can be difficult.
There are many different usability questions such as should "previous" and "next" links be included, how many links to pages should be displayed, and should there be a link to the first and last pages. Also ability to define the number of records displayed in a single page is useful.
(such as XML
, HTML
, or SGML
) that tags the content semantically and machine-readably, which allows downstream technologies (such as XSLT
, XSL
, or CSS
) to output them into whatever presentation is desired. This concept is known as the separation of presentation and content
. In this paradigm, which is now the conventional one in most commercial publishing
, it is no longer possible to make a hierarchical distinction between pagination in the print medium and pagination in the electronic medium, because print is merely an instance of presentation of the same underlying content.
Information
Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
(content) into discrete pages, either electronic page
Electronic page
An electronic page is a term to encompass the grouping of content between basic breaking points in presentations or documents that originate or remain as visual electronic documents. This is a software file and recording format term in contrast to electronic paper, a hardware display technology...
s or printed pages
Page (paper)
A page is one side of a leaf of paper. It can be used as a measurement of documenting or recording quantity .-The page in typography:...
. Today the latter are usually simply instances of the former that have been outputted to a printing device, such as a desktop printer or a modern printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
. For example, printed books and magazines are created first as electronic files (for example, PDF
Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
or QXD
QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress is a computer application for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG environment. It runs on Mac OS X and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc...
files) and then printed. Pagination encompasses rules and algorithms for deciding where page break
Page Break
A page break is a marker in an electronic document that tells the document interpreter that the content which follows is part of a new page. A page break causes a form feed to be sent to the printer during spooling of the document to the printer.-Form feed:...
s will fall, which depends on semantic or cultural senses of which content belongs on the same page with related content and thus should not fall to another (e.g., widows and orphans). Pagination is sometimes a part of page layout
Page layout
Page layout is the part of graphic design that deals in the arrangement and style treatment of elements on a page.- History and development :...
, and other times is merely a process of arbitrary fragmentation. The difference is in the degree of intelligence that is required to produce an output that the users deem acceptable or desirable. Before the rise of information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
(IT), pagination was a manual process, and print output was its sole purpose. Every instance of a pagination decision was made by a human. Today, most instances are made by machines, although humans often override particular decisions. As years go by, software developer
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
s continually refine the programs to increase the quality of the machine-made decisions (make them "smarter") so that the need for manual overrides becomes ever rarer.
In reference to books made in the pre-IT era, in a strict sense of the word, pagination can mean the consecutive numbering to indicate the proper order of the pages, which was rarely found in documents pre-dating 1500, and only became common practice circa 1550, when it replaced foliation, which numbered only the front sides of folios.
Pagination in word processing, desktop publishing, digital typesetting
Word processingWord processing
Word processing is the creation of documents using a word processor. It can also refer to advanced shorthand techniques, sometimes used in specialized contexts with a specially modified typewriter.-External links:...
, desktop publishing
Desktop publishing
Desktop publishing is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal computer.The term has been used for publishing at all levels, from small-circulation documents such as local newsletters to books, magazines and newspapers...
, and digital typesetting
Typesetting
Typesetting is the composition of text by means of types.Typesetting requires the prior process of designing a font and storing it in some manner...
are technologies built on the idea of print as the intended final output medium, although nowadays it is understood that plenty of the content produced through these pathways will be viewed onscreen by most users rather than being printed on paper.
All of these software tools are capable of flowing the content through algorithms to decide the pagination. For example, they all include automated word wrap
Word wrap
In text display, line wrap is the feature of continuing on a new line when a line is full, such that each line fits in the viewable window, allowing text to be read from top to bottom without any horizontal scrolling....
ping (to make line-ending decisions), machine-readable
Machine-readable medium
In telecommunication, a machine-readable medium is a medium capable of storing data in a machine-readable format that can be accessed by an automated sensing device and capable of being turned into some form of binary.Examples of machine-readable media include magnetic disks, cards, tapes, and...
paragraphing (to make paragraph-ending decisions), and automated pagination (to make page-breaking decisions). All of those automated capabilities can be manually overridden by the human user, via manual line breaks (that is, forced soft return
Soft return
In word processing and text-oriented markup languages the term soft return can mean a line break due to word wrapping. Alternatively it can mean a stored line break that is not a paragraph break. For example, it is common to print postal addresses in a multiple-line format, but the several lines...
s), hard return
Hard return
A hard return is a paragraph break in a word processor. It differs from a soft return in that it starts a new paragraph. Besides affecting the document statistics, this means that:*Often, extra space and a first line indent will be inserted....
s, and manual page breaks.
Pagination in Web content (HTML, ASP, PHP, and others)
On the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, pagination is used for such things as displaying a limited number of results on search engine results page
Search engine results page
A search engine results page , is the listing of web pages returned by a search engine in response to a keyword query. The results normally include a list of web pages with titles, a link to the page, and a short description showing where the Keywords have matched content within the page...
s, or showing a limited number of posts when viewing a forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
thread. Pagination is used in some form in almost every web application
Web application
A web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...
to divide returned data and display it on multiple pages. Pagination also includes the logic of preparing and displaying the links
Hyperlink
In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...
to the various pages.
Pagination can be handled client-side
Client-side
Client-side refers to operations that are performed by the client in a client–server relationship in a computer network.Typically, a client is a computer application, such as a web browser, that runs on a user's local computer or workstation and connects to a server as necessary...
or server-side
Server-side
Server-side refers to operations that are performed by the server in a client–server relationship in computer networking.Typically, a server is a software program, such as a web server, that runs on a remote server, reachable from a user's local computer or workstation...
. Server-side pagination is more common. Client-side pagination can be used when there are very few records to be accessed, in which case all records can be returned, and the client can use JavaScript
JavaScript
JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
to view the separate pages. By using AJAX
Ajax
- Mythology :* Ajax , son of Telamon, ruler of Salamis and a hero in the Trojan War, also known as "Ajax the Great"* Ajax the Lesser, son of Oileus, ruler of Locris and the leader of the Locrian contingent during the Trojan War.- People :...
, hybrid server/client-side pagination can be used, in which Javascript is used to request the subsequent page which is loaded and inserted into the Document Object Model
Document Object Model
The Document Object Model is a cross-platform and language-independent convention for representing and interacting with objects in HTML, XHTML and XML documents. Aspects of the DOM may be addressed and manipulated within the syntax of the programming language in use...
via AJAX.
Server-side pagination is appropriate for large data sets providing faster initial page load, accessibility
Accessibility
Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity...
for those not running Javascript, and complex view business logic
Correctly implementing pagination can be difficult.
There are many different usability questions such as should "previous" and "next" links be included, how many links to pages should be displayed, and should there be a link to the first and last pages. Also ability to define the number of records displayed in a single page is useful.
Separation of presentation and content and its effect on how we classify presentation media
Today, all content, no matter which output medium is planned, predicted, or not predicted, can be produced with technologies that allow downstream transformations into any presentation desired, although such best-practice preparation is still far from universal. This usually involves a markup languageMarkup language
A markup language is a modern system for annotating a text in a way that is syntactically distinguishable from that text. The idea and terminology evolved from the "marking up" of manuscripts, i.e. the revision instructions by editors, traditionally written with a blue pencil on authors' manuscripts...
(such as XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
, HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
, or SGML
Standard Generalized Markup Language
The Standard Generalized Markup Language is an ISO-standard technology for defining generalized markup languages for documents...
) that tags the content semantically and machine-readably, which allows downstream technologies (such as XSLT
XSLT
XSLT is a declarative, XML-based language used for the transformation of XML documents. The original document is not changed; rather, a new document is created based on the content of an existing one. The new document may be serialized by the processor in standard XML syntax or in another format,...
, XSL
Extensible Stylesheet Language
In computing, the term Extensible Stylesheet Language is used to refer to a family oflanguages used to transform and render XML documents....
, or CSS
Cascading Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics of a document written in a markup language...
) to output them into whatever presentation is desired. This concept is known as the separation of presentation and content
Separation of presentation and content
Separation of presentation and content is a common idiom, a design philosophy, and a methodology applied in the context of various publishing technology disciplines, including information retrieval, template processing, web design, web development, word processing, desktop publishing,...
. In this paradigm, which is now the conventional one in most commercial publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
, it is no longer possible to make a hierarchical distinction between pagination in the print medium and pagination in the electronic medium, because print is merely an instance of presentation of the same underlying content.