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I am typesetting verses using bibleref and sometimes verse ranges get cut in the end of lines. For example, in:

Jean 3.16-18

the cut might happen right after the "-" (which is actually typeset as --). Do you think it is proper for such ranges to be cut, or should this be prevented? Specifically, if you know French typography, is there a rule that says that such cuts should be prevented?

The manual from the French Imprimerie Nationale does specify that numbers (such as 5,25% or 11h30) should not be cut, but it doesn't talk about ranges.

Disclaimer: I know this question is more about typography (and I'm looking forward to the typography SE site), but I can't think of another good place to ask this right now.

raphink
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2 Answers2

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After pondering the various cases of hyphenation of expressions using both words and numbers, I think the best for Bible verses is the following:

1 Jean 3.16-18 ; 20-22

where ";" is the only place where hyphenation would be allowed, as well as hyphenating "Jean" because it's a word.

As far as implementation goes, it turned out to be much easier than I'd have thought. Simply redefining macros in bibleref.sty does what I want:

% unbreakable space between book name and chapter
\renewcommand*{\BRbkchsep}{~}%
% protect en-dash to prevent hyphenation in verse range
\renewcommand*{\BRvrsep}{\mbox{--}\nobreak}%
% unbreakable space after commas
\renewcommand*{\BRchvsep}{,~}%

So you can have:

1~Co\-rin\-thiens~5.2\mbox{--}\nobreak6,~8\mbox{--}\nobreak10

but no other hyphenation point is allowed.

I will actually send the patch to the author since I think it should be the default behavior.

raphink
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Enclose the bible reference in \mbox. A personal command might be beneficial.

I wouldn't break a line at that point unless any alternative is worse. That is, I would try with \mbox and, if it doesn't work, with some slight rewording of the paragraph; then with \emergencystretch (recall to enclose the paragraph in a group

end of paragraph.

\begingroup\emergencystretch=3em
The paragraph that has problems ... \mbox{...} ...
\par\endgroup

If all fails, resort to leave the line break at the dash.

egreg
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