Definition Lists


Definition lists (sometimes called description lists) look like this:

Nova Scotia
This Canadian province is almost entirely surrounded by water: Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, Bay of Fundy to the west, and Northumberland Strait to the North. Halifax is a major shipping port.
Ontario
Canada's largest province is in the middle of the country, but has excellent shipping. The St Lawrence Seaway gives access to the Atlantic Ocean, and large bulk carriers travel on as far as Thunder Bay for shipments of grain and ore.
Saskatchewan
A Western province that is landlocked. Wheat is shipped by rail across Manitoba to the Port of Churchill on Hudson's Bay, and to grain terminals in Thunder Bay. Potash and other minerals are shipped by rail to Vancouver, on the Pacific Ocean.

Definition lists are useful for defining terms, such as terms for a new technical dictionary.

Many authors use them for just plain lists, where they do not want the bullets that are automatically placed in unordered lists. For example:

Arrivals: Western
10:00 AC222
11:00 AC300
11:15 TW443
11:55 CA199
12:10 EA113
13:45 AC119
14:50 AC221
16:40 AC311
Arrivals: Overseas
10:05 AC225
11:10 AC320
11:15 TW413
11:45 CA299
12:00 EA413
13:35 AC119
14:10 CA221
16:50 AC311
Note that this format is quite neat, and the new definition title creates a nice break in front of it to separate the lists.

Press the \ key to see the HTML source.


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Last modified 1996/04/27 22:24:22 GMT by helpdoc