<noColumnBalance> (Do Not Balance Text Columns within a Section)

This element specifies whether the contents of sections with multiple columns defined using the <cols> element (§2.6.4) should automatically be balanced. In terms of column layout, balancing is the act of attempting to ensure that the number of lines in each column is equivalent (rather than completely filling one column before populating the next).

Typically, column balancing is automatically performed on the contents of sections with multiple columns. This element, when present with a @val attribute value of true (or equivalent), specifies that column balancing shall not occur, and each column shall be filled individually until the end of the current page, until all text has been displayed, even if this means one or more columns are unused.

example: 
<w:sectPr>
  <w:cols w:num="3" w:space="720" />
</w:sectPr>

The default presentation would have the text in that section balanced between those three columns:

However, if this compatibility setting is turned on:

<w:compat>
  <w:noColumnBalance />
</w:compat>

Then the columns are not balanced, and the contents of the section are used to fill each column to the bottom of the current page in succession, resulting in the following output:

The next section is now forced to begin on the next page, as the columns on page one extend to the bottom of that page. ]

Parent Elements

<compat> (§2.15.3.9)

Attributes

Description

<val> (On/Off Value)

Specifies a binary value for the property defined by the parent XML element.

A value of on, 1, or true specifies that the property shall be explicitly applied. This is the default value for this attribute, and is implied when the parent element is present, but this attribute is omitted.

A value of off, 0, or false specifies that the property shall be explicitly turned off.

<w:… w:val="off"/>

The @val attribute explicitly declares that the property is turned off. ]

The possible values for this attribute are defined by the ST_OnOff simple type (§2.18.67).

The following XML Schema fragment defines the contents of this element:

<complexType name="CT_OnOff">
	<attribute name="val" type="ST_OnOff"/>
</complexType>