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- Thursday, 2nd July 2026

Docuneering always strives to maintain a vendor-neutral approach, but what exactly does that mean?

It means we don't take the EASY path!

Some FO processors support the following approach:

<fo:table-and-caption text-align="center">

Unfortunately, Apache FOP does not currently support this method.

Using this solution would therefore tie your stylesheets to a specific FO processor.

A truly vendor-neutral solution must work consistently across all supported FO processors.

The calculation itself is straightforward:

Therefore ((x – y) ÷ 2) gives you the required start-indent to centre the table.

Centre align a Fixed Width Table - Vendor-Neutral Method

This is a simple example, but it illustrates an important principle.

Vendor neutrality isn't about finding the quickest or easiest solution.

It's about going the extra mile to deliver a solution that works consistently, regardless of which FO processor your organisation chooses to use.

Want to find out more?