Finding your way through a long document / Distribution list
A distribution list showing who received which copy
Names, roles and copy numbers of everyone the document was issued to, printed so a recipient can see who else has it.
Why this block is harder than it looks
This block is a table of short values whose only real difficulty is the copy number, because a numbered-copy scheme means each printed instance of the document is different, and the layout has to leave room for a value that is filled in per copy rather than generated once. Either the number is printed and the document has to be rendered once per recipient, or the space is left and somebody writes it in, and those are different layouts. Getting this wrong produces a run of documents that all claim to be copy one.
The decisions that make it work
Reasons rather than a description of the code. Each of these is a choice that has a wrong answer, and the wrong answer is usually the default.
- Decide up front whether copy numbers are generated or handwritten, and lay the column out for whichever it is. A printed number needs 10mm, a handwritten one needs 20mm and a box.
- Where the number is generated, mark the recipient's own row so a reader can see which copy they are holding without checking the number against their name.
- Keep the list short and role-based. A distribution list of forty individuals is a mailing list and belongs in the system that sent it, not in the document.
- Include the issue date per row where copies go out at different times, since that is the field that explains why somebody has an older revision.
- Order by copy number, not alphabetically, so the numbers form a readable sequence and a gap is visible.
- Keep the block together with break-inside: avoid. A distribution list split across pages loses the sense of being a complete record.
The fragment
Markup and the CSS it needs, and nothing else. It expects a document that already has a page rule and a base stylesheet, so paste it into one rather than opening it on its own.
<table class="distribution">
<caption>Issued 14 March 2026, revision C</caption>
<thead>
<tr><th class="n">Copy</th><th>Recipient</th><th>Role</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="mine"><td class="n">1</td><td>E. Wynne</td><td>Site manager</td></tr>
<tr><td class="n">2</td><td>R. Hall</td><td>Quality manager</td></tr>
<tr><td class="n">3</td><td>Site office</td><td>Reference copy</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<style>
.distribution {
break-inside: avoid;
border-collapse: collapse;
font-size: 9pt;
margin: 10pt 0;
}
.distribution caption {
caption-side: top;
text-align: left;
padding-bottom: 4pt;
font-size: 8.5pt;
color: #555;
}
.distribution th, .distribution td {
padding: 3pt 10pt 3pt 0;
text-align: left;
}
.distribution .n {
width: 12mm;
text-align: right;
padding-right: 8pt;
font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;
}
/* the copy this print belongs to */
.distribution .mine td { font-weight: 700; }
.distribution .mine .n::after { content: " \2190"; font-weight: 400; }
</style>What breaks when it is built the obvious way
Printing the same copy number on every copy because the document is rendered once and photocopied. The list then says every recipient holds copy one, which makes the numbering worse than absent: it looks like a control that is working.
How to prove it survived pagination
Render two copies for two different recipients and confirm the numbers differ and the marked row moves. If you are leaving the number to be written in, print it and try writing a two-digit number in the space.
Where it sits in a finished document
This page is one block. The document it belongs to has a page rule, a base stylesheet, a header and everything else around it, and repeating all of that here would make thirty pages that say the same thing. The meeting minutes template is a complete file with this block already in it, so take that and change the fragment rather than assembling one from parts. The property doing most of the work here is covered on its own page, with the support caveats that belong there rather than here.
Frequently asked
Will this fragment work on its own?
Not as a whole document. It has no page rule, no margins and no base type, because those belong to the document rather than to the block, and duplicating them in every fragment would mean thirty copies to keep in step. Paste it into a template that already has them.
Why does it look right in a browser and wrong in the PDF?
Because a browser window is one continuous surface and a document is a stack of fixed rectangles. Nothing in a scrolling view exercises a page boundary, so every break rule in the fragment is inert until the content is paginated. Render the real thing with enough content to cross two or three boundaries, then look.
Do I need a special option on the render request for this?
No. Everything on this page is CSS and markup, which is your side of the boundary. What the render has to give you is a real page size with real margins, and after that the layout is decided by the stylesheet.
Other parts of a document
The blocks that sit next to this one, and one from the next group along so you are not sealed inside a single kind of problem.
A back cover that ends the document rather than trailing off
A final page carrying contact details, a document reference and nothing else, so a reader can tell the document has ended.
A reading guide that tells somebody which pages they need
A short block near the front saying what the document contains, which parts matter to which reader, and what to do next.
An index with page references that stay correct after an edit
An alphabetical list of subjects with the pages they appear on, at the end of a long reference document.
Fold marks and punch hole guides that stay clear of the content
Faint marks at the page edge showing where a sheet will be folded or punched, so nothing important lands under a crease or a hole.
Meeting minutes, as a complete file
The whole document with this block already in place, ready to copy and change.
break-inside in paged output
The property carrying the weight here, with its real support status.
Every part of a document
The full list, grouped by the kind of problem the block poses.
Paste the fragment into the playground inside a page rule and see what it does at a real page size. That is the only way any of this gets confirmed.