XSL - Dynamically enter blank lines in XHTML

[ems9tech]

I am creating a 5 page document HTML document with variable table sizes. I am hard coding page breaks after the <DIV> for each page. To assure that all of my page numbers at the bottom of each page is in approximately the same location, I have created a recursive template to enter a certain number of <BR/> elements before the page # footer. However, the <BR/> isn't doing the trick. I've searched high and low for the right character to enter and nothing has worked:

    <xsl:variable name="newline">
        <!-- 
        <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>        
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        http://www.danrigsby.com/blog/index.php/category/xslt/
        *&nbsp;<br/>
        <xsl:value-of select="'&#xA;'"/>
        <xsl:text>&#xA;</xsl:text>
        -->
        <br/>*&nbsp;<br/>
    </xsl:variable>    

Also, should I use line position to determine the number of blank lines I need instead of the number of rows in my variable tables?

Thanks for any and all help !!!!

[Dormilich]

is it for print or browser display?

[ems9tech]

Mainly print, though we will also be viewing inside a browser control in a .NET application. Eventually, we want to convert XHTML to PDF, but no time now to create an XSL-FO. Thanks!

[Dormilich]

although XSL-FO would probably be the best for print… maybe you can experiment a bit with the print-formatting options in CSS.

other than that I could only imagine to giving divs the height you want for a quick trial.

[ems9tech]

Any ideas on how to get a blank line into the HTML so that my page # footer can be moved further down the page?

[Dormilich]

usually inserting breaks, though consider a div with a set height.

[ems9tech]

Thanks. I'll look into giving a DIV a set height. Does anyone know how I can programmatically insert blank lines in a recursively called template? If I manually place the <BR/> into the XSL, they work in the resulting HTML file, but not in the xsl:template I have.