A View Template allows a template author to create an attractive HTML view template, and flow an arbitrary HTML content document into a series of containers defined in the view template. A content document author creates a standard HTML markup language document that can be displayed in a browser in the bottom-less page model. A view template author designs an HTML view template document that changes how that content document is displayed in the browser or printed. The HTML content document is "flowed" into areas defined by the HTML view template document. The HTML view template document describes where to flow the HTML content document onto the display or printer. There is an object model (OM) that supports the series of containers holding the content document. Each container in the series has a layout that defines the size, location, and ordering for the content document to flow through while in that container. The order of containers that the content document flows through is kept in a view chain. The view chain also maintains a break table with information about the content document at each of the container boundaries.