Bulleted Line Numbers!?

[techrighter]

I would like an explanation for a recent problem I observed in a Word
document, if anyone can help.

I am working with Word 2004 for Mac, Version 11.2.

A document created on a custom template is displaying bullets
precedeing the line numbers. The bullets are in the form of a club
symbol, as in a deck of cards.

Removing and reinserting the line numbers has no effect on the problem.

Upon further investigation, I discovered that two of the custom styles
in the document, bullet2 and bullet3, produced similar bullets. Since
I created the template, I know that those styles were not originally
formatted that way.

If I reformat the bullet 2 style using Fomat, Style, I can change the
bullet style in the line numbers to any symbol I want; deleteing the
Bullet2 style from the document removes the bullets from the line
numbers. Unfortunately, it also removes the bullets from any bulleted
text in the document.

I tried to reformat the line number style with Format, Style but there
was no option to change bullets and numbering. This makes sense, since
it is a character style, not a paragraph style.

The problem is computer-specific; a co-worker of the person who was
having the problem opened a copy of the document he had emailed to her
and the bullets were not in the line numbers.

My guess is the list template for the Bullet2 style somehow got changed
to specify the wrong bullet symbol and became entwined with the List
Number style, But why on only one computer? And how to fix it? As I
said, deleting the bullet2 style removes the bullets, but has it really
solved the problem?

The document is obviously corrupted, at least on the affected computer
(or on any computer?). I am worried that there may be more problems
with it later on, which might be more serious. So I would like to
repair it if possible.

TIA for any help with this.

Tom Burns

 

[Klaus Linke]

Hi Tom,

That might be another bug around linked styles.

"Line Number" is a character style, and bullet styles are paragraph styles.

Since around Word 2002, some paragraph style and some character style can be
linked, so that changes in one reflect in the other.
I've repeatedly seen documents in which (built-in or custom) styles have
become linked for seemingly no good reason at all.

You might check that theory in the VBA editor (Alt+F11), immediate window
(Ctrl+G):

Type:
? ActiveDocument.Styles(wdStyleLineNumber).LinkStyle
(followed by pressing the Return key at the end of the line).

This tells you which style is linked to the Line Number character style.

If you get the name of your bullet style instead of "Normal", you've found
the problem.

You can break the link again by setting the linked style back to "Normal":
ActiveDocument.Styles(wdStyleLineNumber).LinkStyle=ActiveDocument.Styles(wdStyleNormal)

Without VBA I don't know any remedy, unfortunately.

Regards,
Klaus

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi Klaus:

He's in Mac Word 2004: I don't think it can do that level of VBA.

He would be best to replace the Normal template on his computer then to
Maggie that document

To replace the Normal template, quit Word, then re-name the Normal template.

To Maggie the document, carefully copy everything EXCEPT the last paragraph
mark and paste to a fresh new document. If you do this AFTER you have
replaced the Normal template, it should come right.

Hope this helps

Hi Tom,

That might be another bug around linked styles.

"Line Number" is a character style, and bullet styles are paragraph styles.

Since around Word 2002, some paragraph style and some character style can be
linked, so that changes in one reflect in the other.
I've repeatedly seen documents in which (built-in or custom) styles have
become linked for seemingly no good reason at all.

You might check that theory in the VBA editor (Alt+F11), immediate window
(Ctrl+G):

Type:
? ActiveDocument.Styles(wdStyleLineNumber).LinkStyle
(followed by pressing the Return key at the end of the line).

This tells you which style is linked to the Line Number character style.

If you get the name of your bullet style instead of "Normal", you've found
the problem.

You can break the link again by setting the linked style back to "Normal":
ActiveDocument.Styles(wdStyleLineNumber).LinkStyle=ActiveDocument.Styles(wdSty
leNormal)

Without VBA I don't know any remedy, unfortunately.

Regards,
Klaus

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John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410