Legal MacPac's mysterious unlinked Outline_L styles

[G.G.Yagoda]

Working in Word 2003 the other day I opened up a document e-mailed from
the outside. Couldn't tell what version of Word had been used to
create the document, but the paragraph numbering had been done using
LegalMacPac. Their tell-tale signature is to name list templates
"zzmp" followed by a long string of numbers separated by the "|"
symbol, whatever you call that. Another tell-tale sign is that they
use custom-defined styles for paragraph numbering instead of Word's
built-in Heading styles.

In this case, Outline_L1, Outline_L2, etc., were the numbering styles
in question.

Mystery #1: When I put the cursor on the Outline_L1 style and clicked
Bullets and Numbering, a framed window appeared in the Outline Numbered
Gallery, indicating that the Outline_L styles had been linked to that
list template. However, upon pressing Customize and proceeding to the
outline numbering dialog, I discovered that (no style) was linked to
the list template, named "zzmp," etc.

Mystery #2: Although the Outline_L styles were not linked to the named
list template, they behaved as if they were, and adjustments to the
list template through the first level Outline_L style were under
complete control.

Mystery #3: Although VBA revealed that only one list template had been
named and was linked to (no style), three other list templates with the
same name showed up in the Outline Numbered Gallery, and all three of
those list templates were linked to the built-in Heading 1-9 styles.
Which brings us to . . .

Mystery #4: The built-in Heading styles, when applied, produced no
numbering although they were linked to three different list templates.

Must've been a registry-generated fluke, n'est-ce pas? Else how can
Legal MacPac defy the known physical laws of the universe by having
unlinked styles that behave as linked, and linked Heading styles that
don't do numbering?

Has anyone else encountered this or is it most likely a
machine-specific freak situation?

 

[Margaret Aldis]

I'm not sure I (or anyone) can fully reveal the mysteries, but you can only
determine for certain what list template is currently linked to a style by
looking at the *style* definition. The list templates displayed in the
Format > B&N dialog show linking from the list template to styles, but
unless that list template is currently applied in this document that won't
determine the style. (List templates can never be deleted from a document,
and the gallery may also show other recently used list templates, so many
potential linkings can exist that are not actually applied.)

A few further ideas below.

Working in Word 2003 the other day I opened up a document e-mailed from
the outside. Couldn't tell what version of Word had been used to
create the document, but the paragraph numbering had been done using
LegalMacPac. Their tell-tale signature is to name list templates
"zzmp" followed by a long string of numbers separated by the "|"
symbol, whatever you call that. Another tell-tale sign is that they
use custom-defined styles for paragraph numbering instead of Word's
built-in Heading styles.

In this case, Outline_L1, Outline_L2, etc., were the numbering styles
in question.

Mystery #1: When I put the cursor on the Outline_L1 style and clicked
Bullets and Numbering, a framed window appeared in the Outline Numbered
Gallery, indicating that the Outline_L styles had been linked to that
list template. However, upon pressing Customize and proceeding to the
outline numbering dialog, I discovered that (no style) was linked to
the list template, named "zzmp," etc.

Can't fathom this one, unless it's simply your reading of the dialog -
remember that styles are linked to individual *list levels*, not the list
template as a whole as you've implied here, so it's possible for you to see
"no style" in the box if you've selected an unlinked list level.

Mystery #2: Although the Outline_L styles were not linked to the named
list template, they behaved as if they were, and adjustments to the
list template through the first level Outline_L style were under
complete control.

I think this indicates that the styles are indeed linked to the list
template, and that any indication otherwise in the B&N customize is an
artefact of the UI. The list template you get to from the top level style is
always linked to that style. (In fact, there are some nasty kludges that can
catch you out, whereby custom styles are always linked to the top level when
numbering is accessed from the style - hence the standard advice to use the
top level style to customize the whole list.)

Mystery #3: Although VBA revealed that only one list template had been
named and was linked to (no style), three other list templates with the
same name showed up in the Outline Numbered Gallery, and all three of
those list templates were linked to the built-in Heading 1-9 styles.
Which brings us to . . .

List template names are not identifiers - the name is more like a token
which can be passed around. The gallery does not necessarily show what is in
the current document - it's just a selection of potential list templates
that might be applied without further customisation, and which at some point
will be stored in the registry as the default for future sessions. So the
gallery can indicate several list templates with the same name. Only when
you actually apply one will that one take the name (removing it from any
list template that had it before.) Names can also appear/disappear when
copying between documents or templates.

Mystery #4: The built-in Heading styles, when applied, produced no
numbering although they were linked to three different list templates.

See Mystery 2 - I'm sure your Heading styles weren't linked to any list
templates. If however you applied one of the alternative list templates from
Format > B&N (in the interest of experiment - this is *not* general good
practice and is not a good idea in a live document!) you will find that the
links are instated and that the zzmp name points to this list template. The
other list template will still exist in your document, however.

 

[G.G.Yagoda]

Thank you for spending so much time and thought on these mysteries.
Inasmuch as the style *behaved* as a linked style the problem was
purely theoretical, but I appreciate your sleuthing.

I was once high on naming list templates but there is little actual
need to do so. In VBA a list template can be easily pinpointed by its
linked ListLevel(1) style, the the present freak occurrence
notwithstanding, and the only need to name the LISTNUM field would be
when there are multiple outlines intermixed within the same document.

Also, there have been several reports of errors when copying styles
linked to named list templates to another document where the style and
list named template have already been defined in anticipation of the
copying. Thanks again for your comments.