Lost in outline number hell in WORD 2003!

[Xenophile]

I have never had problems with numbering headings in WORD 2000, but this
version 2003 has me baffled. The only kind of heading numbering I can get
is either:
1
1.1
1.2
2
1.3
1.4

etc
or else
1
1.1
1.2
2
1.1
1.2

etc. I can't get the subheadings to pick up the number from the parent
heading. I have tried everything, including the advice in
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html but nothing
works. Maybe I have damaged the headings in normal.dot -- if so how do I
get them back?

I have not been using heading 1, heading 2 styles, but defined my own
MyHeading 1. Myheading 2 based on the originals. What has gone wrong in
WORD2003?

Baffled

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Did you link the numbering levels to your custom styles? Did you check the
box to restart numbering on lower-level styles?

 

[Xenophile]

It's not that simple. I have tried all those things and more. It does not
matter what I set the "link level to style" to (I tried setting it to all
levels at one time or another) and it does not matter whether or not I check
the "Restart Numbering at" box. Either way it does the same thing. It
switches from one wrong numbering I showed you to the other based on -- as
far as I can see -- the time and not any of the settings!

By checking and unchecking various options I am in a state now where all the
style settings are the same as they were when I started, but level 2 is now
numbered correctly (this may have something to do with the Outline Numbered
Panel I chose -- since they look I have tried different ones out of
desperation). But now if I try to get level 3 to number -- ANY number --
the level 2 error is back. So I have the first 2 levels okay but only by
getting the third level into the same state as level 2 was before.

I am trying to finish a report and Word is trying to kill me! I have had
this problem since I "upgraded" to Word2003.

Thanks for the advice anyway, but this is deeper than my just forgetting to
check off some box or other.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I have never had a problem with outline numbering provided I followed
Shauna's directions exactly, including the part where you never modify the
numbering of any of the styles except by going to the Bullets and Numbering
dialog through Format Style for the top-level style.

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Xenophile

I share your frustration, because it really can be tricky to get numbering
just the way you want.

Here are the five golden rules. If you break them, your numbering will
break.

1. Golden rule 1: You must follow the steps outlined on my web page in
exactly the order in which they're given.

2. Click within a paragraph that is in your Level 1 style. You said you were
using MyHeading 1 for that. So click within a paragraph in style MyHeading
1. Golden rule 1: you *must* start by clicking within a paragraph that is in
your Level 1 style.

3. Format > Styles and Formatting. In the Styles and Formatting pane,
right-click on My Heading 1 and choose Modify. Now, Format > Numbering >
Outline Numbering. Is one of the panes highlighted? Then choose that pane.
Golden rule 2: in the Bullets and Numbering dialog, you *must* choose the
pane that is already highlighted. (If the "None" pane is highlighted, then
choose any other pane you like. Sensibly, choose one that most looks like
what you're aiming for.)

4. From the Bullets and Numbering dialog box, click Customize. Click More.
Golden rule 3: give your numbering scheme a name by typing something (just
about anything!) in the ListNum field list box.

5. Choose level 1. In the Link level to style box, choose the style you have
chosen for your level 1 numbering (ie My Heading 1). Choose Level 2. Link it
to My Heading 2. Choose Level 3. Link it to My Heading 3. Golden rule 4: you
*must* link the appropriate styles to the appropriate levels.

Three other hints:

(a) 99.9% of the time, you need Level 2 to re-start after Level 1. Level 3
re-start after Level 2. Level 4 re-start after Level 3. Etc.

(b) If your numbering gets in a complete mess, choose Level 1. Delete
everything in the Number format box and choose your numbering format again.
Choose Level 2. Delete everything in the Number Format box ... etc.

(c) Under no circumstances use the Numbering button on the toolbar.

(d) If all else fails, you might consider changing to the built-in heading
styles. There are lots of reasons for using them. (I keep discovering new
reasons and adding them to the list at
http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/numbering/UseBuiltInHeadingStyles.html). One
reason is that the numbering scheme you want is built-in to Word. To use it,
follow the Tip "Reset the List Gallery before you start" at
http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[Bruce Brown]

You mentioned that you defined your own heading styles *based on the
originals* presumably meaning the built-in Heading styles.

Why not try creating a new set of outline numbered styles but this
time base them on Normal instead of the Heading styles. (That's what
Microsoft bases the Heading 1-9 styles on; Shauna Kelly and others
advise basing the first level on <no style> and each level thereafter
on the previous level.)

This is just a shot in the dark, but problems can and do arise from
basing user-defined styles on Heading styles, the most serious of
which is losing the linkage from the list template.

After you create the styles and apply each to sample text, with your
cursor on the level 1 style, let Modify > Format > Numbering take you
to the Outline Numbered Gallery. On the top row, Reset the third
window in from left to right; its default is legal style numbering.
Click that window, then Customize, then link each of your new styles
to the appropriate level.

You might try the same thing using the built-in Heading styles instead
of your own, linking them to the list template mentioned above.

If worse comes to worst, you can number the entire outline using only
the LISTNUM field and it will re-start flawlessly:

{ LISTNUM LegalDefault \L 1 } = 1.
{ LISTNUM LegalDefault \L 2 } = 1.1.
{ LISTNUM LegalDefault \L 3 } = 1.1.1.

Sorry, there's no way to get rid of the period after the last digit.

Hope one of these methods wlll work for you. - Bruce

 

[Xenophile]

Thanks for taking the trouble to answer my cry for help!

Nothing worked until I got to your suggestion "If your numbering gets in a
complete mess..." Once I removed the numbers in the number format box for
Level 1, everything fell into place. Before that it did not even help to
Remove Formatting from all headers, reset the list gallery number panes and
starting over. But I am Okay now and am very grateful for your help.

PS. It would help if you had a printer-friendly option for your very
valuable web site.

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Xenophile

I'm glad it worked out.

Shauna

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[Jose]

Golden rule 3: give your numbering scheme a name by typing
something (just about anything!) in the ListNum field list box.

Shauna, why is that necessary? I don't think I've ever inserted
anything there (but I usually use templates that have modified
versions of the built-in heading styles).

 

[Xenophile]

Thanks for the comments, Bruce.

The problem I had got fixed, as I said in my email to Shauna Kelly, but it
came back again when I went back to using the user-defined headings and I
could not fix it, even following the detailed instructions. So I reset all
the headings to the default ones "heading1", "heading2" etc. I wish I knew
the principle behind the way the heading numbering works so I can predict
when it will fail again. For now all I know is that I should use the
built-in ones.

zenonp

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Jose

I've spent a few days playing around with this, using the last 4 versions of
Word. There was certainly a belief some years ago that putting a name in the
ListNum field list box helped add to stability of numbering. However, the
engine that does the numbering in Word documents really has improved in the
last few versions of Word. So it's hard to pinpoint exactly when or where
providing a name adds stability. But it's free, and it doesn't take long to
type a name, so I'll keep using them!

Giving a name in the ListNum field list name does, however, provide two
useful bits of functionality.

First, if you're using VBA to control numbering, it helps to be able to deal
with a named ListTemplate.

Second, for complex numbering jobs, giving a name in the ListNum field
allows you to use your numbering scheme with the ListNum field.

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[Bruce Brown]

Shauna y Jose -

I too used to think that . . .

First, if you're using VBA to control numbering, it helps to be able to deal
with a named ListTemplate.

.. . . and, yes, it does. But I have since stumbled across a VBA method
equally reliable if not more so, at least in Word 2002, using the
linked style at level 1:

Dim L as ListTemplate
For Each L in ActiveDocument.ListTemplates
If L.ListLevels(1).LinkedStyle = "Heading 1" Then ETC.

The level 1 linked style never fails to pinpoint the list template,
named or not, but it's got to be at level 1 or it won't work.

Couple of months ago Jean-Guy Marcil complained of error messages when
manipulating named list templates in documents created from different
templates, all of whose Heading styles were formatted exactly the same
and all of whose list templates had the same names. I could not
reproduce the error and have often wondered how Jean-Guy resolved the
problem, if indeed he was able to.

But I agree with Shauna's golden rule that naming a list template is
free and allows you to do fancy footwork with named LISTNUM fields
that can't be done otherwise.

- Bruce

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Bruce

FWIW, In professional code, I use a construction very similar to yours. I
find that if you're running code on a document that has been around a while,
then that's the only reliable way to "get" the ListTemplate. On a new
document, where things are more controllable, then it's all rather easier,
of course!

Shauna


Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[Jose]

Shauna and Bruce,

Thanks for the various comments. I've been off-line for a while and
just ran across them today.

I seem unable to grasp VBA, but there are so many things that can be
done with it, or with Lotus Script in Word Pro, which I primarily
use, that I might make it a summer project to figure out how it all
really works.

Again, thanks for the regular guidance.