[Framers] Paragraph numbering

[Lynne A. Price]

Debbie,

     Lin's example uses some options in FrameMaker's counter support 
that you didn't mention in your post:

1. Different sequences. If a paragraph's autonumber starts with a single 
character followed by a colon, it uses counters that are independent of 
those in other sequences. One solution in your case would be to use:

      x:<n=1> and x:<n+> for numbered items
      y:<a=1> and y:<a+> for lettered items

I've used the x and y sequences in this example to emphasize that the 
sequence identifiers are independent of the way you are formatting the 
counter values. Of course, using n and a (or N and A) is probably more 
natural.

Different sequences can be used for different numbered constructs. For 
example, you might use one sequence for list numbers and a different one 
for section numbers.

2. Using multiple levels in one sequence. For example, documents with 
three levels of sections can use the first counter for main sections, 
the second for subsections, and the third for subsubsections with 
autonumbers such as:

      s:<n+> for main sections
      s:<n>.<n+> for subsections
      s:<n>.<n>.<n+> for subsubsections

The counter for any level that is not mentioned is reset to 0. Thus,

      s:<n+> increments and displays the first level and resets the 
second and third levels to 0
      s:<n>.<n+> displays the first level without changing it, 
increments and displays the second level, and resets the third level to 0
      s:<n>.<n>.<n+> displays the first and second levels without 
changing them, increments and displays the third level

3. Displaying a counter in different ways. Building blocks indicate the 
format in which counters are displayed (n for Arabic numerals, a for 
lowercase letters and so forth), but the counter value depends on how 
that level of that sequence was set in previous paragraphs and not by 
how it was displayed previously. It is up to the user to make sure that 
the same format is used consistently in all paragraphs.

One way to "display" a counter is not to show it at all. That's done by 
using a space instead of a visible character (such as n or a) for the 
format. Lin is using the L sequence for items in lists with the first 
level of that sequence for numbered items in the main list and the 
second level of that sequence for lettered items in numbered lists. So 
his L:< ><a+>\t, where the space between the first pair of angle 
brackets is important, means to save but not display the value of the 
first counter level and to increment and display the second level as a 
letter. Without < >, the autonumber would be referring to the first 
level and the numbers and letters for both list levels would be confused.

Hope this helps,

     --Lynne

On 6/15/2021 5:09 AM, Lin Sims wrote:
> These are the contents of my Autonumbers for a similar list. I suspect
> you've not got your placeholders set up correctly.
>
> 1st Level, Reset: L:<n=1>< =0>\t
> 1st Level: L:<n+>< =0>\t
> 2nd Level, Reset: L:< ><a=1>\t
> 2nd Level: L:< ><a+>\t
>
> On Mon, Jun 14, 2021 at 8:11 PM DJ Layton <visualbistro at comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>> The second part of the numbered list seems to be incrementing the
>> ALPHABETIC value rather than the preceding NUMERIC value.
>>
>> I used the standard <n=1>, <n+>, and <a=1>, <a+> building blocks.
>> I cannot figure this out!!!
>>
>>
>>
>
-- 
Lynne A. Price
Text Structure Consulting, Inc.
Specializing in structured FrameMaker consulting, application development, and training
lprice at txstruct.com            http://www.txstruct.com
voice/fax: (510) 583-1505      cell phone: (510) 421-2284