I need help with and information about the formatting options for a non-alphabetic index, please

[janehull]

When I make a ToC or alphabetic index, each tagged term goes onto one line and every page that it is on is listed on that same line.

When I make a user-defined index, each index entry goes onto its own line with that page number and they are sorted by lowest page no to highest page number. If the entry appears twice on the same page I get two identical entries.

Here is what I have:

Here is what I want:

1. Is it possible to have the user-defined index sort alphanumerically by the index entry?
2. Is it possible to have each page listed on the same line as they are in the alphabetic list?

[ajlittoz]

Unfortunately, “user-defined index” bears a badly-chosen name because it is not a secondary alphabetical index but just another table of contents, meaning entries will be listed in document order.

There is presently only a single alphabetical index in Writer. To create multiple indexes, you must outsmart Writer. The trick is based on the fact that index keys may be 3-level (while most commonly you use only a single level key).

• put the index heading in 1st key
  CAUTION! you must type this heading in every index entry and take care that it is exactly the same (otherwise you’ll create an additional “index”).
• this entry remains in the Alphabetical Index

When you generate your alphabetical index, you’ll get several sub-indexes, listed in “heading” alphabetical order. So, pay special attention to the heading wording if you want the sub-indexes in a specific order. Eventually, prefix them with spaces to force the order.

A very important step is to customise:

• the entry structure line, most importantly for the first level which will become the sub-index heading (no page number, no leading line)
• paragraph style Index 1 which controls the “heading”: center alignment, font size, spacing above and below, …

You’ll find additional details in answers to this question or this one.

[janehull]

[FORMATTING Brief.odt|attachment]

[janehull]

Sorry. Couldn’t find any othe way to upload it.

[ajlittoz]

And what is the question with the attached document?

From superficial reading, you have too much direct formatting (which will make it difficult to tune layout). You also erroneously used Default Paragraph Style for specific topics instead of a dedicated (semantic) paragraph style. I know that Default Style in Word is supposed to be the style for non-specific text but this role is assigned to Text Body in Writer. Default Paragraph Style is intended to set default attributes common to all other styles.

You also erroneously use a frame in the sole purpose of creating a border common to several paragraphs. A frame removes its contents from main text flow, i.e. the frame text has no longer any ordering relationship with main text. In your case this has no consequence but causes “surprising” results in many circumstances. Also, you use a paragraph break instead of a line break: this creates 2 paragraphs while text is semantically a single unit (the paragraphs individually don’t contain a complete “sentence”).

Since the matter looks to me sensitive (personal data), I suggest we continue through private mail. Click on my icon to access the message service. Tell me exactly what puzzles you.

[BigRAl]

@ajlittoz, if you have resolved the OP’s question via PM, please post the solution here.

TIA

[ajlittoz]

@BigRAl: not yet, still waiting for OP’s remarks about her document (it is 22-pages long and contains multiple attempts to solve the issue – so I don’t know which one I should look at and analyse).

[janehull]

First off, I would like to thank you for helping me so much.

In linking the document I was replying to:

https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/i-need-help-with-and-information-about-the-formatting-options-for-a-non-alphabetic-index-please/78990/2?u=janehull

Not sure how a macro is supposed to do anything. I would imagine that if there were a way to create additional alphabetic indices with a macro it would have been done by now and published as an extension. But if he wanted to poke at it I have no problem with that.

I am attaching four files. FORMAT is the one I had linked to. The second is BRIEF and it is the one I actually filed. That document has already been published online by the court so no worries there. The third is BRIEFCleareDirect. I selected the whole document and hit [CTRL] M. Finally, the template I am working on- Appeal Brief Form. (As you can see I am using Find & Replace to fill in the parties. I am certain that there is a better way to do that but let’s get me using indices correctly first. The mathematician in me is horrified that things are done incorrectly. The engineer in me says “Well, if it’s stupid and it works, it isn’t stupid”

FORMAT was the one I was experimenting around with. The index on page ii of FORMAT was one that I updated using keys. I did several versions of it- enough to understand the basics of using the keys. So all of the indices on FORMAT are sloppy and wrong.

Here’s the original BRIEF that I didn’t mess with much. I did, however, edit the rules and statute sections by hand. Now I need to get better about formatting it and I really haven’t a clue about the [Entries] tab on Table of Contents, Index, or Bibliography from right-click Edit Index. I have tried to look up how to use it and have not found anything that seems to be able to explain it to me.

I am building a template for this and as I am finding formatting mistakes I am correcting them on the template. This document just needed to be on paper (pdf) by today so I did whatever incorrect things it took to make the pdf look OK. .

“From superficial reading, you have too much direct formatting (which will make it difficult to tune layout). You also erroneously used Default Paragraph Style for specific topics instead of a dedicated (semantic) paragraph style. I know that Default Style in Word is supposed to be the style for non-specific text but this role is assigned to Text Body in Writer. Default Paragraph Style is intended to set default attributes common to all other styles. “

I don’t use Word and haven’t for years so any comparisons with it are lost on me. Is “Default Paragraph Style” just sort of a place holder upon which I can base my other paragraph styles? I don’t understand how to stop using “Default Paragraph Style”. I begin by using one of my styles and it defaults to “Default Paragraph Style”. I thought that I had set up each paragraph organizer going to the next paragraph style that made sense. I guess I need to double check all of those.

What is the advantage to modifying my defined paragraph styles rather than make a new one from the Default Paragraph Style? I find it easier to choose the right style when I can see them listed and not nested.

You also erroneously use a frame in the sole purpose of creating a border common to several paragraphs. A frame removes its contents from main text flow, i.e. the frame text has no longer any ordering relationship with main text. In your case this has no consequence but causes “surprising” results in many circumstances.

I am unlikely to need to worry about that in my writing. It’s either for fun and doesnt matter or for law and doesn’t matter. This is the way the court likes its briefs done and believe me- you do NOT want to hand in anything else. So it’s the words on the pdf that matter, not the words in my document.

Also, you use a paragraph break instead of a line break: this creates 2 paragraphs while text is semantically a single unit (the paragraphs individually don’t contain a complete “sentence”).

Where did I do that? I can’t find it. I have formatting marks on but I guess I don’t know what I am looking for. Do you mean using empty paragraphs to handle spacing rather than [SHIFT][ENTER]?

I never used anything about LO except to write my own templates however kludged they were. They worked well enough. Then I got appointed to this appeal and realized that I needed to clean up my act.

I have watched most of this guys videos and have been going through each of my templates to redo them properly based of my default template.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l62UUT7Yxo

FORMATTING Brief.odt (41.5 KB)

BRIEF.odt (62.3 KB)

BRIEFClearDirect.odt (61.4 KB)

Appeal Brief Form.ott (40.7 KB)