I have created a custom numbering list with multiple levels. It has been saved to a template, so I can access it in every new document based on this template.
I would like to know how to skip a particular value in the listing, and go directly to another one.
e.g. in a list using small-case alphabet, I would like to go directly to ‘j’ from ‘h’, skipping ‘i’, since it interferes with usage of the roman-numeral in small case in another listing in the same document.
For your default application, you have already made a template, which is completely correct.
If you have another use case (skip numbers), you should also create a template for this and provide the desired paragraph with this template.
You can create as many templates as you want, one for each use case you have.
I wish you success!
Thank you so very much for your assistance.
I did try your suggestion - of creating separate templates; but then the numbering (with one skipped value) is to apply within the same document. It didn’t work out.
To get what you want, you would need to define explicitly a numbering sequence based on a given set of symbols (numbers, letters or bullets) where the next symbol is not taken as “symbol”+1 as presently (e.g. “2”+1-> “3” or “d”+1->“e”) but is extracted from the next position in the sequence.
Obviously, you can’t do that in the list styles because the drop-down menu Number in Options tab only allows you to choose from built-in continuous sequences.
Alternatively, I tried to define a custom number range (access through Insert>Field>Other fields, Variables tab, Number range type). Once again, the choice is only from built-in continuous sequences (with the added inconvenience that the list would probably not be multi-level).
As a conclusion, I don’t think you can get automatically the desired result.
There is however an ugly workaround, needing very careful examination in case of editing in the list (change of item order or addition/deletion of items). This workaround is akin to direct formatting, thus creating problems with document maintenance.
- Type your list as usual
- When the current item has a discarded numbering, type a space character (or any other, the important point is the item must contain at least one character) and start a new one
- Select text on to-be-discarded item (no need to include the numbering) and style it as hidden (you can create a user character style with Hidden checked in
Font Effectstab so that you can apply it quickly and eventually change all items appearance from a single location). The item and its numbering disappears from view.
Note: it might be wise to check Hidden text in Tools>Options, LibreOffice Writer>Formatting Aids to keep a reminder for the presence of discarded items. These reminders do no print, they are only displayed on-screen.
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Thanks so much for your time. I like the “ugly work-around”. Imaginative. But I did find a work-around. Let me try and explain.
The exact requirement is that at Level 2 in a multi-level numbering-list, the sequence uses small-case Roman alphabets inside parenthesis (a), (b), (c),… and so on. The letter (i) is to be skipped, implying that the ninth list is to be numbered (j). Silly, but so it is!
So while I was getting stuck yesterday in getting a workaround, this is what I did today…
At Level 3, I defined the list parameters identical to that of List 2, and defined the starting value as 10.
GOT IT GOING.
What would have previously been Level 3, now was defined at Level 4.
Creative too, but can cause undesirable side-effects. In my use of multi-level lists, I like to indent levels: the deeper the level, the more indented to the right. My formatting can’t be used with your workaround since you jump from one level to the next to avoid (i) – which incidentally is the eighth letter, not the ninth, implying your next level should start from 9 – considering both levels as a virtual one.
My proposed workaround attempted to answer a more general specification: how to avoid any number of unwanted letters. For instance, I can skip all Roman numerals: i, v, x, l, c, d, m. I just hide the corresponding item.
It also keeps the possibility of enumerating all levels in the numbering, e.g. a at level 1, a.a at level 2, a.a.a at level 3 etc. and indenting levels (if needed) to reflect the hierarchy.