When using a Writer Master Document, which has priority as far as paragraphs styles are concerned - the master doc (that sub-docs are linked into) or the 1st sub-doc inserted into the master doc? The user guide and various help answers are ambiguous on this.
Also if a style in the template used to create the master doc is changed does that change flow through to all inserted docs with a paragraph style with the same name?
Please provide references to the ambiguity - we would be able to fix that.
Text from sub-docs are formatted with the paragraph style defined in the master. This is the general rule: document are always formatted according to the “local” definition.
Styling is done based on name. When the same style name exists in both the master and sub-docs, the definition in the master is used, i.e. the definition as it is configured at time of composing the merged document. In other words, if you modified the definition is the master, this modified style is the one active.
This rule has a consequence: a style modification in a sub-doc has no effect in the master. The master “hides” what is in the sub-docs. You can use this at your advantage by having intentionally different configuration in the master and sub-docs, e.g. to improve ease of text update and maintenance in the sub-doc with a more legible text. But, do it only when you master all subtleties in style interactions.
If there is no style definition in the master for a portion of text in a sub-doc, a suitable style definition is imported from the sub-doc and temporarily entered in the master style dictionary. Once it is there, it is used for the rest of the merged document. Therefore, the first definition encountered in the combined text flow is used. This can be summarised as “first style occurrence wins”.
When you have conflicting definitions across your sub-docs, the definition in the first sub-doc is used. If you change the ordering of the sub-docs, another definition will be retained (again, the first encountered).
Short: master document always has precedence, either natively or through first-met import.
To avoid problems, I base my master and sub-docs on the same template and I never patch the styles in the master or sub-docs. I do this only on the template and then File>Reload documents (don’t forget to save before the operation or you lose your last edits).
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+1
As mentioned in other discussions the extension Template Changer is very helpful in these cases.
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