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champ
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Joined: 2004-10-14 07:51:45

Lists

Post by champ »

I'm having a bit of a trouble understanding list formatting. In the list palette, what do the "Align" buttons do? They seem to do something, but I can't figure out the pattern!

Related to this (I thought), is there a way to create a list that has the numbers appear after the text? I would like to be able to create a list that automatically numbers equations. The equation number would appear right justified at the right margin in parentheses, much like many academic journals. No problem getting the parentheses to appear or having the equation numbers in the left margin, but I can't figure out how to place the list numbers to the right of the text.

I'm guessing it can't be done, but I'd love for someone to prove otherwise.
TommyW
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Post by TommyW »

The align button says it aligns the number of each list item in the indent.

But it seems to be the opposite of what you'd expect. The left align looks like it aligns right and vice versa.

I've not seen any app do the numbering on the right, but perhaps someone else has...
champ
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Joined: 2004-10-14 07:51:45

Post by champ »

TommyW wrote:The align button says it aligns the number of each list item in the indent.

But it seems to be the opposite of what you'd expect. The left align looks like it aligns right and vice versa.

I've not seen any app do the numbering on the right, but perhaps someone else has...
Maybe that is why I couldn't figure out the pattern! I'll have to look at lists again with your suggestion in mind. It does seem to shift the number around in some manner.

FrameMaker allowed numbering on the right, but it was a very different beast. I do miss it, however. It was great for technical writing. I wrote two books in it. I have switched to LaTeX, which is a pain, but very flexible and powerful. I was hoping NWP could be used as a substitute, at least for shorter technical work. But I'm starting to find it too limiting. Too bad, since it is very elegant. But it still is a good substitute for the dreaded Word.
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Hamid
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Re: Lists

Post by Hamid »

champ wrote:I would like to be able to create a list that automatically numbers equations. The equation number would appear right justified at the right margin in parentheses,...
How many equations are involved and is one paragraph the same as one equation? If this is the case, you can try this workaround: Make one dummy paragraph and insert a cross-reference at the end of the paragraph to its own list number and add parentheses. The dummy and its text will appear like this:
1. EquationText. (1)
The colour of the list number itself which will appear at the beginning of the paragraph must be set to white so that it does not appear in print.
Copy and paste it as many times as you want so that it appears as:
EquationText. (1)
EquationText. (2)
EquationText. (3)
EquationText. (4) [etc]
Everytime you want to enter a new equation, just double-click 'EquationText' and enter the equation.
champ
Posts: 12
Joined: 2004-10-14 07:51:45

Post by champ »

TommyW wrote:The align button says it aligns the number of each list item in the indent.

But it seems to be the opposite of what you'd expect. The left align looks like it aligns right and vice versa.

I've not seen any app do the numbering on the right, but perhaps someone else has...
Maybe that is why I couldn't figure out the pattern! I'll have to look at lists again with your suggestion in mind. It does seem to shift the number around in some manner.

FrameMaker allowed numbering on the right, but it was a very different beast. I do miss it, however. It was great for technical writing. I wrote two books in it. I have switched to LaTeX, which is a pain, but very flexible and powerful. I was hoping NWP could be used as a substitute, at least for shorter technical work. But I'm starting to find it too limiting. Too bad, since it is very elegant. But it still is a good substitute for the dreaded Word.
champ
Posts: 12
Joined: 2004-10-14 07:51:45

Re: Lists

Post by champ »

Hamid wrote:How many equations are involved and is one paragraph the same as one equation? If this is the case, you can try this workaround: Make one dummy paragraph and insert a cross-reference at the end of the paragraph to its own list number and add parentheses. The dummy and its text will appear like this:
1. EquationText. (1)
The colour of the list number itself which will appear at the beginning of the paragraph must be set to white so that it does not appear in print.
Copy and paste it as many times as you want so that it appears as:
EquationText. (1)
EquationText. (2)
EquationText. (3)
EquationText. (4) [etc]
Everytime you want to enter a new equation, just double-click 'EquationText' and enter the equation.
That is rather ingenious. I thought about the cross-reference idea for the right-aligned equation number, but I didn't think about coloring the actual list number white. I'll have to try that, but it sounds like it would work. Thanks.
champ
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Joined: 2004-10-14 07:51:45

Post by champ »

Hamid's suggestion works. One oddity, but it's not a major problem. I defined the list number to look like:

(1)

by putting left and right parentheses in the before text and after text fields, respectively, in the List palette. When I create a cross-reference to it (referring to the "List Item Number") it appears like

(1

The closing (right) parenthesis is not included! Seems like a bug to me. Of course, all I have to do is type the closing parenthesis, but it seems like it should appear automatically.
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Hamid
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Lists

Post by Hamid »

It is not a bug because a cross reference to list numbers is not expected to include any After Text. My suggestion in the previous post was to include the cross reference number within parentheses by adding the parentheses in the dummy paragraph.
champ
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Joined: 2004-10-14 07:51:45

Re: Lists

Post by champ »

Hamid wrote:It is not a bug because a cross reference to list numbers is not expected to include any After Text. My suggestion in the previous post was to include the cross reference number within parentheses by adding the parentheses in the dummy paragraph.
I hadn't thought about it, but I guess that makes sense. For example, for a Figure labeled as:

Figure 1. The Figure Title

("Figure " in the Before Text and "." in the After Text.) You would want the period to be automatically added in the Figure list (in the actual figure title). However, a cross reference to Figure 1 certainly would want the "Figure " part, but not the period that would appear in the middle of the sentence that cross references it. Makes sense.

I was looking at Mellel last night. I do like the way you can "construct" the way automatic numbering is applied. You can put the number anywhere you want (and other items). However, still no cross referencing in Mellel.

I don't like how NWP always insists in a tab in the labeling. In my figure example, I really don't want a tab after "Figure 1." With centered text, for example, the tabs seem to cause odd formatting. That's a whole different issue I grappled with last night. I never did make sense of it.
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