L.1.10.4 Numbering Definition Instances

A numbering definition instance is a specific instantiation of numbering information that can be referenced by zero or more paragraphs within the document. A numbering definition instance is defined using the num element. A specific numbering definition instance in WordprocessingML can be divided into two parts:

An abstract numbering reference (Optional) level overrides

The definition of all numbering definition instance properties can be found on the reference for the num element.

The required piece of information in a numbering definition instance, the instance must reference an abstract numbering definition using the abstractNumId element. This element specifies the value of the abstractNumId attribute for the inherited abstract numbering definition information.

Consider the WordprocessingML for a document with four numbering definition instances, two of which reference the same underlying abstract numbering definition:

<w:numbering>
  …
  <w:num w:numId="2">
    <w:abstractNumId w:val="0" />
  </w:num>
  <w:num w:numId="3">
    <w:abstractNumId w:val="1" />
  </w:num>
  <w:num w:numId="4">
    <w:abstractNumId w:val="4" />
  </w:num>
  <w:num w:numId="5">
    <w:abstractNumId w:val="4" />
  </w:num>
</w:numbering>

As shown above, the first two numbering definition instances reference abstractNumId values of 0 and 1 respectively, and the last two both reference the abstract numbering definition with an abstractNumId of 4.

The second (and optional) piece of information for a numbering definition instance is one or more numbering level overrides using the lvlOverride element. This element specifies a set of optional overrides applied to zero or more levels from the abstract numbering definition inherited by this instance.

Consider a numbering definition instance that inherits its information from the abstract numbering definition with abstractNumId of 4, but wishes to use a different set of properties for level 0 of the numbering definition. The resulting WordprocessingML would look like:

<w:num w:numId="6">
  <w:abstractNumId w:val="4" />
  <w:lvlOverride w:ilvl="0">
    <w:lvl w:ilvl="0">
      <w:start w:val="4" />
      <w:lvlText w:val="%1)" />
      <w:lvlJc w:val="start" />
      <w:pPr>
        <w:ind w:left="360" w:hanging="360" />
      </w:pPr>
    </w:lvl>
  </w:lvlOverride>
</w:num>

This level overrides level 0 of the list with the specified set of numbering properties, replacing those in the abtract numbering definition.