Master Document Chapters Auto-numbering

users
#1

HI again,

I have a couple of questions regarding auto-numbering.

Apologies in advance if this has already been answered - I've spent umpteen
hours attempting to sort this over several days on and off, pouring through
documentation and the archives.

Two questions:

1. My Master Documents chapters numbering always starts from 1 - how can
this run concurrently for chapter1, chapter 2 etc etc.?

2. My introductory chapter has several subheadings, with the proviso of the
above, how can I auto-number my introductions subheadings (0.1, 0.1.1 etc.)?

Cheers,

Julian

#2

Hi!

HI again,

I have a couple of questions regarding auto-numbering.

Apologies in advance if this has already been answered - I've spent umpteen
hours attempting to sort this over several days on and off, pouring through
documentation and the archives.

Two questions:

1. My Master Documents chapters numbering always starts from 1 - how can
this run concurrently for chapter1, chapter 2 etc etc.?

That's weird, because it should be as you want by default. Without seeing the actual document it is quite difficult to guess what's wrong. Check if the styles selected on Tools → Outline numbering are the same on Master and subdocuments.

2. My introductory chapter has several subheadings, with the proviso of the
above, how can I auto-number my introductions subheadings (0.1, 0.1.1 etc.)?

That's not easy, sorry. It seems Writer belong to the school of thinking that says "zero is not a natural number" so even if there is no numbered heading before, a subheading will start with "1.1" instead of 0.1.

If you really want a leading zero, I think your only chance is to fake the numbering. Remember that you can set an "outline level" to any paragraph style on the "Outline and numbering" tab of the style definition, so you can "clone" the first and second level paragraph styles used on the rest of the document, set those clones to get outline level 1 and 2 and then fake the numbering either by writing them by hand or by using a sequence field.

You'll need to later fix the TOC, though

#3

Hi Julian,

1. My Master Documents chapters numbering always starts from 1 -
how can this run concurrently for chapter1, chapter 2 etc etc.?

2. My introductory chapter has several subheadings, with the
proviso of the above, how can I auto-number my introductions
subheadings (0.1, 0.1.1 etc.)?

Have tested all these. Could it be you have set the style for the
headings beginning with '1'.

Have uploaded a file. Hope it shows how it works:
http://robert.familiegrosskopf.de/download/MasterDoc.zip

Regards

Robert

#4

Thanks both so much, great info.

Will check the doc now Robert and report back on how it all transpires.

Cheers,

Julian

#5

The problem of counting has been a pain of my life. As a mathematics and physics student I learned that there are two kinds of numbers:

Cardinals include a zero, decimal points, and negatives. If you want the length of a fence you had better start counting posts with number zero. The common 12 inch ruler uses cardinals.

Ordinals, or "counting numbers" start at +1 and do not understand fractional parts such as 1.5. There is no zero. Algebra never uses them in a formula. They also are the only numbers in the Roman numerals of IVCLM fame. That permitted the Arabs, with their cardinals, to beat out the Romans with their inability to calculate interest rates.

I just picked up a recent technical book with paper pages and no pushbuttons. The first few pages are called the PREFACE and the page numbers therein are noted in lower case Roman numerals like iv, v, vi, viii. Can LibreOffice do that? The first page would have to be i because there is no zero.

It's not so bad as one might think but it probably advances the logic of those who believe the 20th century ended in December 2001. Somewhere on the WWW I found that the Christian era started in such a way that there was no +0 or -0 on either side of the famous birth. Those two years, of 365 days each, do not exist if you're chasing ancestors.

#6

<snip>

I just picked up a recent technical book with paper pages and no
pushbuttons. The first few pages are called the PREFACE and the page
numbers therein are noted in lower case Roman numerals like iv, v, vi,
viii. Can LibreOffice do that? The first page would have to be i
because there is no zero.

Sure. Just modify the page style used on the preface, go to the "Page" tab and under "Page layout" select the kind of page numbers you need from the "Page numbers" drop down menu.

#7

Julian,

Now that you're done (I assume), I'll confess to how much our discussion
has renewed my interest in and appreciation for LaTeX. Aside from the
insertion of your images, I have to wonder if your life would have been
easier using LaTeX for your thesis. No fiddling with master documents,
page margins or fonts... just let the computer do it all.

Several years ago, my teenage son was challenged to write a 50,000 word
novel in one month during "National Novel Writers Month." (NANOWRIMO).
The quest was to just write... don't worry about editing... don't worry
about formatting. Just write.

He accomplished his task on time, but did it with WordPerfect. As you
can imagine, by using a WYSIWYG word processor, he formatted as he typed
and it was a mess.

Several years later, I wanted to take his work and update it. As an
exercise in LaTeX, I took his WordPerfect file and stripped all the
formatting, saving it as a .txt file. I then inserted some \chapter and
\section headings, threw in a \tableofcontents command and compiled it
into a really nice looking book. The whole process took less than a half
an hour. Now, admittedly, it was a simple book, no images, tables, etc.,
but even still, had I tried to do the same thing with LO or MS-Word,
especially with master documents, it would have taken much longer, with
more headaches.

All that said, there have been many times when LaTeX had given me much
heartache, so I find myself switching back and forth between LaTeX and
LO. The process of indecision means I get educated in both systems,
which ain't a bad thing.

Virgil

#8

Hi *,

Now that you're done (I assume), I'll confess to how much our
discussion has renewed my interest in and appreciation for LaTeX.
Aside from the insertion of your images, I have to wonder if your
life would have been easier using LaTeX for your thesis. No
fiddling with master documents, page margins or fonts... just let
the computer do it all.

Only one hint for this: My first MasterDocument was the Master for the
German Base Handbook. First I had a little bit problems with styles,
which are named the same way, but were defined different in the
separate *.odt-files. After correcting these ther doesn't appear
problems any more.

When editing a new version of Handbook, I only change the link in my
filesystem to the special new folder and the new content will be read
by the master. If have done this for 9 different versions of the
Handbook, also without any problems and in a very short time.

The problem for many users: Writer and all other programs for editing
a normal text have too much functions and too much styles. I remember
my fist little dtp-program, called Timeworks Publisher: Only 4 styles
were defined for the whole document for headers and content. Everybody
knew, which style he/she had to choose for different tasks. Works.
With Writer I have to learn: Less is more.

Regards

Robert

#9

Robert wrote:.

Only one hint for this: My first MasterDocument was the Master for the
German Base Handbook. First I had a little bit problems with styles,
which are named the same way, but were defined different in the
separate *.odt-files. After correcting these ther doesn't appear
problems any more.

When editing a new version of Handbook, I only change the link in my
filesystem to the special new folder and the new content will be read
by the master. If have done this for 9 different versions of the
Handbook, also without any problems and in a very short time.

I'm sure LO's master document works just fine once you get it set up.
I've just never had the patience (or the pressing need) to get it fully
set up. I also tend to constantly fiddle with documents, changing a word
here or there. With a master document, I always have to check myself
when it doesn't let me directly edit the text. I have to separately open
the sub-document to do my editing. This is all good and the intended
function of a master document. I just get frustrated when I have to keep
reminding myself of this way of working.

Believe me, I'm not trying to open a LO vs. LaTeX debate. I work with
and love both systems. I was only thinking that most of the questions
Julian was asking were questions that LaTeX answers without anyone
having to ask.

The problem for many users: Writer and all other programs for editing
a normal text have too much functions and too much styles. I remember
my fist little dtp-program, called Timeworks Publisher: Only 4 styles
were defined for the whole document for headers and content. Everybody
knew, which style he/she had to choose for different tasks. Works.
With Writer I have to learn: Less is more.

+10. Amen. Preach it brother.

Virgil