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Answered

Conditional Text on Auto Numbering Step 1

Forum|Forum|20 days ago
August 27, 2026
14 replies
67 views

FrameMaker 2022

I’m applying two conditional text tags to step 1 in a list of 5 steps. If I include the paragraph tag at the end of the step, then steps 2-5 turn into steps 10-13 (because the previous page ended with step 9 for a different set of steps/procedure).

If I do not include the paragraph tag, then the text disappears but the #1 remains.

What am I doing wrong?

Correct answer frameexpert

I am making some assumptions here but this is roughly what I assume you have:

Procedure 1

<n=1> 1. Step 1

<n+> 2. Step 2

<n+> 3. Step 3

etc.

Procedure 2

<n=1> 1. Step 1

<n+> 2. Step 2

<n+> 3. Step 3

etc.

So when you conditionalize and hide Procedure 2, Step 1, you get:

Procedure 1

<n=1> 1. Step 1

<n+> 2. Step 2

<n+> 3. Step 3

etc.

Procedure 2

<n+> 4. Step 2

<n+> 5. Step 3

etc.

One solution is to see if each procedure has a consistent heading or introductory paragraph. In that case, you can reset the numbering with an invisible autonumber; something like this:

< =0>Procedure 1

<n+> 1. Step 1

<n+> 2. Step 2

<n+> 3. Step 3

etc.

< =0>Procedure 2

<n+> 1. Step 1

<n+> 2. Step 2

<n+> 3. Step 3

etc.

Now if you hide Step 1 in any of the procedures, the following Steps will renumber correctly.

D

DawnLawienAuthor

Participating Frequently

Rick, I so appreciate you creating this video! You hit the nail on the head with the problem I’m having. Unfortunately this manual has upwards of a thousand procedures and three separate conditional tags to output three different manuals. For someone who does not work with conditional tags on a daily basis, this has gotten complex for me. Only a handful of the procedures have the step 1 problem, fortunately.

All of the procedures are preceded by a header, but few have an intro paragraph. I am using the numbered paragraph tag, as you surmised. To use the invisible auto number, which is new to me (again thank you for your efforts in making the video) on all of the affected procedures seems overwhelming.

The work around I’ve started to apply, when it fits, is to make step 2 the new step 1 and the old step 1 the new step 2. That way I can add the conditional tag to step 2 and not mess up the numbering. That “trick” doesn’t work for all procedures, so I will have to get creative.

Dawn

frameexpert

Community Expert

Hi Dawn, We may be able to automate this with scripting. If you have time, we could meet via zoom or teams. You can contact me offlist at rick at frameexpert dot com. Thank you.

www.frameexpert.com

D

DawnLawienAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thank you for that offer, Rick. I’ve already done the work of creating a new, non-conditional, step 1 and now numbering is happy.

frameexpert

Correct answer

Community Expert

I am making some assumptions here but this is roughly what I assume you have:

Procedure 1

<n=1> 1. Step 1

<n+> 2. Step 2

<n+> 3. Step 3

etc.

Procedure 2

<n=1> 1. Step 1

<n+> 2. Step 2

<n+> 3. Step 3

etc.

So when you conditionalize and hide Procedure 2, Step 1, you get:

Procedure 1

<n=1> 1. Step 1

<n+> 2. Step 2

<n+> 3. Step 3

etc.

Procedure 2

<n+> 4. Step 2

<n+> 5. Step 3

etc.

One solution is to see if each procedure has a consistent heading or introductory paragraph. In that case, you can reset the numbering with an invisible autonumber; something like this:

< =0>Procedure 1

<n+> 1. Step 1

<n+> 2. Step 2

<n+> 3. Step 3

etc.

< =0>Procedure 2

<n+> 1. Step 1

<n+> 2. Step 2

<n+> 3. Step 3

etc.

Now if you hide Step 1 in any of the procedures, the following Steps will renumber correctly.

www.frameexpert.com

Jeff_Coatsworth

Community Expert

I knew there was a more elegant solution out there! Sorry, @Two-fer - I completely missed your response

Jeff_Coatsworth

Community Expert

I think I understand what you’re trying to accomplish. You’ve got something/want something like this:

9. step from last page
new page
1. step one if not conditioned
2. step two if not conditioned, but step 1 if it is conditioned
3. step three if not conditioned, but step 2 if it is conditioned
etc.

Your paragraph tag definition of step 1 probably sets the numbering to start at 1 & your steps 2 onwards just add on to the previous # (thus giving you step 2, 3, 4, etc.). When you condition step 1, that then knocks out the renumbering reset & you get steps 10, 11, 12, etc. instead.

There’s probably a couple of ways to fix this - my brute force method would be to repeat step 2’s content, but apply step 1’s paragraph tag to it & then condition it. Another way would be to copy the entire section of steps 2-x, delete step 1 and set step 2’s content have step 1’s paragraph tag, then condition the entire repeated section.
I’m sure there’s a more elegant way to tackle this reset numbering issue out there.

D

DawnLawienAuthor

Participating Frequently

That’s an idea. Thank you for your reply.

Two-fer

Inspiring

What if you assigned one conditional text tag to all 5 steps and then made a separate list for the 4-step version (where the previous Step 2 is now assigned a Step 1 tag to restart the numbering) and assigned a different conditional text tag? Then I think you could toggle between the 4-step series and the 5-step series and the numbering should work. This isn’t an elegant solution, but...

D

DawnLawienAuthor

Participating Frequently

I may end up having to go this route, because I have several of these to deal with and this seems like the fastest solution. Thank you for your reply.

W

Winfried Reng

Community Expert

Hi,

Admittedly I do not understand what you do and what you want to achieve and what happens.

Could you explain everything in more detail? Possibly with example text?

Best regards, Winfried

D

DawnLawienAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thank you for asking Winfried. Other posters have provided solutions so I am able to move forward. If I need to ask a question again in the forum I won’t be so stingy with the details.

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