Nested numbered steps in EDD

Report · Sep 29, 2017

Hi, All.

I've been trying to fix my EDD for days and cannot get it to work correctly. I'm working in Structured Framemaker 12.0.4.445 and will be publishing in PDF.

My goal is to format all of my procedure steps through the EDD as opposed to pointing to paragraph formats. Here is what I'm trying to accomplish:

1.

2.

a.

b.

1.

2.

Instead, I am getting this:

1.

2.

a.

1.

It seems like I have tried everything! I'm sure it's a really simple fix, but I can't figure it out. Also, I can't change or add any elements without written permission from God, so I have to work with what I have. Below is the step portion of my EDD.

Thank you for you help!!

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Element (Container): step1

Attribute list

1. Name: id Unique ID Optional

2. Name: label String Optional

3. Name: chglvl String Optional

4. Name: delchlvl String Optional

5. Name: inschlvl String Optional

6. Name: security Choice Optional

Choices: u | c | s | ts

Text format rules

1. If context is: {first}

Basic properties

Indents

First indent: 0.0”

Left indent: 0.25”

Line spacing

Height: 13.0 pt

Tab Stops

Tab stop position: 0.25”

Default font properties

Size: 11.0 pt

Numbering properties

Autonumber format: A:<n=1>.\t

Else

Basic properties

Indents

First indent: 0.0”

Left indent: 0.25”

Line spacing

Height: 13.0 pt

Tab Stops

Tab stop position: 0.25”

Default font properties

Size: 11.0 pt

Numbering properties

Autonumber format: A:<n+1>.\t

Element (Container): step2

Attribute list

1. Name: id Unique ID Optional

2. Name: label String Optional

3. Name: chglvl String Optional

4. Name: delchlvl String Optional

5. Name: inschlvl String Optional

6. Name: security Choice Optional

Choices: u | c | s | ts

Text format rules

1. If context is: {second}

Basic properties

Indents

First indent: 0.25”

Left indent: 0.5”

Line spacing

Height: 13.0 pt

Tab Stops

Tab stop position: 0.5”

Default font properties

Size: 11.0 pt

Numbering properties

Autonumber format: B:<a=1>.\t

Else

Basic properties

Indents

First indent: 0.25”

Left indent: 0.5”

Line spacing

Height: 13.0 pt

Tab Stops

Tab stop position: 0.5”

Default font properties

Size: 11.0 pt

Numbering properties

Autonumber format: B:<a+1>.\t

Element (Container): step3

Attribute list

1. Name: id Unique ID Optional

2. Name: label String Optional

3. Name: chglvl String Optional

4. Name: delchlvl String Optional

5. Name: inschlvl String Optional

6. Name: security Choice Optional

Choices: u | c | s | ts

Text format rules

1. If context is: {third}

Basic properties

Indents

First indent: 0.5”

Left indent: 0.75”

Line spacing

Height: 13.0 pt

Tab Stops

Tab stop position: 0.75”

Default font properties

Size: 11.0 pt

Numbering properties

Autonumber format: C:<n=1>.\t

Else

Basic properties

Indents

First indent: 0.5”

Left indent: 0.75”

Line spacing

Height: 13.0 pt

Tab Stops

Tab stop position: 0.75”

Default font properties

Size: 11.0 pt

Numbering properties

Autonumber format: C:<n+1>.\t

Report · Sep 29, 2017

Tamwood,

Did you check the error messages that appear when you import element definitions from the EDD? FM reports that the context specifications {second} and {third} are invalid. You should check the Structure Developer's Guide for the allowable syntax of context specifications. I am not sure what you thought these specifications would do but I will suggest some alternatives in my comments below.

1. Note that all step2 elements are gathered at the end of a step1. You can therefore distinguish the first step2 in a sequence from any others by testing whether the step2 immediately follows another step2. Thus, your pattern will be:

If context is: {after step2}

formatting for the second and successive step2 elements

Else

formatting for the first step2 in a sequence

2. Since you did not provide the general rule for the parent of step1, I do not know whether your test for {first} works. It tests whether the step1 is the first child of its parent, not whether the step1 is the first one of a sequence. If the step1 occurs in an element such as list that can only contain step1 elements, your rule will work. If the first step1 can be preceded by something like a title, or if it occurs in a section or paragraph where it can be preceded by text or other elements, your "if" case will not be triggered. Since all autonumber counters are initialized to 0, if FM uses the "else" rule for the first step, it will still appear as "1.".

3. You have used the building block <n+1> to increment your counters. FrameMaker ignores the 1. It does not have the ability to increment counters by more than 1. The correct syntax is simply <n+>.

4. You are using different autonumber sequences for the different levels of nested steps (A: for step1, B: for step2, C: for step3). That's fine but you might find it easier to use different multiple counters in the same sequence. An autonumber can have any number of counters. All counters that are not mentioned in the autonumber are reset to 0. You can preserve a counter's value without displaying it with a space instead of an 'n' or 'a' in its building block. Thus you can use one sequence for all steps, with the first counter for step1, the second for step2, and the third for step3. You might still need to use a context rule for step1, with the autonumbers <n=1>.\t and <n+>.\t. Both of these set and display the first counter and reset the others to 0. You can then use all context-rules for step2 and step3. For step2, the autonumber is simply < ><a+>.\t, which preserves the current value of the first counter, adds 1 to the second counter and displays it as a letter, and resets the third counter to 0. The autonumber for step3 is < >< ><n+>.\t, which preserves the values of the first and second counter and increments and displays the third.

--Lynne

Report · Oct 02, 2017

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lynne!!

Besides the {second} and {third} (which were in the original EDD), it looks like I just had things backwards for the most part. It appears to be working just fine now. I really appreciate your help.

What a great way to start off a Monday!

Tammy

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Nested numbered steps in EDD

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