Outline numbering in TOC field and decimally numbered lists

[ErikJan]

A few days ago I spent a whole day trying to make a template with outline numbering in the headings and the Table of Contents field. I came to the following conclusions:
What I want is this:
1.----------Heading 1
1.1---------Heading 2
etc.
And I want my table of contents to be like this:
1.---Heading 1
-----1.1 Heading 2
-----------1.1.1 Heading 3
-----------1.1.2 Heading 3
To achieve this I need tabstops in the paragraph styles called table-of-contents-style-for-heading-level x. (I use the Dutch version and do not know now the exact English names.) There are two problems here:
a. the tab in the text of the headings is removed in the TOC field. I must reinsert them manually.
b. these settings of the TOC field are not saved with the template, unless the TOC field itself is saved in the template. But since the field cannot be copied or moved, I must keep it in the template and type the text around it and thus keep the TOC at the correct place.

Within paragraphs I need decimal numbering:
1.------text at level 1
---------1.1.---text at level 2
---------1.2.---text at level 2
----------------1.2.1.---text at level 3
2.-------text at level 1
Etc.

(Edit: I put hyphens where I want white space in my document, because spaces are removed when I submit my text to the forum.)

I tried this with the paragraph style "Numbering 1". In this style I can define the first level only. So I went to Format and then to numbering/listing and defined the levels. This formatting is not saved with the template, worse, every time some defaults are given again and I cannot find a way to change them. It is the same with the numbering/listing toolbar.
After wasting some hours waging war against the program I chose "Numbering 1" under "list styles" (in Dutch: "Lijstopmaakprofielen"). Here I could define levels that are saved with the template!!

The discovery is this: the LIST style "Numbering 1" IS NOT IDENTICAL with PARAGRAPH style "Numbering 1"!!!

The former can be applied to any pragraph style, "Numbering 1" included.

In one word: Openoffice.org is a mess in this respect. For the first time in almost six years I got homesick for MsOffice

I hope this report of my war with openoffice may be useful to someone. And if I missed something, I hope to learn here what I should have done.

Greetings,

Erik Jan.

[JohnV]

To create white space between the number and chapter title in a TOC go to the Entries tab, click in the box between E# and E then tap the spacebar one or more times.

[ErikJan]

Dear john,

I found this out, of course. I prefer tabs anytime. But the problem remains: paragraph styles for numbering or bulletting are not identical with list styles of the same names. TOC settings are not saved in the template, unless the TOC field itself is saved in it. The TOC field removes tabs from the numbered headings, so that these must be reinserted always in a new TOC field. It is impossible to change the default settings in the listing/bulletting toolbar and in the listing/bulletting window under Format. These things make Openoffice a mess in this respect and make users who are acquainted with MSOffice, loose valuable time and despair of succeeding .

Greetings,

Erik Jan.

[Hagar Delest]

Can you upload a sample file of what you're trying to do (see: How to attach a document here)?

OOo is far more robust regarding styles than MS Word! Especially for numbering. A list style can be applied on any paragraph style indeed since it's a layer above a paragraph style. The Paragraph style is a specific one that includes already that list style so if you apply it to another paragraph style, it changes this selection to the new paragraph style.

Better avoid any list style when working with ToC. Use the Tools>Outline Numbering and the structure line of the ToC. If you have anyway to add a ToC in your document, then why don't you insert it directly in your template?

[ErikJan]

When I download my own file, I see that it is different from what I thought I uploaded. Just in case I made a mistake, here it is again.

[floris v]

When I open that file, both TOCs look exactly the same, and they look very much like what you seem to want. So what's the problem?

[Hagar Delest]

So the tabs have been removed with a default ToC. I don't think you can change this behavior. Why not insert the ToC in the template with some dummy text? The user would just have to double click the dummy text (in the main text) to insert his.

[ErikJan]

Thank you, Hagar,

for confirming the sortcomings I mentioned: the difference between listing styles and paragraph styles, and the removal of tabs (and perhaps other characters) from headings in the TOC-field. Surely I shall workaround these problems; it is a good thing to know that I was not mistaken.

Greetings,

Erik Jan.