Re: Why are outline numbered list limited to 9 levels?

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Really the best place to pursue this inquiry is in the .numbering NG. The
regulars who post there know far more about numbering than I ever will. I
remain skeptical, however, that the functionality you're seeking was ever
available in Word.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"F. James Little" <FJamesLittle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2D2C65E9-646B-4434-9D58-A14708869FE7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Suzanne,
>
> Thanks for the reply. I had actually thought of trying to nest the lists,
> but when I tried it, I was unable to get it to work... (I'm sure there is
> some trick to it.) When I tried, it would continue to treat the nested
list
> as a continuation of the Parent list, and would not allow any further
> indentations to occur.
>
> A reply from Robert to this same question on the Word.Numbering forum
> contained a link which may have offered a solution to the nesting issue.
If
> you know of a simple method using just the interface to nest list, I would
> love to hearit!
>
> Thanks again for your help.
>
> F. James Little
> Sr. Software Engineer
>
> "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
>
> > You can have as many level of indents and bullets as you like because
there
> > is no issue with restarting numbering after a certain level. You can
apply
> > any bullet you like to any style you like with any indent you like. You
> > could even, I imagine, have multiple outline-numbered lists (nested),
but
> > you can't have more than nine levels within a given list.
> >
> > --
> > Suzanne S. Barnhill
> > Microsoft MVP (Word)
> > Words into Type
> > Fairhope, Alabama USA
> > Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
> > Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so
> > all may benefit.
> >
> > "F. James Little" <FJamesLittle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message
> > news:FF39B178-D630-4846-B645-C5C857594EA7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > Graham,
> > >
> > > I would have to disagree with you that an outline 9 0r more levels
deep
> > > would be incomprehensible. I would think that it would be very much
> > > dependent upon the intent of the document and its intended document.
In
> > the
> > > particular case I am attempting to document the architecture of an
object
> > > oriented software module by creating an outline of pseudopodia. (This
to
> > be
> > > accompanied by UML diagrams developed in Visio.) The logic of this
> > > particular module easily goes to more than 20 levels deep, and this is
not
> > a
> > > particularly complicated module. To an audience of fellow Software
> > > Engineers, I can assure you that the resulting pseudopodia outline
would
> > be
> > > completely comprehensible.
> > >
> > > In any case, I believe that setting the limit to 9 levels is somewhat
> > > arbitrary, and I believe that Microsoft should not place limits upon
users
> > > within its applications unless there is a resource limitation or
> > documented
> > > requirement to do so. Given how buggy the numbered outline seems to
be in
> > > Word, perhaps it is in fact a resource limitation that forces the
limit to
> > be
> > > 9. It seems to me that earlier versions of the MS Word supported
more, if
> > > not unlimited, levels when bullets and numbers could be set to
multilevel
> > > prior to the advent of the specific numbered outline option. (The
> > numbered
> > > outline may have been available in previous versions, but if it was it
was
> > > not the default as it is today; the simple bulleted format was the
default
> > > which could be customized to multiple levels.)
> > >
> > > If I am correct on the above, then this would seem to be a case of
lost
> > > functionality. (A major, "your going to hell" sin in my industry.)
In
> > any
> > > case, if Word is not going to support more than 9 levels, why then
does
> > > customization dialog present the level selection in a scrollable list
> > control
> > > with all 9 levels visible in the list? The scrollbar is disabled
because
> > > there is nothing to scroll to, but it is nonetheless there. If there
was
> > not
> > > the intent to support more levels, why then allow the scrollbar to be
> > present
> > > al all! It is very confusing to the user in that it gives the
impression
> > that
> > > there may be a circumstance when the scroll bar may be active.
(Believe
> > me,
> > > I have spent the better part of a morning looking for just such a
> > > circumstance.) If the Microsoft Word development team did not intend
> > there
> > > to ever be more than 9 levels, then it would have been a simple matter
> > > through code to prevent the listbox from displaying a vertical scroll
bar!
> > > (I believe the vertical scrollbar is a holdover from previous versions
> > where
> > > more than 9 levels were supported.)
> > >
> > > So, my question still stands... why does MS Word not support more than
9
> > > levels for a numbered outline list? Is it by accident, necessity (a
> > resource
> > > or design limitation), or design (there is actually some literary
> > authority
> > > out there that dictates the number of levels within a numbered outline
> > shall
> > > be 9, and 9 shall be the number of levels within a numbered outline!
10
> > is
> > > right out!) (My apologies to Monty Python.)
> > >
> > > Thanks!
> > >
> > > F. James Little
> > > Sr Software Engineer
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > "Graham Mayor" wrote:
> > >
> > > > Outlines more than four levels are difficult to read and the
province of
> > > > Government documents. A document with more than 9 levels would be
> > > > incomprehensible. What is your thinking here?
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > <>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
> > > > Graham Mayor - Word MVP
> > > >
> > > > My web site www.gmayor.com
> > > > Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org
> > > > <>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
> > > >
> > > > F. James Little wrote:
> > > > > Is there any way to add more levels to a outline numbered list?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> >
> >

.

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