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Bulleted and Numbered Lists. The Fundamentals.

Atlantis has comprehensive support for all types of lists, bulleted and numbered, whether simple (one level) or outline (multilevel). You can design foolproof numbering schemes from simplest to most complex with the greatest of ease.

In ordinary life, a list is an ordered set of items belonging together. In Atlantis, a list is an ordered set of paragraphs where each separate paragraph represents a single item from the list it belongs to. To set off items in a list, a special text, symbol or image is automatically displayed to the left of the first character of each item, i.e. of each paragraph. From now on, we will refer to such automatic text, symbol or image as "automatic list text" or simply "list text".

Automatic list text can be a symbol, —for example, a solid circle:

It can also be a graphic image, —a heart shape for instance:

Lists displaying such automatic list text are called "bulleted lists".

List text can also be a combination of a number and some punctuation sign:

Or a combination of some text, number, and punctuation sign:

Lists displaying such automatic list text are called "numbered lists".

Automatic list text displayed by a bulleted list is also simply called a "bullet". Automatic list text displayed by a numbered list is called "list number".

All paragraphs belonging to the same list are displayed either with a completely identical list text or with interrelated text. This is the case with numbered lists where each item must obviously have a unique number but must also be connected to the shared list numbering scheme:

 

There are two ways to design lists in Atlantis. You can use either

  • direct list formatting,
  • or style-controlled list formatting (sometimes referred to as "style numbering" in other word processors).

With Direct list formatting, you create lists manually by applying list formatting commands to the target paragraphs , —just like you apply any other paragraph formatting command.

With "style-controlled" lists, you do not apply list formatting commands directly. The list formatting commands are applied automatically when you associate a group of paragraphs with a style that includes list formatting as one of its characteristics. The list formatting characteristics are integral part of the style that you associate with the target paragraphs and they are automatically applied just like any other formatting characteristic defined for the style. All paragraphs formatted with a style including list formatting as one of its characteristics behave like a logical group of items (i.e. a list of items) sharing the same design and numbering options. By adjusting the list formatting characteristics of a style, you can easily control the design of the target list(s).

Important difference between Atlantis and other word processors:

In Atlantis, style-controlled list formatting cannot be changed through direct list formatting. In other words, Atlantis will not accept direct list formatting commands aimed at paragraphs whose list formatting characteristics are style-controlled, i.e. are inherent in the associated style. If you want to change the formatting characteristics of a style-controlled list, you must modify the list formatting characteristics of the associated style.

On the other hand, list characteristics applied through direct formatting can be changed by the application of a style. In this case, the list formatting characteristics of the style automatically replace any previous list formatting, if any.

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