Lists, keep options and span columns

Three paragraph-level features that change where text goes: generated list markers, rules that keep lines and paragraphs together across frame breaks, and paragraphs that span or split the columns of a frame.

In short A paragraph becomes a list item through BulletsAndNumberingListType (BulletList or NumberedList); the bullet or number is generated, never stored in Content. Numbers follow NumberingExpression and the format in a typed <NumberingFormat> child, and a <NumberingList> can carry one sequence across stories. Keep options (KeepWithNext, KeepLinesTogether and its companions) and StartParagraph decide where a paragraph may break between frames and columns. SpanColumnType lets a paragraph span several columns of a frame, such as a headline over a two-column article, or split its column into narrower ones.

Bullets and numbering

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<idPkg:Story xmlns:idPkg="http://ns.adobe.com/AdobeInDesign/idml/1.0/packaging" DOMVersion="20.0">
  <Story Self="ustory">
    <ParagraphStyleRange AppliedParagraphStyle="ParagraphStyle/$ID/[No paragraph style]" BulletsAndNumberingListType="NumberedList" NumberingExpression="^#.^t" NumberingStartAt="1" LeftIndent="18" FirstLineIndent="-18">
      <Properties>
        <NumberingFormat type="string">1, 2, 3, 4...</NumberingFormat>
      </Properties>
      <CharacterStyleRange AppliedCharacterStyle="CharacterStyle/$ID/[No character style]">
        <Content>Unzip the package.</Content>
        <Br/>
        <Content>Open designmap.xml and follow its references.</Content>
        <Br/>
        <Content>Read each story in the order the spreads place it.</Content>
      </CharacterStyleRange>
    </ParagraphStyleRange>
  </Story>
</idPkg:Story>

The list attributes sit on a paragraph style or a <ParagraphStyleRange>. Most are attributes; InDesign writes a few as typed <Properties> children and ignores them as attributes.

A bullet is written, for example, as <BulletChar BulletCharacterType="UnicodeOnly" BulletCharacterValue="8226"/> inside <Properties>: U+2022, the bullet character.

Numbering counts consecutive numbered paragraphs within a story. A named <NumberingList>, a child of <Document> in designmap.xml, can carry the count across stories (ContinueNumbersAcrossStories) and across the documents of a book (ContinueNumbersAcrossDocuments). Paragraphs join it through <AppliedNumberingList>.

In Paged: bullets and numbers are generated from the paragraph's list attributes with the numbering formats InDesign offers, and the text after the marker lands on the hanging indent. <NumberingFormat>, <AppliedNumberingList> and the marker character styles are read as the typed children InDesign writes. <NumberingList> definitions are read only from Resources/Styles.xml, not from designmap.xml where InDesign writes them, so numbering continues across stories only for lists defined there. Multi-level numbering (NumberingLevel) is not read yet. Supported · verified

Keep options

Keep options say which lines must share a frame or column, so that a break falls elsewhere.

InDesign applies these by moving lines. With KeepWithNext, a paragraph's last line moves to join the next paragraph, not necessarily the whole paragraph. With KeepFirstLines, a paragraph that would leave too few lines before the break moves entirely; with KeepLastLines, lines are pulled over until enough follow the break.

In Paged: all six are honoured, following the line-moving behaviour measured against InDesign. A break is only forced where a next frame or column exists.

Span and split columns

In a multi-column frame, a paragraph can leave the column grid:

A spanning paragraph runs across the given number of columns. The text before it, from the top of its band, is balanced over those columns by line count, and the text after it continues below it. A split paragraph divides its own column into narrower sub-columns, balanced by line count; a run of consecutive split paragraphs with the same settings forms one block.

In Paged: spanning and splitting are laid out, including the balancing above a span and the block rules between consecutive split paragraphs, as measured against InDesign.

Frequently asked questions

Are list numbers stored in the IDML text? No. The number or bullet is generated from the paragraph's list attributes when the text is laid out. Content holds only the item text.

How is a bullet character written? As <BulletChar> inside the paragraph's or style's <Properties>, with BulletCharacterType and BulletCharacterValue, the code point in decimal (8226 for •).

What is the difference between KeepWithNext and KeepLinesTogether? KeepWithNext ties a paragraph to the one after it, which keeps a heading with its text. KeepLinesTogether controls breaks inside a paragraph, together with KeepAllLinesTogether, KeepFirstLines and KeepLastLines.

How do I make a headline span two columns? Set SpanColumnType="SpanColumns" on the headline's paragraph and give the count as <Properties><SpanSplitColumnCount type="short">2</SpanSplitColumnCount></Properties>, or type="enumeration" with All for every column.