Chapter 10. Numbering
Numbered lists and sequentially identified document components (such as chapter headings) are common features of many types of document:
| 1) …… | A) …… | i) …… | 1.a.i) …… |
| 2) …… | B) …… | ii) …… | 1.a.ii) …… |
| 3) …… | C) …… | iii) …… | …… |
| 4) …… | D) …… | iv) …… | 55.g.xiii) …… |
| 5) …… | E) …… | v) …… | 55.g.xiv) …… |
While these numbers can be entered as part of the text by document authors, there are good reasons why numbering is rarely done this way. One such reason includes the desire to style and position the numbers in a distinct way. Another is to facilitate the deletion, insertion and rearrangement of numbered items without having to edit the values in order to recreate the sequential order. Numbering is therefore commonly left to software that is capable of performing the relatively simple task of counting and generating values for these items. XSLT stylesheets are able to identify the elements to number, and insert the appropriate value.