Numbering Styles

As stated earlier in the styles subclause (§2.8), numbering styles are style definitions which specify common formatting properties for a multi-level numbering format within a document. This means that a numbering style definition in the styles part defines only a single property: a reference to a numbering definition instance stored in the document’s numbering part, using the <numId> element within the <numPr> element. That numbering definition instance specifies an abstract numbering style, which contains the numbering level information for the numbering style. It also specifies that it is the basis for the numbering style by back-referencing the numbering style's @styleId attribute via the <styleLink> element.

Unlike paragraph and character styles, numbering styles are never directly referenced by content in the document—instead, an abstract numbering definition specifies that it contains the underlying numbering information for a numbering style, and one or more numbering definition instances reference that abstract numbering definition.