<pStyle> (Referenced Paragraph Style)

This element specifies the style ID of the paragraph style which shall be used to format the contents of this paragraph.

This formatting is applied at the following location in the style hierarchy:

  • Document defaults

  • Table styles

  • Numbering styles

  • Paragraph styles (this element)

  • Character styles

  • Direct Formatting

This means that all properties specified in the <style> element (§2.7.3.17) with a @styleId which corresponds to the value in this element's @val attribute are applied to the paragraph at the appropriate level in the hierarchy.

If this element is omitted, or it references a style which does not exist, then no paragraph style shall be applied to the current paragraph. As well, this property is ignored if the paragraph properties are part of a paragraph style.

example: 
<w:pPr>
  <w:pStyle w:val=”TestParagraphStyle” />
  <w:ind w:left=”1440” />
</w:pPr>

This paragraph specifies that it will inherit all of the paragraph properties specified by the paragraph style with a @styleId of TestParagraphStyle, which will then have any indentation properties overridden with a @left indentation of 1440 twentieths of a point, and no indentation for any other value. ]

Parent Elements

<pPr> (§2.7.4.2); <pPr> (§2.9.24); <pPr> (§2.3.1.25); <pPr> (§2.7.5.1); <pPr> (§2.3.1.26); <pPr> (§2.7.7.2)

Attributes

Description

<val> (String Value)

Specifies that its contents will contain a string.

The contents of this string are interpreted based on the context of the parent XML element.

<w:pPr>
  <w:pStyle w:val="heading1" /> 
</w:pPr>

The value of the @val attribute is the ID of the associated paragraph style's styleId.

However, consider the following fragment:

<w:sdtPr>
  <w:alias w:val="SDT Title Example" />
  ...
</w:sdtPr>

In this case, the decimal number in the @val attribute is the caption of the parent structured document tag. In each case, the value is interpreted in the context of the parent element. ]

The possible values for this attribute are defined by the ST_String simple type (§2.18.89).

The following XML Schema fragment defines the contents of this element:

<complexType name="CT_String">
	<attribute name="val" type="ST_String" use="required"/>
</complexType>