<style> (Style Definition)

This element specifies the definition of a single style within a WordprocessingML document. A style is a predefined set of table, numbering, paragraph, and/or character properties which can be applied to regions within a document.

The style definition for any style definition can be divided into three segments:

  • General style properties

  • Style type

  • Type-specific properties

General style properties refers to the set of properties which can be used regardless of the type of style; for example, the style name, additional aliases for the style, a style ID (used by the document content to refer to the style), if style is hidden, if style is locked, etc.

example: 
<w:style w:type="paragraph" w:styleId="Heading1">
  <w:name w:val="Heading 1"/>
  <w:basedOn w:val="Normal"/>
  <w:next w:val="Normal"/>
  <w:link w:val="Heading1Char"/>
  <w:priority w:val="1"/>
  <w:qformat/>
  <w:rsid w:val="00F303CE"/>
  …
</w:style>

Above the formatting information specific to this style type are a set of general style properties which define information shared by all style types. ]

Style types refers to the property on a style which defines the type of style created with this style definition. WordprocessingML supports six types of style definitions by the values for the style definition's @type attribute:

  • Paragraph styles

  • Character styles

  • Linked styles (paragraph + character) [: Accomplished via the <link> element (§2.7.3.6). ]

  • Table styles

  • Numbering styles

  • Default paragraph + character properties

example: 
<w:style w:type="paragraph" w:styleId="Heading1">
  <w:name w:val="heading 1"/>
  <w:basedOn w:val="Normal"/>
  <w:next w:val="Normal"/>
  <w:link w:val="Heading1Char"/>
  <w:priority w:val="1"/>
  <w:qformat/>
  <w:rsid w:val="00F303CE"/>
  …
</w:style>

The @type attribute has a value of paragraph, which indicates that the following style definition is a paragraph style. ]

Type-specific properties refers to the payload of the style: its formatting information as well as any properties which apply only to that type of style.

example: 
<w:style w:type="table" w:default="1" w:styleId="TableNormal">
  <w:name w:val="Normal Table"/>
  …
  <w:tblPr>
    <w:tblInd w:w="0" w:type="dxa"/>
    <w:tblCellMar>
      <w:top w:w="0" w:type="dxa"/>
      <w:left w:w="108" w:type="dxa"/>
      <w:bottom w:w="0" w:type="dxa"/>
      <w:right w:w="108" w:type="dxa"/>
    </w:tblCellMar>
  </w:tblPr>
</w:style>

The <tblPr> element contains the formatting payload for this table style, which is only applicable to a table style. ]

Parent Elements

<styles> (§2.7.3.18)

Child Elements

Subclause

<aliases> (Alternate Style Names)

§2.7.3.1

<autoRedefine> (Automatically Merge User Formatting Into Style Definition)

§2.7.3.2

<basedOn> (Parent Style ID)

§2.7.3.3

<hidden> (Hide Style From User Interface)

§2.7.3.4

<link> (Linked Style Reference)

§2.7.3.6

<locked> (Style Cannot Be Applied)

§2.7.3.7

<name> (Primary Style Name)

§2.7.3.9

<next> (Style For Next Paragraph)

§2.7.3.10

<personal> (E-Mail Message Text Style)

§2.7.3.11

<personalCompose> (E-Mail Message Composition Style)

§2.7.3.12

<personalReply> (E-Mail Message Reply Style)

§2.7.3.13

<pPr> (Style Paragraph Properties)

§2.7.7.2

<qFormat> (Primary Style)

§2.7.3.14

<rPr> (Run Properties)

§2.7.8.1

<rsid> (Revision Identifier for Style Definition)

§2.7.3.15

<semiHidden> (Hide Style From Main User Interface)

§2.7.3.16

<tblPr> (Style Table Properties)

§2.7.5.4

<tblStylePr> (Style Conditional Table Formatting Properties)

§2.7.5.6

<tcPr> (Style Table Cell Properties)

§2.7.5.8

<trPr> (Style Table Row Properties)

§2.7.5.11

<uiPriority> (Optional User Interface Sorting Order)

§2.7.3.19

<unhideWhenUsed> (Remove Semi-Hidden Property When Style Is Used)

§2.7.3.20

Attributes

Description

<customStyle> (User-Defined Style)

Specifies that this style is a user-defined style (i.e. it is not a style which was automatically generated by an application). This setting (specifically a value of true or its equivalents) shall not allow the formatting associated with the style to be changed automatically by an application, but may be used to specify that if the associated style ID is known, certain user interface behaviors may be applied to its definition. [: The style's primary name may be localized to match the current user interface language. ]

If this attribute is omitted, then the style shall be assumed to be a built-in style.

<w:style w:type="paragraph" w:styleId="MyStyle" w:customStyle="true">
  <w:name w:val="My Paragraph Style"/>
  <w:rPr>
    <w:b/>
  </w:rPr>
</w:style>

This paragraph style specifies that it is a user-defined style using the @customStyle attribute's value of true. An application may therefore take action on the style if it has behaviors associated with the style ID MyStyle. ]

The possible values for this attribute are defined by the ST_OnOff simple type (§2.18.67).

<default> (Default Style)

Specifies that this style is the default for this type of style.

This property is used in conjunction with the @type attribute to determine the style which is applied to objects that do not explicitly declare a style. [: The paragraph style with the @default attribute set is the paragraph style applied to all paragraphs which do not explicitly reference a paragraph style using the <pStyle> element (§2.3.1.27). ]

If this attribute is not specified for any style, then no properties shall be applied to objects of the specified type. If this attribute is specified by multiple styles, then the last instance of a style with this property shall be used.

<w:style w:type="paragraph" w:default="1" w:styleId="MyStyle" >
  <w:name w:val="My Paragraph Style"/>
  <w:rPr>
    <w:b/>
  </w:rPr>
</w:style>

This paragraph style specifies that it is the default paragraph style, and therefore all paragraphs which do not explicitly reference a paragraph style shall have this style applied.

For example, consider the following paragraphs from the same WordprocessingML document:

<w:p>
  <w:pPr>
    <w:pStyle w:val="Normal"/>
  </w:pPr>
  …
</w:p>
<w:p>
  …
</w:p>

The contents of the first paragraph shall have the Normal paragraph style applied to them, while the contents of the second paragraph shall have the MyStyle paragraph style applied, since it does not explicitly reference a paragraph style and therefore inherits the default. ]

The possible values for this attribute are defined by the ST_OnOff simple type (§2.18.67).

<styleId> (Style ID)

Specifies a unique identifier for the parent style definition. This identifier shall be used in multiple contexts to uniquely reference this style definition within the document.

  • To reference a style from content using elements like the <pStyle> element (§2.3.1.27), <rStyle> element (§2.3.2.27), and the <tblStyle> element (§2.4.59) for paragraphs, runs, and tables, respectively.

  • To link the paragraph and character versions of a style via the <link> element (§2.7.3.6)

  • To reference the parent style for style inheritance via the <basedOn> element (§2.7.3.3)

If multiple style definitions each declare the same value for their @styleId, then the first such instance shall keep its current identifier with all other instances being reassigned in any manner desired. This reassignment shall not require references to those style definitions to be 'repaired' in the content (i.e. some content may lose its style definition information, since the document was ill-formed).

If this attribute is not specified, then a style ID may be assigned in any manner desired.

<w:style w:type="paragraph" w:styleId="MyStyle" >
  <w:name w:val="My Paragraph Style"/>
  <w:rPr>
    <w:b/>
  </w:rPr>
</w:style>

This paragraph style specifies that its style identifier shall be MyStyle using the @styleId attribute.

Now consider the following paragraphs from the same WordprocessingML document:

<w:p>
  <w:pPr>
    <w:pStyle w:val="MyStyle"/>
  </w:pPr>
  …
</w:p>
<w:p>
  …
</w:p>

The contents of the first paragraph shall have the bold paragraph property applied to them because their paragraph properties specify that they shall inherit the paragraph style whose @styleId is MyStyle therefore inheriting its properties using the rules of the style hierarchy. ]

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

<type> (Style Type)

Specifies the type of style definition defined by this element. WordprocessingML supports six types of style definitions:

  • Paragraph styles

  • Character styles

  • Table styles

  • Numbering styles

  • Linked styles (paragraph + character)

  • Default paragraph + character properties

Each of the first four types corresponds to a different value in this attribute, and therefore defines the type of the current style. [: The last two types are unique in that they are not simply a style type: a linked style is a pairing of a character and paragraph style via the <link> element (§2.7.3.6); and the document default properties are defined via the <docDefaults> element (§2.7.4.1). ]

If this attribute is not specified, then the default value shall be assumed to be paragraph.

<w:style w:type="paragraph" … >
  <w:name w:val="My Paragraph Style"/>
  <w:rPr>
    <w:b/>
  </w:rPr>
</w:style>

The @type attribute value of paragraph specifies that this style definition creates a paragraph style. ]

The possible values for this attribute are defined by the ST_StyleType simple type (§2.18.90).

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

<complexType name="CT_Style">
	<sequence>
	<element name="name" type="CT_String" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1"/>
	<element name="aliases" type="CT_String" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="basedOn" type="CT_String" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="next" type="CT_String" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="link" type="CT_String" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="autoRedefine" type="CT_OnOff" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="hidden" type="CT_OnOff" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="uiPriority" type="CT_DecimalNumber" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="semiHidden" type="CT_OnOff" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="unhideWhenUsed" type="CT_OnOff" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="qFormat" type="CT_OnOff" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="locked" type="CT_OnOff" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="personal" type="CT_OnOff" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="personalCompose" type="CT_OnOff" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="personalReply" type="CT_OnOff" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="rsid" type="CT_LongHexNumber" minOccurs="0"/>
	<element name="pPr" type="CT_PPr" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1"/>
	<element name="rPr" type="CT_RPr" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1"/>
	<element name="tblPr" type="CT_TblPrBase" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1"/>
	<element name="trPr" type="CT_TrPr" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1"/>
	<element name="tcPr" type="CT_TcPr" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1"/>
	<element name="tblStylePr" type="CT_TblStylePr" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
	</sequence>
	<attribute name="type" type="ST_StyleType" use="optional"/>
	<attribute name="styleId" type="ST_String" use="optional"/>
	<attribute name="default" type="ST_OnOff" use="optional"/>
	<attribute name="customStyle" type="ST_OnOff" use="optional"/>
</complexType>