Snippet in numbered list

[lheckman]

I apologize if this has been explained before. I have two topics for which most of the steps I need to explain are the same. I would like to use a snippet for the common steps so that I only have to modify one file if there are changes to these steps. The problem is that I can't figure out how to set up the snippet so that the numbering is automatically correct for both topics.

For example, Topic A is called "Creating a formula" and has 6 steps, while Topic B is called "Modifying a formula" and has 9 steps. The last 5 steps are the same in both topics, so I have a snippet that contains just those 5 steps. In Topic A, I include the snippet after step 1, and in Topic B, I include the snippet after step 4. How do I set up the list in the snippet so that it automatically starts numbering at 2 for Topic A and at 5 for Topic B?

Surely I'm not the first person who has wanted to do this but I can't figure it out. Thanks for your help.

[Tim Green]

This won't work with snippets because a snippet is always a paragraph block, not just a text block. When a full paragraph is inserted inside an existing numbered list at compile time it breaks the list, even if it is also a list entry, because it doesn't have the same internal list ID to tell the page where it belongs. You could use variables, but that would be plain text only and you wouldn't see the text in the editor, which can be a problem.

I'm going to check whether we're going to have text block snippets in Help & Manual 6 -- it's definitely a possibility but I can't promise it at the moment.

[Sonia Guimond]

Hi,

When I need to reuse individual steps in different topics, I create one snippet for each individual step. I don't apply the numbering in the snippets themselves, but rather in the topics where the snippets are used.

Regards, Sonia

[Tim Green]

Update: I just got a message from the developers that this was actually significantly improved in one of the recent updates. If you save snippet text without carriage returns and use Copy/Paste mode then you can insert them without inserting a paragraph. Then you can also insert snippets in lists:

• When you create the snippet, be careful to select less than a paragraph. The snippet should NOT include the paragraph mark at the end of the paragraph.
• When you insert the snippet, select Copy/Paste mode. This WON'T work with linked snippets, they are still inserted as paragraph blocks.
• If you are inserting the snippet in a list the list item must already exist. Click inside the list item and insert the snippet.

This should work fine for frequently-used phrases that you don't want to type often. Alternatively, you can use an autotext program like PhraseExpress -- but this can only handle plain text, not H&M formatted text.

[lheckman]

Copy/Paste mode kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it? If any of the steps that are common to both topics change, won't I have to change both of my snippets and repeat the copy/paste?

Sonia's idea sounds like it will work for me, but I wish there were some way to do this automatically.

[Tim Green]

This will be possible with linked snippets in Help & Manual 6, due out before the end of the year.