Conference vaxuum::document_ft

850.0. "Can I avoid hard reference to <le>?" by OILCAN::KEEFE () Tue Aug 25 1987 15:56

    I'm using a numbered list for a small troubleshooting procedure.
    It resembles a flowchart in words. It looks like this:
    
    To fix the RA99, do the following:
    <list>(numbered)                           unwanted hard reference         
    <le>Do this.                                             |
    <le>Then do this.                                        v
    <le>Then do the other. If the drive explodes, go to step 7. If it
        doesn't, go to the next step.
    <le>Boil the heads in wax.
    <le>Escalate the call.
    <le>Close this manual and go home.
    <le>Collect the pieces, and place them in an antistatic bag.
    <le>Take the pieces back to the depot and exchange them for valuable
        coupons.
    <endlist>
                             
    Is there a way to avoid the hard reference? Since I can't see what the 
    steps are until after processing, and I'm still fiddling around with
    the steps, it would be nice to assign a symbol-name to the list element.
   
    Neil

    
    That is a good item for the wishlist. There is no way to do it
    in V1.0 because symbol definitions occur during pass1, but the
    actual numbers aren't calculated for list elements until during
    pass 2.
    
    -patti

    You can't associate a symbol with these numbered items,
    unfortunately.  So you either have to hardcode the "7",
    or give that item some kind of visible "label," such as
    
    <le>POST-EXPLOSION: Gather up the pieces and place them ....
    
    then you could write the reference as:
    
    ... continue at the step labeled POST-EXPLOSION.
    
    Not very elegant, when the step already has a number...
    
    bill