Restart numbering of an ordered list in document.

We can easily add ordered list with document.add_paragraph(style='ListNumber') code. But how can we restart its numbering?

[madphysicist]

So I’ve made a thing that searches the existing abstract numbering schemes for the style of the current paragraph, and sets a reasonable abstract style based on that if possible:

def list_number(doc, par, prev=None, level=None, num=True):
    """
    Makes a paragraph into a list item with a specific level and
    optional restart.

    An attempt will be made to retreive an abstract numbering style that
    corresponds to the style of the paragraph. If that is not possible,
    the default numbering or bullet style will be used based on the
    ``num`` parameter.

    Parameters
    ----------
    doc : docx.document.Document
        The document to add the list into.
    par : docx.paragraph.Paragraph
        The paragraph to turn into a list item.
    prev : docx.paragraph.Paragraph or None
        The previous paragraph in the list. If specified, the numbering
        and styles will be taken as a continuation of this paragraph.
        If omitted, a new numbering scheme will be started.
    level : int or None
        The level of the paragraph within the outline. If ``prev`` is
        set, defaults to the same level as in ``prev``. Otherwise,
        defaults to zero.
    num : bool
        If ``prev`` is :py:obj:`None` and the style of the paragraph
        does not correspond to an existing numbering style, this will
        determine wether or not the list will be numbered or bulleted.
        The result is not guaranteed, but is fairly safe for most Word
        templates.
    """
    xpath_options = {
        True: {'single': 'count(w:lvl)=1 and ', 'level': 0},
        False: {'single': '', 'level': level},
    }

    def style_xpath(prefer_single=True):
        """
        The style comes from the outer-scope variable ``par.style.name``.
        """
        style = par.style.style_id
        return (
            'w:abstractNum['
                '{single}w:lvl[@w:ilvl="{level}"]/w:pStyle[@w:val="{style}"]'
            ']/@w:abstractNumId'
        ).format(style=style, **xpath_options[prefer_single])

    def type_xpath(prefer_single=True):
        """
        The type is from the outer-scope variable ``num``.
        """
        type = 'decimal' if num else 'bullet'
        return (
            'w:abstractNum['
                '{single}w:lvl[@w:ilvl="{level}"]/w:numFmt[@w:val="{type}"]'
            ']/@w:abstractNumId'
        ).format(type=type, **xpath_options[prefer_single])

    def get_abstract_id():
        """
        Select as follows:

            1. Match single-level by style (get min ID)
            2. Match exact style and level (get min ID)
            3. Match single-level decimal/bullet types (get min ID)
            4. Match decimal/bullet in requested level (get min ID)
            3. 0
        """
        for fn in (style_xpath, type_xpath):
            for prefer_single in (True, False):
                xpath = fn(prefer_single)
                ids = numbering.xpath(xpath)
                if ids:
                    return min(int(x) for x in ids)
        return 0

    if (prev is None or
            prev._p.pPr is None or
            prev._p.pPr.numPr is None or
            prev._p.pPr.numPr.numId is None):
        if level is None:
            level = 0
        numbering = doc.part.numbering_part.numbering_definitions._numbering
        # Compute the abstract ID first by style, then by num
        anum = get_abstract_id()
        # Set the concrete numbering based on the abstract numbering ID
        num = numbering.add_num(anum)
        # Make sure to override the abstract continuation property
        num.add_lvlOverride(ilvl=level).add_startOverride(1)
        # Extract the newly-allocated concrete numbering ID
        num = num.numId
    else:
        if level is None:
            level = prev._p.pPr.numPr.ilvl.val
        # Get the previous concrete numbering ID
        num = prev._p.pPr.numPr.numId.val
    par._p.get_or_add_pPr().get_or_add_numPr().get_or_add_numId().val = num
    par._p.get_or_add_pPr().get_or_add_numPr().get_or_add_ilvl().val = level

This is in no way comprehensive or particularly robust, but it works pretty well for what I am trying to do.

[scanny]

@downtown12 I don’t have time to develop step-by-step instructions for you, but if you’re looking for the right direction to start looking for yourself, these might be helpful:

• The document object provides access to the numbering part for the document (numbering.xml). This call should get you there: document.part.numbering_part
• The NumberingPart object provides access to a sequence of NumberingDefinition objects: numbering_part.numbering_definitions
• The NumberingDefinitions class looks like where API support ends at the moment. You can get the w:numbering element from it though, which is the parent of all the numbering definitions: numbering_definitions._numbering. From there you’ll need to work with lxml calls to get it’s children using XPath and so on.