ListFormat

ListFormat class

Allows to control what list formatting is applied to a paragraph.

To learn more, visit the Working with Lists documentation article.

public class ListFormat

Properties

NameDescription
IsListItem { get; }True when the paragraph has bulleted or numbered formatting applied to it.
List { get; set; }Gets or sets the list this paragraph is a member of.
ListLevel { get; }Returns the list level formatting plus any formatting overrides applied to the current paragraph.
ListLevelNumber { get; set; }Gets or sets the list level number (0 to 8) for the paragraph.

Methods

NameDescription
ApplyBulletDefault()Starts a new default bulleted list and applies it to the paragraph.
ApplyNumberDefault()Starts a new default numbered list and applies it to the paragraph.
ListIndent()Increases the list level of the current paragraph by one level.
ListOutdent()Decreases the list level of the current paragraph by one level.
RemoveNumbers()Removes numbers or bullets from the current paragraph and sets list level to zero.

Remarks

A paragraph in a Microsoft Word document can be bulleted or numbered. When a paragraph is bulleted or numbered, it is said that list formatting is applied to the paragraph.

You do not create objects of the ListFormat class directly. You access ListFormat as a property of another object that can have list formatting associated with it. At the moment the objects that can have list formatting are: Paragraph, Style and DocumentBuilder.

ListFormat of a Paragraph specifies what list formatting and list level is applied to that particular paragraph.

ListFormat of a Style (applicable to paragraph styles only) allows to specify what list formatting and list level is applied to all paragraphs of that particular style.

ListFormat of a DocumentBuilder provides access to the list formatting at the current cursor position inside the DocumentBuilder.

The list formatting itself is stored inside a List object that is stored separately from the paragraphs. The list objects are stored inside a ListCollection collection. There is a single ListCollection collection per Document.

The paragraphs do not physically belong to a list. The paragraphs just reference a particular list object via the List property and a particular level in the list via the ListLevelNumber property. By setting these two properties you control what bullets and numbering is applied to a paragraph.

Examples

Shows how to work with list levels.

Document doc = new Document();
DocumentBuilder builder = new DocumentBuilder(doc);

Assert.False(builder.ListFormat.IsListItem);

// A list allows us to organize and decorate sets of paragraphs with prefix symbols and indents.
// We can create nested lists by increasing the indent level. 
// We can begin and end a list by using a document builder's "ListFormat" property. 
// Each paragraph that we add between a list's start and the end will become an item in the list.
// Below are two types of lists that we can create using a document builder.
// 1 -  A numbered list:
// Numbered lists create a logical order for their paragraphs by numbering each item.
builder.ListFormat.List = doc.Lists.Add(ListTemplate.NumberDefault);

Assert.True(builder.ListFormat.IsListItem);

// By setting the "ListLevelNumber" property, we can increase the list level
// to begin a self-contained sub-list at the current list item.
// The Microsoft Word list template called "NumberDefault" uses numbers to create list levels for the first list level.
// Deeper list levels use letters and lowercase Roman numerals. 
for (int i = 0; i < 9; i++)
{
    builder.ListFormat.ListLevelNumber = i;
    builder.Writeln("Level " + i);
}

// 2 -  A bulleted list:
// This list will apply an indent and a bullet symbol ("•") before each paragraph.
// Deeper levels of this list will use different symbols, such as "■" and "○".
builder.ListFormat.List = doc.Lists.Add(ListTemplate.BulletDefault);

for (int i = 0; i < 9; i++)
{
    builder.ListFormat.ListLevelNumber = i;
    builder.Writeln("Level " + i);
}

// We can disable list formatting to not format any subsequent paragraphs as lists by un-setting the "List" flag.
builder.ListFormat.List = null;

Assert.False(builder.ListFormat.IsListItem);

doc.Save(ArtifactsDir + "Lists.SpecifyListLevel.docx");

See Also