w:styleLink (Numbering Definition Style Link)

Declares that an abstract numbering definition exposes itself as a named list style, enabling paragraph styles to reference the numbering indirectly.

Parent elements

w:abstractNum

Description

w:styleLink declares that the w:abstractNum entry is exposed as a named list style identified by w:val. Paragraph styles can then reference this list style by name rather than by w:abstractNumId, enabling a style-driven list hierarchy.

It is defined in ECMA-376 Part 1 §17.9.24.

w:styleLink is the inverse of w:numStyleLink: w:styleLink in an w:abstractNum says “this abstract numbering is the style X”, while w:numStyleLink says “this abstract numbering’s formatting comes from style X”.

Attributes

Attribute	Type	Possible Values	Description
`w:val`	`xsd:string`	A style ID matching a `w:style w:styleId` in `styles.xml`	Identifies the list style that this abstract numbering definition exposes.

Examples

<!-- Abstract numbering that is named "MyListStyle" -->
<w:abstractNum w:abstractNumId="4">
  <w:styleLink w:val="MyListStyle"/>
  <w:lvl w:ilvl="0">
    <w:start w:val="1"/>
    <w:numFmt w:val="bullet"/>
    <w:lvlText w:val="•"/>
    <w:lvlJc w:val="left"/>
    <w:pPr><w:ind w:left="720" w:hanging="360"/></w:pPr>
  </w:lvl>
  <!-- levels 1–8 omitted -->
</w:abstractNum>

using DocumentFormat.OpenXml.Wordprocessing;

var abstractNum = new AbstractNum(
    new StyleLink { Val = "MyListStyle" },
    new Level(
        new StartNumberingValue { Val = 1 },
        new NumberingFormat { Val = NumberFormatValues.Bullet },
        new LevelText { Val = "•" },
        new LevelJustification { Val = LevelJustificationValues.Left },
        new ParagraphProperties(
            new Indentation { Left = "720", Hanging = "360" }
        )
    )
    { LevelIndex = 0 }
)
{ AbstractNumberId = 4 };

Notes

The corresponding style (identified by w:val) should be of type w:type="numbering".
Any other w:abstractNum that references this style via w:numStyleLink defers all its formatting to this abstract definition.