Microsoft KB Archive/57802

= Microsoft Knowledge Base =

Negative Numbers in Line Numbering Positioning
Last reviewed: July 30, 1997

Article ID: Q57802

The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0

SUMMARY
Word version 4.0. 5.x, and 6.0 for the Macintosh do not allow negative numbers to be entered in the From Text for Line Numbering. Therefore, you cannot position line numbers to the right of the left margin.

Word version 3.x permits this and interprets a negative number as an &quot;absolute distance from text&quot; setting, which allows the line number to be positioned to the right of the left margin.

MORE INFORMATION
When you open a Word 3.0x document with absolutely positioned line numbers in a later version of Word, these numbers are not converted. This causes a problem the first time the Format Section dialog box is opened.

Because negative numbers in the From Text option are not allowed in versions 4.0, 5.x, or 6.0, when you choose OK to exit the dialog box, Word displays an error message that the number must be in a certain range. After clicking OK to the message and choosing Cancel to exit the dialog box, Word will still print the line numbers to the right of the left margin. However, you will not be able to make any changes in the Document Layout dialog box (Format Section/Line Numbers dialog in Word 5.x, Format/Section in Word 4.0) with a negative number in the From Text box.