Numbering

Most legislative provisions have numbers. Lawmaker generally assigns a number to a provision as soon as you insert it. It does the same when you paste provisions or move them around in the Structure View.

Lawmaker has two different numbering modes which you can switch between. We call these “auto-assign” mode and “auto-renumber” mode.

You can toggle between the two modes using Tools menu>Turn on/off Automatic renumbering. The mode selected will apply to all documents you work on until you change it again.

Whenever you open a document in the Editor, a green pop-up message will appear in the top right-hand corner of the screen letting you know what numbering mode Lawmaker is in.

You can edit the number of any provision if you want it to have a different number from the one automatically assigned. (See Locking and unlocking numbers for how to stop Lawmaker overwriting your manually applied number when it renumbers.)

See Renumbering provisions for how to renumber a selection of provisions or the whole document.

Auto-assign mode

In this mode, Lawmaker will assign a number to newly inserted (and pasted) provisions to give them unique numbers without changing any existing number. For example, a subsection inserted between subsections (2) and (3) will be given the number (1A). For more on the logic applied see Rules used to "auto-assign" numbers to provisions.

This includes when you drag and drop a provision in the structure view, i.e. when you drag and drop a provision in a new position it will be assigned a new number as if it had been newly inserted at the new location.

Auto-renumber mode

In this mode all lower level provisions are automatically renumbered whenever you insert (including paste) or delete (including cut) a provision.

Lower level provisions are provisions below the level of:

• a section/clause in a Bill, e.g. subsections, paragraphs, sub-paragraphs;

• a regulation/article/rule in an SI/SSI, e.g. paragraphs, sub-paragraphs;

• a schedule in any document, e.g. schedule paragraphs, schedule sub-paragraphs.

When this numbering mode is active, dragging and dropping provisions in the Structure View that are not automatically renumbered, like sections or regulations, will result in those provisions retaining their existing numbers (unlike what happens in auto-assign mode).