Skipped or repeated number

numbering-gapon by defaultJapanese / English

A numbered item that skips or repeats a number, such as Article 1 then 3

Example

Flagged

# Staff rules ## Article 1 (Purpose) These rules set out how we work. ## Article 3 (Working hours) Working hours are from nine to six.

What chaff prints

7:1 "Article 3" follows "Article 1" (expected number 2)

Fixed

# Staff rules ## Article 1 (Purpose) These rules set out how we work. ## Article 2 (Working hours) Working hours are from nine to six.

What chaff prints

no finding

How to fix

Renumber. If a provision was removed on purpose, keep its number with a note such as "Section 4 [Deleted]".

Why it matters

Article 5 right after Article 3, (c) right after (a), two paragraphs numbered 2. A reader cannot tell whether something was removed, or which one a reference means. Only numbers side by side under the same parent are compared. The numbers written on a Markdown ordered list (steps "1.", "2.", "4.") are compared too. The page renders them counted from the first, but the source and a "see step 4" use the numbers as written.

What it does not flag

Only numbers side by side under the same parent are compared. Bracketed numbers ("(1)") and bare ones ("2") are compared as separate runs. A list that writes the same number on every item ("1." on each) and a list inside a quotation are not checked. A list's numbers are compared with those at the same indentation (deeper ones are a nested run). Text inside a Markdown HTML block (from a line holding only `<br/>` to the next blank line) is not read, so a gap across one is not reported. A step headed "and" in place of its number (done alongside the step before) is read as taking a number, so the skip it leaves is not reported. In a model contract, a clause that repeats the number before it and is named an alternative in its heading or the line before ("Alternative", 変更オプション条項), offered instead of that clause, takes no number, and the paragraph numbers start again after a clause whose number is left blank (Section [●], 第●条). A schedule's numbers (Week N, Session N) are compared when they lead table rows, list items or lines; a run shorter than three, one whose heading or header row says it shows only some ("Selected weeks", "Highlights"), and one where most numbers skip (a table of chosen weeks) are not compared. The day that opens a heading dated with its year (8 December 2022) is not a number in a sequence. Labels a US statute joins on one line ("(c)(1) Whenever…") are read as (c) and the (1) under it.

Turning it off or relaxing it

Silence this one spot (in the document)

Relax it for the team (the reason is kept as a comment in chaff.yaml)

npx chaffjs relax numbering-gap --why "reason"

Turn it off for the team (chaff.yaml)

rules: numbering-gap: off

Technical details

Layer: L3
Status: stable
Severity: error
Languages: Japanese and English
Suited to: business, technical, blog, legal, docs, academic, literature, speech
Reads from the document: structure

Levels

Set a level for this rule under rules in chaff.yaml. With nothing set, it runs at the level its genre gives it (see By genre below).

normal	error
relaxed	warning

This rule has no limit to count to. A level sets how a finding is marked: relaxed keeps the finding and marks it a step lower.

By genre

Runs by default in: technical/spec, technical/readme, blog/tech, blog/essay, blog/owned-media, business/proposal, business/report, business/email, business/press-release, business/meeting-notes, legal/contract, legal/statute, legal/judgment, legal/patent, docs/manual, docs/faq, docs/glossary, academic/paper, literature/fiction, literature/essay, literature/poetry, literature/play, speech/address, speech/transcript

Genres

Message

"{label}" follows "{previous}" (expected number {expected})

"{label}" appears twice and the next number skips; the second is probably "{probably}"

This page is built from the rule's definition file:packages/chaff/rules/numbering-gap.yaml