How can I make my bullets larger in Open XML?

Question

I'm generating docx files using the Open XML SDK for .NET

The bullets in my lists are super tiny but I can't figure out why. So here's what I've done:

1. Generating a doc with a single bulleted item
2. Created a doc from Word with a single bulleted item
3. Used Open XML Productivity Tools to compare both files
4. Cannot for the life of me see any differences

If I click on the bullet in both, to where it shows the font and size, they are both the same! I don't see any differences in the numbering section of the xml, or anywhere for that matter. Perhaps I'm missing something elementary.

Here's some code for the numbering part:

  var abstractNumberId = part.Numbering.Elements<AbstractNum>().Count() + 1;
  var abstractNum = new AbstractNum { AbstractNumberId = abstractNumberId };
  if (initialIndent == 0)
  {
      initialIndent = 1;
  }

  var start1 = (initialIndent * 720);

  abstractNum.SetAttribute(new OpenXmlAttribute("w15", "restartNumberingAfterBreak", "http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2012/wordml", "1"));
  var multiLevelType = new MultiLevelType { Val = MultiLevelValues.HybridMultilevel };
  var templateCode = new TemplateCode { Val = "48A2E570" };

  var level = new Level { LevelIndex = 0, TemplateCode = "0409000F" };
  var startNumberingValue = new StartNumberingValue { Val = 1 };
  var restartValue = new LevelRestart() { Val = 0 };
  var numberingFormat = new NumberingFormat { Val = NumberFormatValues.Bullet };
  var levelText = new LevelText { Val = "%1." };
  var levelJustification = new LevelJustification { Val = LevelJustificationValues.Left };
  var previousParagraphProperties = new PreviousParagraphProperties();
  var indentation = new Indentation { Start = start1.ToString(), Hanging = "360" };

  previousParagraphProperties.Append(indentation);

  level.Append(startNumberingValue);
  level.Append(numberingFormat);
  level.Append(restartValue);
  level.Append(levelText);
  level.Append(levelJustification);
  level.Append(previousParagraphProperties);

  abstractNum.Append(multiLevelType);
  abstractNum.Append(templateCode);
  abstractNum.Append(level);



  var numberId = part.Numbering.Elements<NumberingInstance>().Count() + 1;
  var numberingInstance = new NumberingInstance { NumberID = numberId };
  var abstractNumId = new AbstractNumId { Val = abstractNumberId };
  numberingInstance.Append(abstractNumId);


  if (abstractNumberId == 1)
  {
    part.Numbering.Append(abstractNum);
  }
  else
  {
    var lastAbstractNum = part.Numbering.Elements<AbstractNum>().Last();
    part.Numbering.InsertAfter(abstractNum, lastAbstractNum);
  }

  if (numberId == 1)
  {
    part.Numbering.Append(numberingInstance);
  }
  else
  {
    var lastNumberingInstance = part.Numbering.Elements<NumberingInstance>().Last();
    part.Numbering.InsertAfter(numberingInstance, lastNumberingInstance);
  }


  return numberId;

Here's the XML for the large bullet:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<w:document xmlns:wpc="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingCanvas" xmlns:cx="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2014/chartex" xmlns:cx1="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2015/9/8/chartex" xmlns:cx2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2015/10/21/chartex" xmlns:cx3="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/5/9/chartex" xmlns:cx4="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/5/10/chartex" xmlns:cx5="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/5/11/chartex" xmlns:cx6="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/5/12/chartex" xmlns:cx7="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/5/13/chartex" xmlns:cx8="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/5/14/chartex" xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:aink="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/ink" xmlns:am3d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2017/model3d" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:r="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships" xmlns:m="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/math" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:wp14="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingDrawing" xmlns:wp="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/wordprocessingDrawing" xmlns:w10="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:w="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main" xmlns:w14="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordml" xmlns:w15="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2012/wordml" xmlns:w16cid="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2016/wordml/cid" xmlns:w16se="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2015/wordml/symex" xmlns:wpg="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingGroup" xmlns:wpi="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingInk" xmlns:wne="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2006/wordml" xmlns:wps="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingShape" mc:Ignorable="w14 w15 w16se w16cid wp14">
 <w:body>
  <w:p w14:paraId="6279EAE9" w14:textId="5895C066" w:rsidR="008070A4" w:rsidRPr="009228DC" w:rsidRDefault="00281441" w:rsidP="00984CDF">
   <w:pPr>
    <w:pStyle w:val="ListParagraph"/>
    <w:numPr>
     <w:ilvl w:val="0"/>
     <w:numId w:val="5"/>
    </w:numPr>
    <w:ind w:left="0"/>
    <w:rPr>
     <w:rFonts w:cstheme="minorHAnsi"/>
    </w:rPr>
   </w:pPr>
   <w:bookmarkStart w:id="0" w:name="_GoBack"/>
   <w:bookmarkEnd w:id="0"/>
   <w:r w:rsidRPr="009228DC">
    <w:rPr>
     <w:rFonts w:cstheme="minorHAnsi"/>
    </w:rPr>
    <w:t>
     Large bullet
    </w:t>
   </w:r>
  </w:p>
  <w:sectPr w:rsidR="008070A4" w:rsidRPr="009228DC">
   <w:pgSz w:w="12240" w:h="15840"/>
   <w:pgMar w:top="1440" w:right="1440" w:bottom="1440" w:left="1440" w:header="720" w:footer="720" w:gutter="0"/>
   <w:cols w:space="720"/>
   <w:docGrid w:linePitch="360"/>
  </w:sectPr>
 </w:body>
</w:document>

And here's the xml for the small one:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<w:document xmlns:wpc="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingCanvas" xmlns:cx="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2014/chartex" xmlns:cx1="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2015/9/8/chartex" xmlns:cx2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2015/10/21/chartex" xmlns:cx3="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/5/9/chartex" xmlns:cx4="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/5/10/chartex" xmlns:cx5="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/5/11/chartex" xmlns:cx6="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/5/12/chartex" xmlns:cx7="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/5/13/chartex" xmlns:cx8="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/5/14/chartex" xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:aink="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2016/ink" xmlns:am3d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/drawing/2017/model3d" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:r="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships" xmlns:m="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/math" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:wp14="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingDrawing" xmlns:wp="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/wordprocessingDrawing" xmlns:w10="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:w="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main" xmlns:w14="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordml" xmlns:w15="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2012/wordml" xmlns:w16cid="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2016/wordml/cid" xmlns:w16se="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2015/wordml/symex" xmlns:wpg="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingGroup" xmlns:wpi="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingInk" xmlns:wne="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2006/wordml" xmlns:wps="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingShape" mc:Ignorable="w14 w15 w16se w16cid wp14">
 <w:body>
  <w:p w14:paraId="6279EAE9" w14:textId="4866CD41" w:rsidR="008070A4" w:rsidRPr="009228DC" w:rsidRDefault="00221689" w:rsidP="008C6B6F">
   <w:pPr>
    <w:pStyle w:val="ListParagraph"/>
    <w:numPr>
     <w:ilvl w:val="0"/>
     <w:numId w:val="1"/>
    </w:numPr>
    <w:ind w:left="0"/>
    <w:rPr>
     <w:rFonts w:cstheme="minorHAnsi"/>
    </w:rPr>
   </w:pPr>
   <w:bookmarkStart w:id="0" w:name="_GoBack"/>
   <w:bookmarkEnd w:id="0"/>
   <w:r w:rsidRPr="009228DC">
    <w:rPr>
     <w:rFonts w:cstheme="minorHAnsi"/>
    </w:rPr>
    <w:t>
     This is a bulleted list
    </w:t>
   </w:r>
  </w:p>
  <w:sectPr w:rsidR="008070A4" w:rsidRPr="009228DC">
   <w:pgSz w:w="12240" w:h="15840"/>
   <w:pgMar w:top="1440" w:right="1440" w:bottom="1440" w:left="1440" w:header="720" w:footer="720" w:gutter="0"/>
   <w:cols w:space="720"/>
   <w:docGrid w:linePitch="360"/>
  </w:sectPr>
 </w:body>
</w:document>

Clapp

Open the generated doc in the Productivity Tool. Now use it's compare feature to look at the manually created Word document. That should show you where the differences are in the Word Open XML and generate the code to create the second from the first. – Adjectival

Answer 1

The formatting of bullets and numbers is defined in the w:abstractNum elements (or by their descendants to be precise) that are contained in the w:numbering root element of the NumberingDefinitionsPart. Your w:document root element of the MainDocumentPart could be completely identical. In your case, though, you should at least see that the w:numId elements have different w:val attribute values, meaning they are pointing to different numbering instances and related bullet definitions.

Thus, you need to set up your numbering definitions correctly and then reference that from your main document part.

Flannery

My numbering reference is correct I believe. The only way I can get it to display a bullet the correct size is to use option-8 and type the bullet (i.e. •) directly into the levelText instead of %1. The bullet displays using %1. but it's tiny as you can see in the screenshots. My problem is solved but I don't think I should have to type • right into it? – Clapp

@user1447679, you should set up the desired bullet using Microsoft Word and then look at and mimick the Open XML markup created by Word. %1 is used for numbering, not for bullets. – Flannery

Very strange. So the generated numbering section created a ton of "bullet" configurations that used %1, etc. But deep down in the pile were ones that had the • instead. I'm not sure why... half of this is still a black hole but starting to get the hang of it - thanks to your help that is! – Clapp