[tocent1]BOARD OF EDITORS[cntpgnum]v[cntpgnum]v

I tried to get them to use different tags so I could have [cntpgnum1] and [cntpgnum2], and vary the style that way. Unfortunately we can't do that.

Thank you!

Hi Carol,

Well, you've given very few details.

But if you can get the results you want if there were different [cntpgnum1]/[cntpgnum2] tags, then I would think it should be pretty easy to get the results you want even if there is only the one [cntpgnum] tag - as long as there is a regular "pattern" of use of the tags.

My idea would be to use a number register (do not use a temp x register) to keep track of whether you are in the "first" [cntpgnum] tag or the "second" one.

For example, let's assume that number register 250 is available to use. In your [tocent1] tag you could do <ns;250;1>. Then in your [cntpgnum] tag you could check the value of number register 250 and if it equals 1 then you can do your [cntpgnum1] style (e.g. by calling a <cntpgnum1> macro), otherwise do your [cntpgnum2] style (e.g. by callling a <cntpgnum2> macro) and then add one to number register 250: <mc;#250=1;nul;skp><cntpgnum1><mc;#250=1;skp;nul><cntpgnum2>...<ns;250;&1>.

Depending on what your <cntpgnum1> and <cntpgnum2> macros (styles) are doing, you might be able to simplify this by just doing <mc;#250=1;cntpgnum1;cntpgnum2>, but the way I've shown it above (using skp/nul arguments and separate macro callouts) is "safer". There can be problems with things called out by <mc> getting generated more than once with the "simpler" <mc>, depending on what cntpgnum1/cntpgnum2 actually do.

You haven't shown what the rest of the markup is, i.e. if the [tocent1] tag appears every time before there are the pair of [cntpgnum] tags. If not, then you might have to have other tags also do the <ns;250;1> or you might need to have some global "starting" tag do that initialization and then manage the setting of number register 250 to 2 and then back to 1 in the [cntpgnum] tag expansion itself (after it tests to do cntpgnum1/cntpgnum2).