Explicit list syntax (_ul / _ol); bare lists become paragraphs

Examples/Document Configuration/report.yml

@@ -9,15 +9,17 @@ _style:
 Customizing your document configuration and styling: 
   - >
     There are `three` categories of document configuration
-  - 1: The document template
-    2: Text styles
-    3: Table styles
-
+  - _ol:
+      - The document template
+      - Text styles
+      - Table styles
+
   - >
     These three categories are set at three different levels of priority
-  - 1: The internal defaults (lowest priority)
-    2: Project config
-    3: Document internal config (highest priority)
+  - _ol:
+      - The internal defaults (lowest priority)
+      - Project config
+      - Document internal config (highest priority)
 
   - >
     Each level of priority in the configuration heirarchy effectively inherits the configuration of the level of priority above it.
@@ -27,10 +29,11 @@ Customizing your document configuration and styling:
   - The document template (_doc): 
     - >
       The template controls settings such as
-    - - Page size
-      - Margins
-      - PDF background file path
-      - And whether or not you have a separate set of the above settings applying to the first page of your document or not.
+    - _ul:
+        - Page size
+        - Margins
+        - PDF background file path
+        - And whether or not you have a separate set of the above settings applying to the first page of your document or not.
 
     - >
       Currently, the document template is internally configured to only use a single content frame. This limitation would only affect you if you wanted to do something like a two-column layout (where text flows into the second column on the same page once the first one is full).
@@ -39,39 +42,36 @@ Customizing your document configuration and styling:
     - >
       With text styles, you can control the body text
     - Text styling attributes:
-      - Font family
-      - Text color
-      - Size
-      - Line spacing ratio
-      - Bullet style: 
-        - Bullet color
-        - Bullet symbol heirarchy
-        - Bullet indentation
-
+        _ul:
+          - Font family
+          - Text color
+          - Size
+          - Line spacing ratio
+          - "Bullet style:"
+          - - Bullet color
+            - Bullet symbol heirarchy
+            - Bullet indentation
+
     - >
       You can also control the text heading styles separately from the body text by adjusting their
-
-    - - Font family
-      - Text color
-      - Typographic ratio (in musical intervals, e.g. "minor second" or "major third")
+
+    - _ul:
+        - Font family
+        - Text color
+        - Typographic ratio (in musical intervals, e.g. "minor second" or "major third")
   - Table styles (_tablestyle):
     - >
       You can control how your tables are displayed by modifying the table style. With the _tablestyle key, you can control
-    - Table header
-      - background (color)
-      - gridlines (above, below, between)
-      - text
-        - font
-        - size
-        - color
-    - Table rows
-      - even (rows, background color)
-      - odd (rows, background color)
-      - gridlines (above, below, between)
-      - text
-        - font
-        - size
-        - color
+    - _ul:
+        - "Table header:"
+        - - background (color)
+          - gridlines (above, below, between)
+          - "text: font, size, color"
+        - "Table rows:"
+        - - even (rows, background color)
+          - odd (rows, background color)
+          - gridlines (above, below, between)
+          - "text: font, size, color"
 
 
 

Examples/Document variables/report.yml

@@ -15,14 +15,13 @@ Document Variables (_vars):
     representation is shown (i.e. the result of str(var)).
 
     This document has five variables defined, a, b, c, d, e.
-  - _spacer: 0 # The use of a "0-spacer" is a hack to prevent the paragraph above being interpreted as a bullet point.
-
-  - - a = {{a}}
-    - b = {{b}}
-    - c = {{c}}
-    - d = {{d}}
-    - e = {{e.key2}}
-    - f = {{f}}
+  - _ul:
+      - a = {{a}}
+      - b = {{b}}
+      - c = {{c}}
+      - d = {{d}}
+      - e = {{e.key2}}
+      - f = {{f}}
   - Passing Python Objects: >
       It is also possible to pass variable data as Python objects to blocks (see "YMPrint blocks") using the $var syntax (similar to bash).
 

Examples/PDF Backgrounds/report.yml

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ Custom styling with PDF backgrounds:
       Form fields are _automatically_ populated when a document variable name exactly matches the PDF form field name.
 
     If you want to avoid this behaviour:
-      - Make sure that none of your variable names match your field names (i.e. using a special naming convention for your form field names to prevent accidental clashes)
-      - Do not use form fields
+      _ul:
+        - Make sure that none of your variable names match your field names (i.e. using a special naming convention for your form field names to prevent accidental clashes)
+        - Do not use form fields
     Example: The form fields below have been populated from the document vars

Examples/Simple example/report.yml

@@ -17,19 +17,20 @@ Report title:
 
   - Standard content types:
     - Bullets:
-      - Bullet 1
-      - Bullet 2
-      - Bullet 3
-      - - Bullet 4
-        - Bullet 5
-        - Bullet 6
+        _ul:
+          - Bullet 1
+          - Bullet 2
+          - Bullet 3
+          - - Bullet 4
+            - Bullet 5
+            - Bullet 6
     - Ordered list:
-        1: First Item
-        2: Second item
-        3: 
-           12: Fourth item,
-           6: Fifth item,
-           10: Sixth Item
+        _ol:
+          - First item
+          - Second item
+          - - Nested first
+            - Nested second
+            - Nested third
     - Tables:
       - Item Number: 12.01
         Description: There is a problem here. This report documents it.

Examples/YMPrint blocks/report.yml

@@ -16,12 +16,12 @@ Using Blocks:
       scale_ratio: 0.3
   - Admonitions:
     - "The following admonitions blocks are available:"
-    -
-      - _info
-      - _warning
-      - _danger
-      - _tip
-      - _note
+    - _ul:
+        - _info
+        - _warning
+        - _danger
+        - _tip
+        - _note
     - They are rendered below
 
     _info: Here is an "info" admonition
@@ -108,10 +108,10 @@ Using Blocks:
           for k in [a, b, c]:
               acc.append(k)
     - "Now, the values of the variables a, b, and c can be included in the document:"
-    -
-      - a = {{py1.a}} (using py1.a)
-      - b = {{py1.b}} (using py1.b)
-      - c = {{py1.c}} (using py1.c)
+    - _ul:
+        - a = {{py1.a}} (using py1.a)
+        - b = {{py1.b}} (using py1.b)
+        - c = {{py1.c}} (using py1.c)
   - _code:
       source: |
         yaml_data: is being shown
@@ -132,6 +132,6 @@ Using Blocks:
         path: extra_vars.json
         namespace: extra_vars
     - "Here are the values of the vars contained within the 'extravars' namespace:"
-    -
-      - bn = {{extra_vars.bn}}
-      - dx = {{extra_vars.dx}}
+    - _ul:
+        - bn = {{extra_vars.bn}}
+        - dx = {{extra_vars.dx}}

design/explicit-list-syntax.md

@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+# Design: Explicit list syntax (`_ul` / `_ol`)
+
+Status: prototype
+Branch: `features/explicit-list-syntax` (off `main`)
+
+## Problem
+
+A YAML list under a heading is structurally identical whether the author means
+"several paragraphs" or "an unordered list". Today YMPrint guesses from the list's
+*contents*:
+
+- a **pure** list of strings → `convert_ul` → bullets
+- a **mixed** list (strings + block/subsection dicts) → each string becomes a
+  paragraph
+
+So the same `heading:\n  - >prose` renders as a bullet or a paragraph depending on
+what else is in the list. A single wrapped paragraph under a heading silently comes
+out as a one-item bullet list (observed under "Alignment and named styles" in the
+text-styles example).
+
+The ambiguity is **structural** — YAML gives identical structure to both intents —
+so no heuristic can resolve it. One of the two meanings must be made explicit.
+
+## Decision
+
+Make **bullets explicit** and let a bare list mean "a sequence of content items".
+
+- A YAML list is always a *sequence of blocks*: strings become paragraphs, mappings
+  become subsections (heading + content), in order. It is never auto-bulleted.
+- Unordered lists are written with the **`_ul`** block; ordered lists with **`_ol`**.
+- The implicit detections (`check_for_nested_lists` → bullets, and the
+  dict-with-integer-keys → numbered list) are retired from dispatch. The check
+  functions remain (still unit-tested) but no longer drive `build_story`.
+
+This yields a single rule with no guessing: *a list is content in order; bullets and
+numbers are named constructs.*
+
+### Rejected alternative
+
+Making **paragraphs** explicit (`_p`) instead would avoid breaking existing bullet
+lists, but it keeps the surprising default (bare list = bullets) and only adds an
+escape hatch beside the ambiguity rather than removing it.
+
+## Syntax
+
+```yaml
+Findings:
+  - The inspection covered three areas.        # paragraph
+  - _ul:                                        # unordered list
+      - The handrail is loose on the north stair.
+      - Two ceiling tiles are water-stained.
+      - - a nested sub-point                    # nested list → sub-bullets
+        - another sub-point
+  - Recommended actions:                        # subsection heading
+      _ol:                                      # ordered list
+        - Re-secure the handrail.
+        - Replace the stained tiles.
+```
+
+- `_ul` value is a list; nested lists produce sub-bullets (unchanged `convert_ul`).
+- `_ol` value is a list; numbering is automatic by position; nested lists produce
+  nested numbering. (`convert_ol` also still accepts a mapping for back-compat.)
+- Both may be written as a list item (`- _ul: [...]`) or as the value of a heading
+  key (`heading:\n  _ul: [...]`). Suffixes are allowed for uniqueness in a mapping
+  (`_ul_left`, `_ol_steps`), consistent with other block codes.
+
+## Implementation
+
+`_ul` / `_ol` are intercepted **directly in `build_story`**, not registered in the
+block registry. Two reasons:
+
+1. They are structural (they change how a list is interpreted), sitting naturally
+   beside the list-dispatch logic.
+2. It keeps them **forward-compatible with scoped text styles**: `build_story` is
+   where a `current_style` parameter lives (on the `features/scoped-text-styles`
+   branch), so intercepting here lets `_ul`/`_ol` pass the active style into
+   `convert_ul`/`convert_ol`. Routing them through the generic block registry —
+   whose converters do not receive the active style — would make bullets ignore the
+   surrounding `_textstyle` scope. (On this `main`-based branch there is no
+   `current_style` yet; the interception point is chosen so the two features compose
+   cleanly when merged.)
+
+| File | Change |
+| --- | --- |
+| `story_builder.py` | Intercept `_ul`/`_ol` (list-item and heading-value forms, with suffixes) → `convert_ul`/`convert_ol`. Replace the implicit bullet/ordered dispatch: a bare list/mapping now always recurses (strings → paragraphs, mappings → subsections). |
+| `content_converters.py` | `convert_ol` accepts a **list** (positional numbering; nested lists nest) as well as a mapping (back-compat). |
+| test data / examples | Migrate bare-list bullets and integer-keyed ordered lists to `_ul` / `_ol`. Genuine multi-paragraph lists (e.g. report 2 "third topic") are left as lists and now render as paragraphs — the intended fix. |
+
+## Backward compatibility
+
+This is a **breaking** content change (consistent with the pre-1.0 status and the
+earlier multi-page-template change): existing documents that relied on bare lists for
+bullets, or integer-keyed mappings for numbered lists, must adopt `_ul` / `_ol`.
+
+## Open questions
+
+- Should `_ol` support an explicit `start:` offset or custom markers (a/i/…)?
+- Should list items be allowed to contain blocks (e.g. an image inside a bullet)?
+- When merged with scoped text styles, thread `current_style` into the `_ul`/`_ol`
+  interception so bullets honour the active family.