Numbered lists that share numbering across sections

Question

In Asciidoctor, is it possible to have multiple numbered lists, split across different sections, that all share numbering (perhaps by setting [start={counter:list-counter}]). Something like this:

== Section A

. item 1
. item 2

== Section B

[start={list-counter}]
. item 3
. item 4

== Section C

[start={list-counter}]
. item 5
. item 6

which should render as this:

Section A
1. item 1
2. item 2

Section B
3. item 3
4. item 4

Section C
5. item 5
6. item 6

Unfortunately I don't think there's a way to have a variable that counts the number of previous list items. Or is there?

I could hack this by placing a [.invisible]#{counter:list-counter}# on every list item, but hopefully there is a better way.

Answer 1

Continuing a list over multiple section is not a standard task, I think the clean way to go is definitely with a counter.

Instead of an ordered list you could instead use a Description list, it does not look the same but brings some flexibility and the main idea is there:

== Section A

{counter:list-counter}):: item 1
{counter:list-counter}):: item 2

== Section B

{counter:list-counter}):: item 3
{counter:list-counter}):: item 4

== Section C

{counter:list-counter}):: item 5
{counter:list-counter}):: item 6

Answer 2

Here's another hack:

= Document

== Section A

. item 1
. item 2
+
[discrete]
== Section B

. item 3
. item 4
+
[discrete]
== Section C

. item 5
. item 6

That gets the list items to have the correct item numbers, but the "discrete" headings are indented. You could use some CSS customization (say via docinfo files) to outdent them.