UK TeX FAQ -- question 228

### Running equation, figure and table numbering

Many LaTeX classes (including the standard book class) number things per chapter; so figures in chapter 1 are numbered 1.1, 1.2, and so on. Sometimes this is not appropriate for the user's needs.

Short of rewriting the whole class, one may use one of the removefr and remreset packages; both define a `\@removefromreset` command, and having included the package one writes something like:

      \makeatletter
      \@removefromreset{figure}{chapter}

and the automatic renumbering stops. You then need to redefine the way in which the figure number (in this case) is printed:

      \renewcommand{\thefigure}{\@arabic\c@figure}
      \makeatother

(remember to do the whole job, for every counter you want to manipulate, within `\makeatletter` ... `\makeatother`).

The technique may also be used to change where in a multilevel structure a counter is reset. Suppose your class numbers figures as <chapter>.<section>.<figure>, and you want figures numbered per chapter, try:

      \@removefromreset{figure}{section}
      \@addtoreset{figure}{chapter}
      \renewcommand{\thefigure}{\thechapter.\@arabic\c@figure}

(the command `\@addtoreset` is a part of LaTeX itself).

The chngcntr package provides a simple means to access the two sorts of changes discussed, defining `\counterwithin` and `\counterwithout` commands.

`chngcntr.sty`
  macros/latex/contrib/supported/misc/chngcntr.sty
`removefr.tex`
  macros/latex/contrib/other/fragments/removefr.tex (note, this is constructed as a "fragment" for use within other packages: load by `\input{removefr}`)
`remreset.sty`
  Distributed as part of macros/latex/contrib/supported/carlisle.tar.gz