Is it possible to group an MTOC by paragraph tag?

Text Insets is a neat feature of FM, and these may appear to sort-of work even when the source text has gone missing. This is because when created, and when last successfully updated, a copy of the source text is inserted at each referring instance. In the case of Text Insets, it gets tagged with an undocumented ‹PgfLocked› tag as I recall, preventing local change.

So in this case, I’m wondering if the source instances got moved/renamed/deleted, but still look like they are there, due to FM’s last-instance behavior.

Xref by $Paratext, another neat feature, may have similar considerations.

Hi Jordan, it sounds like all used to work as needed, and you just need to have someone explain the underpinnings. If you like, I’m happy to take a peek at the files online without charge, and you can pick a time at https://mattconsult.youcanbook.me/

Wait. It's Friday. And it's been a long week.

Revised recommendation: create an MTOC for the heads, and then add a list of cross-references to the table titles. An x-ref can be formatted to mimic a TOC entry and they update with book updates. Now you have two automated lists that will update after edits. And you could do both with x-refs, it's just slightly quicker IMO, to use the MTOC.

On that note, that could be what is in place now. 

~Barb

Hi Jordan:

There is nothing in the book so I'm unsure of how they've been getting updated.

I'm also curious how they are getting updated. Any chance you can share a file? If the content is confidential, you can share it via a direct message or even delete the body paragraphs and just leave the heads in place. Just so that we (or I) can determine how it was set up. I'm confused because if you are missing the text insets, the content couldn't update, but you said it is.

As per @Winfried Reng, we can't sort an MTOC—they are always chronological. Fm will intersperse the heads and the table titles if you call in both. We are also limited to one MTOC per file so the MTOC could list the heads or the table titles but not both as two separate lists.

Without scripting, I'd say the most efficient avenue is to add an MTOC for the heads, and the generate a standalone-TOC for the table tables and pull it in via a text inset.

Do be aware that a book update will update book-level TOCs/LOTs and embedded MTOCS but not the standalone TOCs, so you will have to manage those yourself, which is not ideal. This sounds like it may be a contract job, so I'd indicate you are going to bill for that extra time. That may be enough for the document owner to relax the presentation to take advantage of what FrameMaker does well and avoid adding manual steps. We humans make mistakes (imagine that!) and Fm doesn't, if the files are set up correctly. Just a thought.

~Barb

This could be scripted if your client is open to a scripting solution.

I believe the easiet thing would be to create two standalone lists. A standard TOC and a List of Tables. This would be two separate documents. While it is possible to insert two lists into one document, I think the benefits of separating them weighs heavier.

Hi,

What happens, when you click in these TOCs/List of tables? When these are text insets, you get more info, when you double-click these text insets. You will see, where these are stored. When you open these text insets, they might give an error that e.g. graphics files cannot be found. And this might cause the error message during the book update.

When these lists get automatically updated, they are part of a book together with the chapter file. Do you see something (book in book) in your book?

If your colleague had set this up this way, that's what I would do as well:

Master book

In the master book books for all (chapters together with list of pararaphs and list of tables).

And no, I do not see an option to group an MTOC by paragraph or insert two MTOCs (one for paragraphs and one for tables).

Best regards, Winfried

So is it doing a List of Tables (if that's such a thing - don't have FM open to check & have never done it) and then putting that in as a Text Inset in the chapter content?