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Inspiring
October 29, 2023
Answered

question about table of contents

  • October 29, 2023
  • 25 replies
  • 2384 views

Hello,

In a FM book I have succeeded to create a Table of Contents, but I see that in the generated TOC the page number (1) is next to the text (see red line in the screenshot).

I would like that FM automatically put the page number like this :

"chapter number .................................................................  page number"

So, I would like FM add automatically the "dots" and put the "page number" at the right. How to do this ?

 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Barb Binder

Hi Pierre:

 

This is correct.

 

To add SECTION A above some chapter names, and presumably, SECTION B above others—a perfectly reasonable request—Fm needs to pull the words out of the document. You will need to add the words SECTION A someplace before Chapter 1 (or at the top of Chapter 1) and assign it a unique paragraph style so that Fm can pull the words into the TOC/TDM. If you want to add the section heads to the table of contents, but not to the page, you still have to add them to the page, but you can make them white or very small. Or both. That way they won't be visible to the reader on the page, but they will still be available to FrameMaker to call into the TOC/TDM.

 

Bob is also correct in his reply of course, but he is referring to something you are going to ask us soon—adding a title to the top of the TDM that likely says Table des Matières. This is also addressed on the list, as number 6.

 

When are ready to add the title, you will have add it at the very top of the generated text. To be allowed to keep it after you update your book:

  1. Table des Matières must be the first paragraph in the flow, and
  2. Its style name cannot end in the suffix for that generated file.

 

For example, you could name it the French equivalent of Contents, as per Bob or ContentsTitle as per my post, but not ContentsTitleTDM because TDM is the suffix for a table of contents in your French version of FrameMaker. If you add TDM to the end of the style name, Fm will remove it when you update your book.

 

So many rules!

 

~Barb

25 replies

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 29, 2023

Hi Pierre:

 

You can do this either by working in the ruler, or by typing in a numeric value. They both do the same thing, but if you are using the ruler, don't forget to Update Style.

 

Let's see if this video helps. If not, let me know.

 

 

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
Inspiring
October 29, 2023

Hi Barb,

I have seen the two links you gave me, and tried to make a tab stop (in a new portrait document), but I did not succeeded to do it :

 

Community Expert
October 29, 2023

Hi, @pierret18811376 ,

as @Bob_Niland already mentioned you need to define tab stops in paragraph format.

And secondly you must tell FM to use the teb stop(s) of the paragraph.

That is controlled by entries on the reference page "TOC" (TDM?).

Regards

Stephan

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 29, 2023

Hi Pierre:

 

I have two blog posts you might find useful. 

 

This one explains how to replace the default space between the text entry and the page number with a tab character:
https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-framemaker-adding-tabs-to-a-table-of-contents/

 

And this one explains how to set the tab stop and the leader dots:
https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-framemaker-setting-tabs-part-iii/

 

Both are old, but nothing has changed. If you get stuck, of course, just come back and ask us.

 

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
Bob_Niland
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 29, 2023

In the TDM file, that's controlled by the Tab Stops properties of the generated TOC (TDM?) paragraphs, as seen on Reference Page TOC (TDM?) of the TDM file.