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ema2245
Participant
August 26, 2009
Question

TOC help!

  • August 26, 2009
  • 3 replies
  • 1151 views
(I think I know the answer to this, but can't hurt to ask!)

Is there a way to bring only part of a heading into an automatically generated TOC? I'm working on a tech manual that uses academic headings (1, A, i, a, etc., each level indented one step). For the second-level headings and higher, the customer wants the text to wrap onto the heading line. So right now if I generate an automatic TOC based on the paragraph styles, I pull a TON of material into the TOC that's not needed and that I have to manually delete every time I update the book.

In other words, the page looks something like this:

1. Introduction
   a. Heading. Paragraph text starts immediately.
   b. Heading. Paragraph text.
      1. Heading. Paragraph text.

Right now, if I generate a TOC using all three heading styles, I get something that looks like this (page numbers are right-aligned):

1. Introduction                                                         p.1
   a. Heading. Paragraph text starts immediately.       p.2
   b. Heading. Paragraph text.                                   p.3
      1. Heading. Paragraph text.                                p.4

Whereas I WANT to see (page numbers are right-aligned):

1. Introduction                                         p.1
   a. Heading.                                          p.2
   b. Heading.                                          p.3
      1. Heading.                                       p.4

Is that clear as mud...?

I guess what I'm going for is if there is any rule to exclude something from a certain paragraph style when it is included in the auto TOC...

Any help or words of wisdom (other than jettisoning this flawed outline!) are GREATLY appreciated! Thanks! 
    This topic has been closed for replies.

    3 replies

    O
    ogp
    Known Participant
    August 28, 2009

    Amy

    In addition (or in clarification of) to Mikes elegant solution try using a period followed by two spaces in the autonumbering for the paragraph format that follows your headings. I got this solution from Arnis for a post I made yeasterday.

    In case any one is really interested MIL-STD-961 does require this style for paragraph headings

    BG

    E
    ema2245Author
    Participant
    August 27, 2009

    So far, so good... but since I can't leave well enough alone, I have a new question.

    In my run-in headings, the client wants the text ONLY to be underlined, but not the following punctuation or the heading number. However, when I try to underline the text in either the paragraph or character designer, it automatically underlines the heading number, as well.

    I get something that looks like this:

         a.  Heading Text. Paragraph text.

    OR

         a.  Heading Text. Paragraph text.

    However, I want this:

         a.  Heading Text. Paragraph text.

    Any suggestions? If it's anything like last time, I'm sure it's so simple that if it was a snake it would've bit me... Thanks!

    A
    Art Campbell
    Inspiring
    August 27, 2009

    It depends on how much manual work you want to do...

    Bottom line is because the TOC is generated automatically, the formatting is applied automatically too. In this case, it's applied to the entire content of the HeadingTOC paragraph tag -- which includes the number and punctuation.

    You can get to where you want to go if you're willing to go through the TOC manually and apply a character tag (probably would have everything set to AsIs, except the Underline attribute). But that's going to be painful.

    If you want to make a change in the format of the Heading entries in the book, you could break out the head number seperately in a new paragraph tag (HeadingNumber) and set its pagination to RunIn, so that it preceeds the Heading text and replaces the existing autonumbering in the Heading tag, That would allow you to separate that part of the string and just underline the Heading.

    But there isn't anything much you can do about trailing punctuation to the Heading... except that note that no style guide that I'm aware of ever calls for punctuating headings or titles like you do in your example.

    M
    Mike Wickham
    Inspiring
    August 26, 2009

    It looks like you have the documents set up to use a single paragraph for

    both heading and paragraph text. Instead you should make heading and text as

    separate paragraphs. Then, in the paragraph designer, set the paragraph

    style for the heading paragraph to "Run-In Head," so that it stays on the

    same line as the following text in the document, but lets you select the

    heading only for the TOC.

    Mike Wickham

    E
    ema2245Author
    Participant
    August 26, 2009

    I can't believe it was that easy. So far, looks like it's going to work, but I'm sure I'll be back here in a jiffy if it doesn't! Thanks!!

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