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JMBONN
Participating Frequently
July 28, 2025
Answered

Index - invalid characters

  • July 28, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 510 views

Hello

I'm working on a 500-page document in InDesign 18 containing an index of approximately 2,000 names. The indexing was done in Word, but upon import, I realized I'd lost some indexes. So I completed it in InDesign. Halfway through the 500 pages, I launched an index generation to show the author. There were no issues.

Now, I'm nearing the end of the work and I want to launch the index. It immediately tells me that the index cannot be generated due to invalid characters. But how can I find these characters? I've reread it several times and can't find anything unusual.

I used the KPS Index Editor script, which didn't find any errors. I'd like to be able to export this index so I can analyze it better and find the problem.

Do you have any ideas to help me complete this work?

 

Correct answer Peter Kahrel

Thanks for your help. But please let me know how you find this f.... little square. I don't find it in the index panel, except when I click on the name. Are you a magician ?

 

😉

 


Essentially as @Abhishek Rao outlined. First do a visual check of the Index panel. But of course with just over 2,000 topics that's not easy.

 

Next, a binary method: delete the first half of the story. If the index generates then the problem is in the second half of the document. Save this half document. Now do the same with this document: delete the first half and generate the index. Et cetera. By halving the document repeatedly you work your way through it fairly quickly.

 

1 reply

Abhishek Rao
Community Manager
Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
Community Manager
July 28, 2025

Hi @JMBONN,

 

Thanks for sharing the details. That definitely sounds frustrating. Since the index generated fine earlier but is now throwing the 'invalid characters' error, it's possible that one or more index entries may have picked up a hidden or unsupported character during editing.

One way to track this down is to open the Index panel and carefully scroll through the entries manually. You can also try generating a partial index in sections (say, the first 100 pages, the next 100, and so on) to narrow down where the issue begins. That might help pinpoint the problematic entry or section.

 

Let me know if this helps. Looking forward to hearing back from you. 

Abhishek

J
JMBONNAuthor
Participating Frequently
July 28, 2025

Hello Abhishek

 

I used index panel to check it : but difficult to find anything. And what is an invalid character? How could find it ? For the section, I'm not sure it will work because all the name in the index are alle over the book 😞

Peter Kahrel
Community Expert
Peter KahrelCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 28, 2025

Sometimes when you add a topic with some text selected, a return character is smuggled in. You can't see it and it causes index generation to fail. But special characters such as em- en en-dashes, for instance, are illegal in indexes. See https://creativepro.com/files/kahrel/indesign/index-fixes.html under the heading Special characters can break the index for details and possible fixes.

 

If you can't find the problem, post your document (or email it to me, address is n the web page) and I'll take a look.

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