TOC error

[Airlens]

In a FM2015 book file, the generated TOC show all subheadings in the previous chapter. How can this be corrected?

[Barb Binder]

Did you update your book? When you see the Update Book dialog box, is the TOC is the Generate list and not in the Don't Generate list?

When a table of contents is set up correctly, updating your book will instruct FrameMaker to comb through the chapters, pulling out the current headings with their page numbers. If this still isn't working, then something is wrong with the TOC setup. More information will be needed to help you troubleshoot.

[Airlens]

Thanks for your response.

Did you update your book? Yes.

When you see the Update Book dialog box, is the TOC is the Generate list and not in the Don't Generate list? Yes

There are 10 individual chapter documents that comprise the book

five(5) paragraph tags are the basis for the TOC:

ChapterTitle

ChapterSubTitle

H1

H2

H3

ChapterTitle and ChapterSubTitle ALWAYS generate correctly

H1, H2, H3, IF on the first page of any of the 10 chapter, always generate at the end of the list of the previous chapter.

Example 1: H1, H2, and H3 are on the first page of chapter 5. They generate in the TOC as the last items in the TOC under Chapter 4.

Example 2: IF H1, H2, and H3 are on any page after the first page of the chapter (any chapter), they generate correctly in the TOC under their respective chapter.

This first page behavior is consistent on all 10 chapters. In the first chapter, where there is no preceding chapter H1, H2, H3 are shown above Chapter 1 in the TOC.

The book has been updated and page numbers continue from one chapter to the next.

The book and TOC update without error messages.

I am new at FM and suspect it is an operator error and is probably something simple I am overlooking.

[Barb Binder]

Are all of the paragraphs in the same flow, or maybe the heads are on the master page?

Here's a test... open a chapter and click on one of the Head1s. Edit > Select All in Flow. It will pick up all of the text in that Flow (normally Flow A). You can zoom out to 25% magnification to scan the entire chapter at one time. Is the ChapterTitle text and the ChapterSubTitle also highlighted? If not, they are in a different flow. Try moving them to the top of Flow A on the first page.

And here's a close up of the first page. The whole chapter is in one flow.

Which calls in the text into the TOC in chronological order:

Sharing similar screen shots with View > Borders checked would be a good next step.

[Airlens]

H1, H2, and H3 are all in Flow A.

ChapterTitle and ChapterSubTitle are not in Flow A but are in separate Text Boxes drawn on the body page

[Airlens]

I think we may be on to something here. I am going to rework what I have to make sure it’s all in the same flow and then regenerate the TOC. It’s going to take me a while since I am new at this.

[Barb Binder]

You could do a super quick test by cutting the errant heads and pasting them at the top of the flow and then update the book. If that's it, and I agree that that is likely, then you can work on redesigning the first page(s).

[Airlens]

The ChapterTitle and ChapterSubTitle tags are not in Flow A. I put them in 2 text boxes drawn on the body pages. (I am sure this is not the way it should be done)

H1, H2, and H3 which appear to be the errant heads, but they are already in Flow A. My understanding then is all 5 subject tags have to be in Flow A.

[Barb Binder]

Sight-unseen (which means there is some guesswork involved), I would try what I first suggested. Just cut and paste the  ChapterTitle and ChapterSubTitle tags onto the first line of Flow A in one file. Update the book. That narrows down the issue. If it works, then we know what we are dealing with.

If having the heads in their own frames is important, and you can't simplify the layout as per my page 1 screen shot, then you can assign the flow tag to the two stand-alone frames, and connect them so that the text is in multiple frames but is still all in one flow. But before we go through those steps, first test to see if putting the heads in Flow A solves the problem.

[Airlens]

Been called away for a short time. Back soon and looking forward to trying your suggestion. Thanks for your help, I'll let you know what happens.

Sent from my iPad

[Barb Binder]

Ok, no problem. I'm leaving the country this afternoon for about 10 days, someone else can certainly help you if you have more questions.