Table of content: excerpt text

[luca.carida]

Hello everyone,

I'm handling a document where I need to manage a Table of figures. Since it's quite a technical document, the captions are sometimes a bit long. I'd like to include in the ToF only a part of them. For example: "Figure 1: General envelope. The blablablalbla": I'd like to have only "Figure 1: General envelope" in the ToF. 

My first idea was to use two paragraph styles (let's say Figures and FiguresNOTOF) and use the former in the ToF, but I can't help having a line break in the caption, which should be avoided. 

I browsed some discussions here but I couldn't find the best way to achieve this.

What's the best strategy here?

Thank you!

[Peter Kahrel · Accepted solution]

Your idea of using two paragraph styles is correct. But instead of adding the abbreviated caption to the 'real' caption, add it in a sperate text frame and anchor it in the caption. You can move the anchored frame largely away from the page, only a fraction of the frame needs to be on the page. Then in the ToF use the paragraph style applied to the abbreviated caption.

[luca.carida]

Brilliant! Thank you so much!

[FRIdNGE]

Hi Peter,

Why not just insert a Grep style in the "Caption" TOC para style that makes invisible all the text after the first dot [automatic] or after a non-joiner [manually placed by the op]?

Char Style: Invisible

Grep Expression: [.~j].+$

(^/)  The Jedi

[Stefsue]

I have the same issue example:

Doctrinal Fidelity (79th A., 2024) .............12

I don't want the text in parenthesis to show in the TOC and there is no way I can go back into my document and created new text boxes for all of them. It is a HUGE document.

I tried your grep expression but I am not doing it right. What are the parameters for the Char Style?

Also, the parenthesis has a small type char style applied to it. Unlike the bold regular text of the title.

HELP!

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Stefsue 

If you can send me your document - ZIP and upload your file somewhere, click my nickname and send me link on priv to uploaded file - I can do it for you using my ID-Tasker tool.

[FRIdNGE]

GREP Style:

Apply Style: _invisible (see Settings below)

To Text: \h\(.+?\)

(^/)

[Stefsue]

Thank you for taking the time to help me. This works! Except how do you avoid the leader being hidden as well?

 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Thank you for taking the time to help me. This works! Except how do you avoid the leader being hidden as well?

By @Stefsue

Make the style 0.1pt, horizontal scale 1%.

[Stefsue]

Thank you!  I also had to adust the way I had my tabs set. This really saved me a ton of time! Thank you so much!

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

@Peter Kahrel 's method is the one I've used. I've done something simular but used a non-printing text frame and placed it at the top of the page in the margin. I had to make two TOCs--one English and one Spanish. I color-coded the text cyan and magenta so it stood out from the black text.

I wish InDesign would update some of its longdocument features. QuarkXPress could make TOCs/Lists from character styles for decades. 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Dave Creamer of IDEAS

But you've not Anchored it in the main story? 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

In my case, it wasn't necessary as it was always at the start of a section. In the OP's case, I would set it as anchored. 

Another option is to put the abbreviated text in small type just above or below the real caption. Any paragraph space can be adjusted to make the spacing appear normal. Set the type color to magenta to see it easier to see during editing, but change it to none or white before printing. 

[Peter Kahrel]

I assumed that abbreviating a caption wouldn't always be as simple as chopping it off somewhere.