Table of Contents adding in numbers

[Ciara31274891gx7g]

I'm creating a TOC for a 100+ page booklet. Everything looks great when I populated the TOC with the styles I have applied, however there is a random 2 between each entry, and after a while that changes from 2 to 3 between each entry. Help?

 

 

 

[Barb Binder]

Hi @Ciara31274891gx7g :

A table of contents pulls in the exact content from the paragraph style you reference, along with the page number.

1. Can you please share a screen shot that contains the first entry: Chapter 1 Learning Objectives with Type > Show Hidden Characters enabled and the Pages panel visible.
2. And to be proactive to try to cut down the time it takes to solve this, a second screen shot with your cursor in the same paragraph but in Story Editor view (Edit > Edit in Story Editor).

~Barb

[Peter Spier]

I'm wondering if thiose headings showing the numbers that shouldn't be there are defined as numbered lists?

I also see that you appear to be using the same style for both the lisitings and the paragraphs they reference, and I think that might be part of the problem -- something in the style defintion that belongs in the paragraph, but not the listing.

[Barb Binder]

Auto-numbers was my first thought, Peter, but it looks like the TOC has the text entry, a tab, a number, a second tab, the extraneous number and then the ¶.

Auto-numbers would be at the beginning, right? Honestly, I'm still baffled—just hoping the screen shots will clarify the situation. I'm thinking section number or hidden text.

~Barb

[Peter Spier]

Auto-numbers would be at the beginning, right? Honestly, I'm still baffled—just hoping the screen shots will clarify the situation. I'm thinking section number or hidden text.

By @Barb Binder

 Well, yes, ordinarily, but I think it might be possible to get them after in some combinations of English text with a right-to-left language designation in the ME version. Just a wild guess.

Seeing a lot more info, like paragraph style defintions, would be helpful.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

The page numbers of the TOC don't appear to have paragraph returns at the end. 

My bet is the chapter level or the chapter description level is repeated somewhere in the formats.

[Peter Spier]

they're on the second line...

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

I can see that… But it looks like they're part of the line above that's just getting wrapped over.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Dave Creamer of IDEAS 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/table-of-contents-adding-in-numbers/m-p/15117712...

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

@Robert at ID-Tasker Sorry, I don't understand your post. My post, which I believe predates yours*, but they say basically the same thing. Not trying to claim anything, other than I don't know what you are trying to say...

*Hard to tell after some time has passed due to time rounding, but earlier it showed as earlier. 

[Peter Spier]

Exactly.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Is this menu shot showing the correct level/TOC item? It looks as if the menu shows 4th level and the weird extra number is coming after the 3rd(?)

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

It looks like repeated Chapter "numbers"? 

Also, numbers after the orange text - those are not page numbers? 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Ciara31274891gx7g

Can you share your file? If it's confidential - you can click on anyone's nickname - but you'll have to upload your INDD file somewhere and share the link - there is no option to attach files to ptivate messages.

[Ciara31274891gx7g]

Sorry all, it is a confidential file so I will not be sharing more. I've ran through the document and there are no hidden characters or numbers where the TOC chapters appear. There are 4 levels of styles applied, the number appears at the end of each style except the last, the '2' and '3' at the end of the first red chapter should not be there either. I've mnaually manipulated the TOC for now to appear as it should, but that would have to be done each time it is updated which could cause a pain point.

This is how it should appear without the extra '2' and '3' randomly at the end of each line:

 

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Just to be sure — we've seen several TOC issues like this recently and every one came down to the level definitions pulling the unwanted content from somewhere. (One made the circular mistake of making the TOC entries grab and include... the existing TOC entries.) So that's where to continue looking, I think. You might blow away the TOC and re-create it from scratch, and — always — be sure to save the "style" under a distinct name. Leaving it to the default can cause odd problems. (Really, a general ID rule — use named instances/styles and never the default or base settings.)

[Ciara31274891gx7g]

Update on some things that I've found out:

The random '2' and '3' that were popping up were the pages that the TOC was going to link each item to, not the actual page item that entry could be found on.

I've tried everything to get it to link to the actual page number it's pulling the entry from but nothing is working and it still inserts the '2' and the '3'.

I guess I will have to set up the TOC manually, and painfully link each entry to the page it appears on. 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Ciara31274891gx7g 

Can you remove most/all of the contents - leave ONLY a few title/header paragraphs - and share your file privately?

First 4-6 pages would be sufficient.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

This really, really sounds like the case we had recently where the TOC was targeting actual existing TOC entries instead of the headings further into the document.

Have you tried building a completely new TOC, one level at a time? You don't even have to delete your existing one. But start with a clean sheet and add just the major headings to see if those work without this odd glitch.

ETA: In case I was unclear, create a completely new TOC under a new "style" name and build it up slowly.

[Barb Binder]

Hi @Ciara31274891gx7g:

I understand that the file is confidential and can't be shared for security reasons but I'm not sure we can help without seeing it. Here's a technique others have used the the past:

• Save the file as it is, then
• Save it under new name. 
• In the new copy, remove all but a few pages. 
• Replace the remaining real content with dummy content—we just need a few heads to work with and no body copy/table/images—and update the TOC (which will remove most of the remaining TOC).
• Scan one more time for confidential information and then 
• Share the file with the dummy content.

This will let us play with the file—everyone on this thread is skilled at working with generated TOCs, s whoever sees it first will likely be able to identify the issue.

~Barb