Need TOCs to Alphabetize in RoboHelp 2022

[Matthew28633241prhf]

I'm having an issue where all my topics in my TOC become not alphabetized like they are in my "Contents" folder. When I select "Auto-Create TOC", all my topics that were alphabetized in the Contents folder become randomized in my Table of Contents tab. Thoughts on how to get my TOCs to remain alphabetized when I "Auto Create" the TOCs?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

That sounds a bit like a bug - according to Peter's site, the TOC should follow your Contents structure.

[Matthew28633241prhf]

It did in my other versions of RH. When I manually alphabetize my TOCs and select "Auto Create TOC" again, it goes back to random/wonky order.

[Peter Grainge]

The auto create will not be random. Could it be the difference between sorting by file name and topic title?

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[Matthew28633241prhf]

Could be. Where is the sorting feature/functionality?

[Peter Grainge]

Try the Menu. 

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My site www.grainge.org includes many free Authoring and RoboHelp resources that may be of help.

[Karin Albrecht]

Go to View - Show and deselect "Topics by Title". The auto-created TOC always uses the file name, so if you switch off the display of topics by title, you should see the same structure in your Content tab and your TOC.

This setting apparently gets activated when updating to RH2022 from RH2020.

[Matthew28633241prhf]

Thank you so much! I see that while I was in "Contents", when I turned off "Topics by Title", it did show the File Names. When selecting "Auto Create TOC", I see that even though I turned off "Topics by Title", my TOC topics still were not alphabetized unlike my Contents. 😞

[Amebr]

Could you post one or two sample screenshots of your Contents panel and Table of Contents? Perhaps we can see what's going on from an example? Please use the Insert Photo icon to insert the screenshots, or paste directly into the text field. Having the pictures visible with the text makes it easier to help.

[Karin Albrecht]

Maybe this is some kind of misunderstanding. The auto-TOC will show TOPIC TITLES, but sort alphabetically by FILE NAMES. E.g. you have the following topics:

File name: 10_Beta (topic title: Beta)

File name: 20_Alpha (topic title: Alpha)

The auto-TOC will look as follows (seemingly the wrong way round due to the sorting by FILE NAMES, which have numbers):

Beta

Alpha

In your contents panel, when sorting by topic title, it will read:

Alpha

Beta 

Maybe this clarifies things. 

Otherwise, like Amber says, it would be good if you could share some screenshots with what you see and what you expect to see.

[Matthew28633241prhf]

Sure! In my Contents, topics in my Folders are alphabetized: 

But when I "Auto Create TOC" in my TOC folder, they are no longer alphabetized (even when I unselect "Topics by Title" in the View menu): 

[Karin Albrecht]

What are the file names of the three topics shown in your TOC?  

[Matthew28633241prhf]

They are:

CPUDC.htm

DCABB.htm

DCABY.htm

So, as you mentioned, they are indeed sorted by File Name in the TOC. My hurdle remains how I get them alphabetized not by File name but by Title name in the TOC. Or, is that not possible? 

[Karin Albrecht]

As far as I know, this is not possible. In this case, you will have to either manually sort your TOC according to your needs or already have your files sorted correctly, e.g. by using numbers in front of the file name (that's what I use to do). 

[Matthew28633241prhf]

Makes sense. Cautionary tale that if do manually move around the topics in your TOC that they will revert back to the "Contents" order every time you re-select "Auto Create TOC".

[Karin Albrecht]

Yes, that's true. So, manually sorting the TOC would be a one-time-solution only.