RH 2020.8.34 - pdf output: TOC structure "Use topic heading styles" selection gives empty TOC

[Steven22072230qt96]

Since the last 2020 update, when TOC structure Use topic heading styles is selected, the TOC of generated pdf output is empty.

• Can anyone reproduce this as well?
• Is there a workaround?
• See attachments with examples.

Interesting observation: The RoboHelp sample project "About RoboHelp" does generate the pdf output with TOC structure Use topic heading styles correctly with populated TOC.

Reproduce steps:

1. Open RoboHelp and create a new project.
2. Create a few topics with different headings.
3. Add them to the default TOC.
4. Create a book TOC.
5. Add TOC page to front matter.
6. Link to default TOC.
7. Open PDF output preset:

• In Content, set Table of Content to book TOC.
• In Layout, set TOC Structure to Use topic heading styles. Set Upto Heading to 2 or more.

8. Generate output and open pdf document.

• Result: TOC is empty.

9. Open PDF output preset:

• In Layout, set TOC structure to Chapter names and topic titles.

10. Generate output and open pdf document.

• Result: TOC is populated.

[Peter Grainge]

In Step 2 you have added the topics to the default TOC. In Step 5 you have added Front Matter to a different TOC. Please clarify.

Please use the photo icon to insert images within the post. Seeing an image inline with the text makes it easier for anyone answering or viewing the post. At the moment you have to open them one by one making it difficult to compare and read the text.

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

[Steven22072230qt96]

Hi Peter, thanks for your quick follow-up and suggestions. We have a TOC for the responsive HTML output, and a book TOC for our pdf output, with a different master for the cover page, and a different master for the TOC page.

[Peter Grainge]

I can see the same issue. I will take this up with Adobe and post back when I can.

________________________________________________________

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

[Peter Grainge]

I was about to take this up when I realised I should first test in 2022. Adobe rarely update earlier versions.

The setup in 2022 is different and those options are defined in a different way but both work. 

You can see more here. RH2022 PDF Output (grainge.org) and RH2022 PDF Templates (grainge.org)

As it works in 2022 it is very unlikely to be fixed in 2020.

________________________________________________________

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

[Steven22072230qt96]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your research.

I kept on wondering why the sample project of RoboHelp 2020.8.34 correctly generated the TOC structure Use topic heading styles. It's because the book TOC didn't contain a linked TOC.

Cause

Contrary to previous versions, in the 2020.8.34 version, if Link Another TOC is used in book TOCs, The TOC in the pdf output (with book TOC selected) will be empty, if the TOC structure Use topic heading styles is used.

 

Workaround

Two options:

• In Robohelp, manually recreate the topics of the other TOC in the book TOC, or
• Duplicate the TOC file in the project folder "toc", add some lines to convert it to a book toc and save it. It will be shown in RoboHelp as well.

Example:

Final observation

To adobe Employees: We would need to pay to upgrade to 2022 to regain access to a previously perfectly working functionality (unless we use the more cumbersome workaround). Could this issue be a quick fix for the 2020 version?

[Peter Grainge]

2020 was subscription only and that same subscription allows you to upgrade, no extra cost. As I said, they are unlikely to fix it in 2020.

________________________________________________________

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

[Steven22072230qt96]

Hi Peter, From what I understood from our IT department, in our enterprise license plan, RoboHelp is not part of the Creative Cloud subscription model so it would cost extra. Another argument for sticking to the 2020 version: We had many issues with upgrades before, failures when generating output, incorrect numbering, TOC issues, etc.

The only reason we updated to 2020.8.34 was because of the security issues in generated HTML output. So it's unfortunate that we came across this TOC issue in this release. On the other hand, I understand that we are probably a minority of all the customers and that it makes less sense for Adobe to invest time in older releases.

In any case, I appreciate all your insights and advice. Have a great day.

[Peter Grainge]

They are correct that RoboHelp is not part of the Creative Cloud, no version ever has been. That means if you are using 2020 then by definition you must have a subscription for that. 2019 was the last version to be issued with a perpetual licence. 2020 is subscription only and that subscription entitles you to use 2022.

Go back to IT and get them to check it out. You 100% have a RoboHelp subscription.

________________________________________________________

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