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MS Office Forum / Word / Page Layout / April 2005Table of Contents -won't behave + spurious section breaks
I'm working on learning how to use TOC functionality. I have been reading various articles on TOC on the MVP site - however I am testing with a document that was sent by email by a colleague. TOC function won't work at all. Is this because I don't have the .dot file for the file on my computer? Every time I try to set TOC levels they don't "stick". Colleague also tells me that the doc adds continuous section breaks for no reason that he can find. I don't know what his skill level is, but he said he was on phone with MS for 2 hours. Perhaps he simply has a broken/buggy template? I have to work with this doc.. suggestions welcome. Annamarie Instructional Designer > TOC function won't work at all. Is this because I don't have the .dot file > for the file on my computer? > Every time I try to set TOC levels they don't "stick". Stick in what sense? No, you don't need the DOT file on your computer. Specify the TOC entries using styles with the levels you want (eg use Heading 1, Heading 2, etc). Define the TOC styles to look the way you want. That's all there is for a vanilla TOC. > Colleague also tells me that the doc adds continuous section breaks for no > reason that he can find. I don't know what his skill level is, but he said > he was on phone with MS for 2 hours. Perhaps he simply has a broken/buggy > template? Word doesn't add section breaks for *no* reason. (The reason might be obscure, but there will be one ... although it's not a problem I've ever encountered.) Whatever the cause, it has nothing to do with his template. Hi Thanks for responding. I've made progress and if my stupid mistakes can help anyone else out I'm confessing. Mind you I'm working with a document that I inherit from a colleague. "Stick" in the sense that I specify the TOC entries for the styles and the levels I want, (Insert/Tables and Indexes/Table of Contents/Options) click OK, and when I reopen the dialog box to specify the TOC entries they aren't there. I've done this over and over. However, I missed noticing that while I was defining the styles "Chapter Title" and Chapter Sub-title" the Header 1, Header 2 and Header 3 were already assigned to TOC 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Next problem is said colleague defined Chapter Subtitle with left and right indents that caused a single column of characters to be the TOC 2 entry. Once I figured that out it's been working fine. Thanks. > > TOC function won't work at all. Is this because I don't have the .dot file > > for the file on my computer? [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > obscure, but there will be one ... although it's not a problem I've ever > encountered.) Whatever the cause, it has nothing to do with his template. I take it back. The TOC entries aren't "sticking".... I'm wondering if it's my application... ?? Do continuous section breaks get placed in a document as a result of setting "keep with next" in the paragraph formatting of a Style? Thanks > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] > > obscure, but there will be one ... although it's not a problem I've ever > > encountered.) Whatever the cause, it has nothing to do with his template. I believe your problem lies in "when I reopen the dialog box to specify the TOC entries." You basically can't revisit this dialog. When you do, Word wants to create a new TOC from scratch, so everything is always set back to the default. You need to either get it right the first time or learn to edit the TOC field manually; see http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/TOCSwitches.htm  SignatureSuzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] > > obscure, but there will be one ... although it's not a problem I've ever > > encountered.) Whatever the cause, it has nothing to do with his template. If you want to revisit the Index and Tables dialog box without actually creating a new TOC, you must delete the existing TOC first; then you can recreate it with different settings. Usually, however, it is quite sufficient to *update* the existing TOC to reflect changes in your document. In order to force an update of a table of contents, do the following: right-click the TOC and choose to "Update field" (or, alternatively, place the cursor inside the TOC and press F9). If Word presents a dialog box, make sure that you specify that the entire table should be updated. SignatureStefan Blom > I believe your problem lies in "when I reopen the dialog box to specify the > TOC entries." You basically can't revisit this dialog. When you do, Word [quoted text clipped - 55 lines] > > > encountered.) Whatever the cause, it has nothing to do with his > template. > If you want to revisit the Index and Tables dialog box without > actually creating a new TOC, you must delete the existing TOC first; > then you can recreate it with different settings. Hmm, that's seems a bit self-contradictory; if you delete the existing TOC, then you *must* create a new one. > Usually, however, it > is quite sufficient to *update* the existing TOC to reflect changes in > your document. Not if you want to change the TOC itself (include more levels, omit some headings). Updating merely changes the TOC, as is, to reflect the current document content. If that content includes Level 1 paragraphs that you don't want in the TOC, there are ways to deal with this outside the TOC dialog, but the easiest way is to clear the 1 from the style in the TOC Options dialog. SignatureSuzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. > If you want to revisit the Index and Tables dialog box without > actually creating a new TOC, you must delete the existing TOC first; [quoted text clipped - 91 lines] > > > > encountered.) Whatever the cause, it has nothing to do with his > > template. > > If you want to revisit the Index and Tables dialog box without > > actually creating a new TOC, you must delete the existing TOC first; > > then you can recreate it with different settings. > > Hmm, that's seems a bit self-contradictory; if you delete the existing TOC, > then you *must* create a new one. My point was that for inexperienced users, deleting and recreating the TOC provides a way to modify TOC settings without messing with TOC field codes. > > Usually, however, it > > is quite sufficient to *update* the existing TOC to reflect changes in [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > but the easiest way is to clear the 1 from the style in the TOC Options > dialog. Again, for inexperienced users, it is well worth stating explicitly that updating a TOC is a possibility, if the goal is to make it reflect the current document structure of a modified document. Of course I didn't mean to say that updating would change the settings (that would indeed be strange!). Perhaps making such a comment didn't help in this particular case, though. -- Stefan Blom > > If you want to revisit the Index and Tables dialog box without > > actually creating a new TOC, you must delete the existing TOC first; [quoted text clipped - 91 lines] > > > > > encountered.) Whatever the cause, it has nothing to do with his > > > template. An additional comment... Suzanne, it is correct that the first paragraph of my initial response was self-contradictory. It could more clearly be stated in the following way: "If you want to revisit the Index and Tables dialog box without creating a *second* TOC, you must delete the existing TOC first; then you can recreate it with different settings." SignatureStefan Blom > > > If you want to revisit the Index and Tables dialog box without > > > actually creating a new TOC, you must delete the existing TOC [quoted text clipped - 161 lines] > his > > > > template. Now that I'll buy! IMO this is a real defect in the Index and Tables dialog. It should be possible, with the insertion point in an existing TOC, to revisit the dialog and make changes. You can do this, of course, but then Word asks if you want the "new" TOC to replace the existing one, which is the only option. While that superficially accomplishes what you're after, unless the problem of multiplying bookmarks has been solved (and I can't recall that it has), then every time you replace the TOC, you've created a whole new slew of bookmarks to clutter up the file. This is why it is really useful for users who need TOCs often to learn to edit the TOC field (and there are some effects that can be created *only* by doing that). SignatureSuzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. > An additional comment... > [quoted text clipped - 182 lines] > > his > > > > > template. > every time you replace the TOC, > you've created a [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > there are some effects that can be created *only* by doing > that). Good point. I actually wasn't aware of the "bookmark problem" with TOCs. (It is easy enough to verify that it still exists, though.) -- Stefan Blom > Now that I'll buy! IMO this is a real defect in the Index and Tables dialog. > It should be possible, with the insertion point in an existing TOC, to [quoted text clipped - 65 lines] > > > first; > > > > > then you can recreate it with different settings. Usually, > > > however, it > > > > > is quite sufficient to *update* the existing TOC to reflect [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thanks for responding. I've made progress and if my stupid > > > > > mistakes can > > > > > > help [quoted text clipped - 82 lines] > > > his > > > > > > template. |
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