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Why do TOC do not properly display levels,... even after I set them to?

Jan 29, 2013 2:20 PM

Tags: #indesign #toc_questions #indesign_cs6 #indesign_cs6_mac #toc_levels

All,

 

I am having a major hard time trying to get my TOCs to properly display levels. I have been doing research on the subject, but it seems any recommendations have proved futile.

 

The issue:

  • My ID docs TOC's do not display levels at all
  • I have pretty much tried everything. I have gone to simple styles for Chapters and Sub Chapters to see what the issue would be

 

Image:

toc-hell.jpg

 

Some Findings

  • One article I found which outlined ID having issues with inset text boxes
    • It seems setting an inset on text boxes with TOC content affects the display of such
    • I tried removing any insets but results still did not fix the issue i face

Questions

  • What the hell am i doing wrong?
  • Is this a bug in ID CS6?
  • Is there anything I should not be doing when formatting a style that will be used on the TOC?
  • Are there any "NO NOS" I should be aware of here?
    • I mean, the above image is a test i built using a bare bones approach. The "Chapters" and "Sub Heads" styles are truly basic formats. The only attributes to these styles is a change in font style and size:
    • styles.jpg

 

Thank you to anyone who can help me on this.

 

---

PixelNovae

ID 6 (v8.0)

499 Views   10 Replies   Latest reply: Willi Adelberger, Jan 30, 2013 12:50 PM
 
Replies
  • Peter Spier
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    1. Peter Spier,
    Jan 29, 2013 2:33 PM   in reply to PixelNovae
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    What were you expecting to happen?

     

    Here's what the help files have to say about the level option:

    Level
    By default, each item added to the Include Paragraph Styles box is set one level lower than the item immediately above it. You can change this hierarchy by specifying a new level number for the selected paragraph style. This option adjusts only the display in the dialog box. It has no effect on the final table of contents unless the list is alphabetized, in which case the entries are sorted by level.

     

    Waht this means is that if you want to have different levels indent, for example, you need to add that to the paragraph style you apply.

     
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  • Joel Cherney
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    2. Joel Cherney,
    Jan 29, 2013 3:08 PM   in reply to PixelNovae
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    Judging from the screenshots, I would have expected Chapters A and B to be set at 20 points in the TOC. But they're not. Is there a character style applied? Because if you have a character style that specifies 12 point Minion on all of your body text, that character style will carry through TOC generation and still be applied to the content of your TOC.

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    3. Peter Spier,
    Jan 29, 2013 3:14 PM   in reply to Joel Cherney
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    I don't see anything in the screen shots telling us what style is being applied to the Chapters listings. Basic paragraph is being applied to the subhead listings...

     
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  • Joel Cherney
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    4. Joel Cherney,
    Jan 29, 2013 3:20 PM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    Yikes, that's a good point, Peter. Pixelnovae, what Peter points out here is that all entries marked Subhead in your body text are going to be displayed in your TOC in Basic Paragraph style:

     

    Untitled.png

     

    That may well be the missing piece for you. That's the dropdown that determines which paragraph style will affect the appearance of TOC entries.

     
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  • Joel Cherney
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    5. Joel Cherney,
    Jan 29, 2013 3:22 PM   in reply to Joel Cherney
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    So if you want your subheads to be, say, indented in your TOC, you'd need to make a "Subheads TOC" style with that amount of indent.

     
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  • PixelNovae
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    6. PixelNovae,
    Jan 29, 2013 5:49 PM   in reply to Joel Cherney
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    Hi all,

     

    Thanks to everyone for all your comments.  To remove any possible conflicts, I did not apply any entry styles to the entries because i thought:

     

    1. The TOC function generate levels independent of styles
    2. Levels are automatically applied to any entry (TOC levels override everything else)
    3. That levels override any styles one may apply to the entry
    4. Basically, I do not need a style to create an indentation in my TOC. Levels create the indentation. (thus my example using the default ID Basic Paragraph Style)

     

    Are the above assumptions wrong? If I am wrong, then are you guys saying I would need to create a TOC specific style denoting indentation for ever level?

     

    IOWs, following my example:

     

    Chapters =        LV1     = Create a "TOC Paragraph Style X"  that indents (say) 0pxs

    Sub Heads =     LV2     = Create another "TOC Paragraph Style Y" that indents (say) 20pxs

     

    On the table of contents I would need to apply each their corresponding style in order to create TOC indents:

     

    "Chapters" ---> TOC Paragraph Style X

    "Sub Heads" ---> TOC Paragraph Style Y

     

    If this is the fix, then I must say that this is a very cumbersome approach. (Hell, I would ask, why give me the levels option in the firts place in the TOC dialogue box!) If I have a book with a ton of levels, it will be pretty darn hard to manage so many styles.

     

    PS: sorry I omitted one dialogue screen in my original post. Here is what I am doing.

     

    toc-hell-2.jpg

     

    Thanks again. I'm perplexed at this, but nevertheless thankful for all your shared insight.

     

    PixelNovae

    ID CS 6

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    7. Peter Spier,
    Jan 29, 2013 6:09 PM   in reply to PixelNovae
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    pixelnovae wrote:

     

    Are the above assumptions wrong?

     

    Yes, they are wrong.

     

    If I am wrong, then are you guys saying I would need to create a TOC specific style denoting indentation for ever level?

     

     

    That's exactly what you need to do.

     
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  • PixelNovae
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    8. PixelNovae,
    Jan 29, 2013 6:14 PM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    Thanks for confirming Peter.

     

    One last thing. What is the points of "levels" within the dialogue box then? Is this only for XML reference reasons?

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    9. Peter Spier,
    Jan 30, 2013 11:09 AM   in reply to PixelNovae
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    As it says in the help file quoted above, levels come into play if you sort the TOC alphabeticly, but otherwise are ignored.

     
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  • Willi Adelberger
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    10. Willi Adelberger,
    Jan 30, 2013 12:50 PM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    Levels come into play, when you create a PDF with bookmarks based on that toc.

    Levels come into play, when you create a tagged PDF which is the basis of accessible PDFs.

    Levels come into play with ePubs.

     
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