RH8 browse sequence based on TOC not working as expected

[Tim D Morris]

I have several standalone projects for which RoboHelp's browse sequence tool correctly generates the browse sequence based on the TOC using a book level of 0 (zero) so that it picks up everything in order.  If a project has books A and B (which are not themselves topics), and each book has two subtopics, A1, A2, B1, B2, the TOC-based browse sequence is A1, A2, B1, B2.  For a project I inherited (originally designed as 40 separate merged projects that I combined into a single .xpj project), "books" A and B for the example above are also topics.  When I generate the browse sequence based on the TOC using zero for the book level, instead of getting A, A1, A2, B, B1, B2, I get A, B, A1, A2, B1, B2.  The TOC runs through all 1st level items first, cycles back through all 2nd level item, then 3rd level, etc.  Has anyone seen this before?  Any ideas how to fix it?  Does the problem have anything to do with the fact that the "books" in this project are also "topics"?

[Peter Grainge]

Create a new TOC and make it a copy of the existing TOC.

Then remove the topics from the books and try again with the browse sequence.

I don't know that will fix it but it is what I would try first.

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@petergrainge

[ktel_1888]

I think this experience is pretty common. Unfortunately Adobe has not updated the code in any of their product updates over the last few years to render browse sequences in a way that is intuitive to the reader of your online help.

That being said, a workaround does exist, but it requires a bit more work on the part of the users.

My workaround was to auto-create the browse sequence at a 0 level and then manually manipulate it to output according to how my readers would actually read my online book (ie A Aa A1 A1a A1b A2 A2a A2b B B1 etc etc).

This did the trick. Can you give it a try and see if it works for you?