🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi,

Make sure you define the TOC entries on the *reference* pages.

Anything you define on a *body* page will be wiped the next time you generate the file.

Cheers,

Sean

It sounds as if you have two problems, controlling the formats and including inserted text.

In the TOC, after you modify the format of the paragraph tags, or change the format by modifying the Reference page entries, you need to save the TOC file. After that the formats should stay in place.

Then, if you're adding text manually to the file that you want to be preserved from update to update, the text needs to be at the top of the text container that the generated links flow into. If it isn't the first entry, it will be deleted.

You can work around this limitation several ways, by putting the text in a different container on a Master page, importing it as a text insert manually after each update, and so on. But the easiest is to position it in the top position.

This program is killing me all i want to do is make a TOC and for the TOC to stay in the format that i put it in after i ajust it. I can make the files just fine. BUt when I hit the update button it goes back to the orginal format that Framemaker made the TOC in. DOes anybody know of any good books on Framemaker 8.

I was thrown into this program. How do you "define" the TOC in refrence page?

Ed,
You can survive this, but it isn't a word processor... it's a publishing tool that works with different kinds of objects, so expect the learning curve.

Building a TOC is discussed in the help file, but basically you need
to set three levels of controls that do different things.

First, set up what types of paragraph tags are included in the TOC
using the book file, when you Add > TOC to the book. When you update
the book, that process generates a special type of cross reference
made up of a series of variables in the TOC file.

2. The type of variable you select or add to the Reference page of the
TOC (View > Reference) controls the type of information -- but not the format -- of what
is displayed. For instance, you can modify the default setup of
<$parannum> <$pagenum>
  to read
<$paranum> <$chapnum> <$pagenum>
This is also the place where you'd insert a tab stop (just press the
Tab key) to separate the items -- probably between the <$paranum>
<$chapnum> so that the tab stop will be automatically inserted when
the TOC is generated.

3. In the TOC file itself, paragraph tags with a TOC suffix control
the formatting of entries, just as they do in any other FM file.
That's where you set the leadering -- it's linked to a tab stop that
you need to create. The tags also control the indent of a particular
tag Heading1TOC, or Heading2TOC, for instance.

It sounds as if you have #1 under control. So go on to 2 to control
the content and 3 to control the format, and you should be in good
shape.

And again, if you're trying to add text manually to the TOC, add it at the top of the first page, SAVE THE TOC, and then Update in the book.

Generate the TOC file.

Save it.

In the TOC file, choose View > Reference Pages and then scroll down to the TOC reference page.

On the TOC reference page, edit the formats of the paragraphs that you find there, using the Format > Pararaph > Designer pop-up (and the Update All button in that pop-up).

Go back to the Body pages (View > Body Pages).

Insert a normal paragraph in front of your TOC entries and apply a paragraph style to that paragraph, such as Chapter, or Title, or whatever styles are available.

Save the TOC again.

The next time you regenerate this TOC, any paragraph that is auto-generated in the TOC (that is, any paragraph that uses a paragraph style with the word "TOC" in its name) will get replaced. Other paragraphs before or after the "TOC" paragraphs will remain.

Dave