ATOC and Word output

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Ed Hawco
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ATOC and Word output

Unread post by Ed Hawco »

Perhaps this should go in the PP forum, but it's mostly really about Word templates and output, so I'm putting it here.

I like the ATOC feature in the Premium Pack (PP). But it requires the creation of new heading formats that include _atoc_ in the format name. That works well for Webhelp, but if I need to output to Word (which I do fairly often for various reasons) those headings are not picked up by the Word TOC. I've tried creating Heading1_atoc_ and Heading2_atoc_ as formats in the Word Template, but it didn't help. Is there some workaround, or are _atoc_ headings always going to be excluded from Word output TOCs?
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Ed Hawco
Simon_Dismore
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Re: ATOC and Word output

Unread post by Simon_Dismore »

Ed Hawco wrote: [_atoc_] headings are not picked up by the Word TOC. I've tried creating Heading1_atoc_ and Heading2_atoc_ as formats in the Word Template, but it didn't help. Is there some workaround, or are _atoc_ headings always going to be excluded from Word output TOCs?
I tried publishing Get Me Started to Word-Template-Simple-A4.docx. In my test the _atoc_styles in the H+M file were published to Word with Outline level = body text. Styles at that level aren't listed in the Word-generated table of contents (TOC). I don't think that's changed since Word '97.

As far as I can see — from the PP help file and the H+M topics of that one project I tried — there are three factors here:
  • The apparent purpose of _atoc_ styles is to define headings that are effectively in-topic anchors, so maybe authors shouldn't expect them to be listed in the TOC. Perhaps the 'toc' part of the ATOC name is misleading: they're really 'automated sub-topic anchors'.
  • For your current project you'd like _atoc_ headings to be listed in the Word TOC. If so, you can already do that in Word, by changing the 'Outline level' for the styles you wish to include in Word's TOC, and then refreshing the TOC in Word.
  • The underlying issue is whether being-an-anchor should be made into a heading property in the H+M editor, replacing Tim's Premium Pack _atoc_ system. Instead H+M would need to have a way to (i) mark styles as being anchors; (ii) make those anchors accessible as link targets when authoring other topics; (iii) for each publishing output indicate whether the anchors should be in the TOC , and (iv) how to render them, e.g. in the TOC with an anchor rather than a topic icon
Disclaimer: I'm not an expert on this. I have a PP license but rarely publish using PP formats. I've experience with Word styles but I don't usually publish H+M to Word.
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Tim Green
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Re: ATOC and Word output

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Ed,

This Premium Pack skin feature was created before Help+Manual had Word DOCX output. At the moment the system depends on the style names for the ATOC generation so I'm afraid that can't be changed. This is a conflict, because Word wants the Heading1 ... Heading6 styles, unfortunately.

Simon's suggestion of a being-an-anchor heading property is interesting, but that would be pretty far in the future if it were to be implemented. Another possibility would be to eliminate the style name as the key and put everything in the anchor, but that too would mean a major overhaul of the ATOC system, which would only be possible in a major number upgrade (i.e. from 3.x to 4.x) and would have the added disadvantage of breaking the ATOC for all users currently using it with the current versions of the skins. They would then have to re-jigger all their projects for it.

The bottom line is, I'm afraid there's no solution for this... :?
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Simon_Dismore
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Re: ATOC and Word output

Unread post by Simon_Dismore »

Simon_Dismore wrote:
  • For your current project you'd like _atoc_ headings to be listed in the Word TOC. If so, you can already do that in Word, by changing the 'Outline level' for the styles you wish to include in Word's TOC, and then refreshing the TOC in Word.
To change the outline level for a style, right-click the style, select Modify, and then Paragraph. If you are using more then three levels, you'll need to customise the TOC (instructions here). You'll also need to refresh the TOC.
[screenshot] H+M docx output _atoc_ outline level.png
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Ed Hawco
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Re: ATOC and Word output

Unread post by Ed Hawco »

Hmm. Interesting replies. In the end I think I just won't use that feature since it's really too much trouble. :(
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