How to Create and Maintain a Table of Contents
How to Create and Maintain a Table of Contents Version 0.2 First edition: January 2004 First English edition: January 2004

Contents

Overview..... iii About this guide....iii Conventions used in this guide.... iii Copyright and trademark information....iii Feedback.....iii Acknowledgments..... iv Modifications and updates.... iv Creating a table of contents.... 1 Opening Writer's table of contents feature.... 1 Using the Index/Table tab....2 Setting basic attributes... 2 Adding a title.... 2 Protecting against manual changes.... 2 Changing the number of levels...2 Assigning custom styles.... 3 Using the Entries tab.... 3 Deleting elements....4 Adding elements.....4 Applying character styles.... 5 Applying changes to all outline levels... 5 Using the Styles tab.... 5 Using the Background tab.... 6 Adding color.... 6 Adding a graphic....7 Deleting color or graphics...8 Saving the table of contents....8 Maintaining a table of contents.... 9 Editing a table of contents.... 9
How to Create and Maintain a Table of Contents i
Updating a table of contents.... 9 Deleting a table of contents.... 9

Overview

About this guide
How to Create and Maintain a Table of Contents shows you step-by-step how to create and maintain a table of contents for a text document using OpenOffice.org Writer 1.1. To understand the instructions, you need to have a basic familiarity with Writer and styles. For an introduction to Writer, including its styles feature, see:
OpenOffice.org Starter's Guide, available at http://www.math.umd.edu/~dcarrera/openoffice/docs How to Write and Manage OpenOffice.org text documents using Common Features and Styles, available at http://documentation.openoffice.org/HOW_TO
Conventions used in this guide
This guide uses the following conventions:
Bold indicates menu options, buttons, and other items that you select on the screen. Step-by-step directions are numbered to make them easy for you to follow. When you have a choice, the choices are presented in a bulleted list, just like the bulleted list you're reading now.
Copyright and trademark information
The contents of this Documentation are subject to the Public Documentation License, Version 1.0 (the "License"); you may only use this Documentation if you comply with the terms of this License. A copy of the License is available at: http://www.openoffice.org/licenses/PDL.rtf The Original Documentation is How to Create and Maintain a Table of Contents. The Initial Writer of the Original Documentation is Catherine Waterman 2004. All Rights Reserved. (Initial Writer contact: sparkovich@att.net) Contributor(s): ______________________________________. Portions created by ______ are Copyright (C)_________[insert year(s)]. All Rights Reserved. (Contributor contact(s):________________[insert hyperlink/alias]). All trademarks within this guide belong to legitimate owners.

Feedback

Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to dev@documentation.openoffice.org
How to Create and Maintain a Table of Contents iii

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Sophie Gautier, author of the French native-language document, Comment insrer une Table des Matires, which I used as a reference.
Modifications and updates

Version

01/19/04

Description of Change

Initial version issued for comment

03/01/04

Modified chapter Maintaining a table of contents. To open the context menu, users must left click before they right click. In the section Protecting against manual changes, added reference to context menu and removed reference to accidental deletions. Renamed the section Adjusting the number of levels to Changing the number of levels. Renamed the section Removing color or graphics to Deleting color or graphics. In the section About this guide, added reference to OpenOffice.org Starter's Guide. Added third level to table of contents.
Creating a table of contents
Writer's table of contents feature lets you build an automated table of contents from the headings in your document. Before you start, make sure that the headings in your document are styled consistently. For example, you can use the Heading 1 style for chapter titles and the Heading 2 and Heading 3 styles for chapter subheadings. This chapter shows you how to:
Open Writer's table of contents feature. Use Writer's table of contents feature to customize your document's table of contents. Save the table of contents.
Opening Writer's table of contents feature
To open Writer's table of contents feature and insert a new table of contents in your document, follow these steps: 1) Place your cursor at the point in your document when you want to insert the table of contents. 2) From the main menu, choose Insert > Indexes and Tables > Indexes and Tables. The Insert Index/Table window opens. 3) Click the Index/Table tab if it isn't already displayed.
Illustration 1 Index/Table tab
The Insert/Index Table window has five tabs. Four of them are used when creating a table of contents:
Use the Index/Table tab to set the table's attributes. Use the Entries and Styles tabs to format the table entries. Use the Background tab to add color or a graphic to the table background.
The next four sections of this chapter tell you how to use each of these four tabs. The preview box, located on the left-hand side of each tab, shows you as you work how the table of contents will look. (If you don't see the preview box, check the Preview check box in the lower right-hand corner of the window.)
Using the Index/Table tab
Use the Index/Table tab, pictured in Illustration 1 on page 1, to set the table's attributes. Setting basic attributes To set the table's basic attributes: 1) From the Type drop-down list in the Type and title area of the tab, select Table of Contents if it isn't already selected. 2) From the drop-down list in the Create index/table area, select Entire document. 3) In the Create from area, check the Outline check box. 4) In the Create from area, clear the Index marks check box. Adding a title If you'd like the table of contents to have a title, enter it in the Title field. (If Writer entered a title in this field automatically, you can change it by simply typing over the value.) To delete the title, clear the Title field. Protecting against manual changes To protect the table of contents from being changed accidentally, check the Protected against manual changes check box. If this box is checked, the table of contents can only be changed using the context menu or the Insert Table/Index window. If the box isn't checked, the table of contents can be changed directly on the document page, just like other text. Changing the number of levels By default, Writer evaluates 10 levels of headings when it builds the table of contents. To change the number of levels evaluated, enter the desired number in the Evaluate up to level spin box.

Assigning custom styles Writer automatically assigns to the table of contents all paragraphs formatted with the default heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2, and so on). To assign paragraphs formatted with custom styles, follow these steps: 1) In the Create from area, check the Additional Styles check box. 2) Click the (.) button to the right of the check box. The Assign Styles window opens.
Illustration 2 Assign Styles window
3) In the Not applied column, click the style that you want to assign to the table of contents. 4) Use the >> button to move the selected style to the desired outline level. For example, if you want paragraphs formatted with the selected style to appear as top-level entries in the table of contents, click the >> button once to move the style into the 1 column. To move the style in the opposite direction, use the << button. 5) Click OK to save your changes and return to the Index/Table tab. Or, click Cancel to return without saving your changes.

Using the Entries tab

Use the Entries tab, pictured in Illustration 3 on page 4, to format the entries in the table of contents. For each outline level, you can add and delete elements, such as chapter numbers, and you can also apply character styles to individual elements.
Illustration 3 Entries tab
To begin, click a level number in the Level column to select the outline level whose elements you want to format. (You'll be able to apply your changes to all outline levels later.) The Structure line displays the elements for entries in that level. Each button on the Structure line represents one element:
The E# button represents the chapter number. The E button represents the entry text. The T button represents a tab stop. The # button represents the page number. The LS button represents the start of a hyperlink. (This button doesn't appear on the default Structure line.) The LE button represents the end of a hyperlink. (This button doesn't appear on the default Structure line.)
Each white field on the Structure line represents a blank space. Deleting elements To delete an element from the Structure line, click the button that represents that element and then press the Delete key on your keyboard. For example, to delete a tab stop, click the T button and then press the Delete key. Adding elements To add an element to the Structure line, follow these steps: 1) Place your cursor in the white field to the left of where you want to insert the element.
2) Click one of the five buttons that are just below the Structure line. (For example, to add a tab stop, click the Tab stop button.) A button representing the new element appears on the Structure line. Note that if you insert a hyperlink, you must indicate both the beginning and end of the link. For example, to change the default Structure line so that the chapter number and the entry text form a hyperlink, follow these steps: 1) On the Structure line, place your cursor in the white field to the left of the E# button. (Recall that the E# button represents the chapter number.) 2) Click the Hyperlink button. An LS button, representing the start of the hyperlink, appears on the Structure line. 3) On the Structure line, place your cursor in the white field to the right of the E button. (Recall that the E button represents the entry text.) 4) Click the Hyperlink button again. An LE button, representing the end of the hyperlink, appears on the Structure line. Applying character styles To apply a character style to an element on the Structure line: 1) On the Structure line, click the button that represents the element to which you want to apply a style. 2) From the Character Style drop-down list, select the desired style. Writer applies the selected style to the selected element. To view or edit the attributes of a character style, select the style from the Character Style drop-down list and then click the Edit button. Applying changes to all outline levels To apply the displayed structure and formatting to all outline levels, click the All button.

Using the Styles tab

Use the Styles tab, pictured in Illustration 4 on page 6, to apply paragraph styles to the table of contents. You can apply a different paragraph style to each outline level of the table.
Illustration 4 Styles tab
To apply a paragraph style to an outline level, follow these steps: 1) In the Levels list box, select the desired outline level by clicking it. 2) In the Paragraph Styles list box, click the paragraph style that you want to apply. 3) Click the < button to apply the selected paragraph style to the selected outline level. To remove paragraph styling from an outline level: 1) In the Levels list box, select the desired outline level by clicking it. 2) Click the Default button. To view or edit the attributes of a paragraph style, click the style in the Paragraph Styles list box and then click the Edit button.

Using the Background tab

Use the Background tab, pictured in Illustration 5 on page 7, to add color or a graphic to the table background. Adding color To add color to the background of the table of contents, simply click the desired color in the color grid.
Illustration 5 Background tab
Adding a graphic To add a graphic to the background of the table of contents, follow these steps: 1) From the As drop-down list, select Graphic. The Background tab displays the graphics options.
Illustration 6 Graphics options on the Background tab
2) Click the Browse button. The Find Graphics window opens. 3) Find the graphic file that you want to use and then click the Open button. The Find Graphics window closes and the selected graphic appears in the graphic preview box on the right-hand side of the Background tab. (If you don't see the graphic, check the Preview check box underneath the graphic preview box.) 4) In the Type area of the Background tab, choose how you want the background graphic to appear:
To position the graphic in a specific location in the background, select Position and then click the desired location in the position grid. To stretch the graphic so that it fills the entire background area, select Area. To repeat the graphic across the entire background area, select Tile.
Deleting color or graphics To delete color or graphics from the table background, follow these steps: 1) From the As drop-down list, select Color. 2) Click No Fill on the color grid.
Saving the table of contents
To save the table of contents so that the table appears in your document, click OK. The Insert Index/Table window closes and the table of contents appears in your document.

Maintaining a table of contents
This chapter shows you how to:
Edit an existing table of contents. Update a table of contents when changes are made to the document. Delete a table of contents.
Editing a table of contents
To edit an existing table of contents: 1) Click anywhere in the table of contents and then right click. The context menu appears. 2) From the context menu, choose Edit Index/Table. The Insert Index/Table window opens and you can edit and save the table using the four tabs described in the previous chapter.
Updating a table of contents
To update a document's table of contents when changes are made to the document: 1) Click anywhere in the table of contents and then right click. The context menu appears. 2) From the context menu, choose Update Index/Table. Writer updates the table of contents to reflect the changes in the document.
Deleting a table of contents
To delete the table of contents from a document: 1) Click anywhere in the table of contents and then right click. The context menu appears. 2) From the context menu, choose Delete Index/Table. Writer deletes the table of contents. Note: Writer won't prompt you to confirm the delete! Use caution when deleting a table of contents.