TOC headers are shrunk on PDF output

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sds
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TOC headers are shrunk on PDF output

Post by sds »

For days I've thought this had to do with the MiniTOCs I was playing around with, but as a test, I decided to remove the MiniTOCs and build my PDF output. The result was the same. So here's what I've got.
  • In the Advanced tab of the Target, I had the "Use TOC depth for header levels" marked. I had marked it because I was looking to recreate the structure found in the example "Use TOC Structure Method for Print Output" found in the MadCap help guide: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare20 ... rocontent1
  • I have a TOC (dedicated for the PDF Target) that looks for similar to that example.
    Book A (Topic 1)
    ...Book B (Topic 2)
    ........Topic 3
    ........Topic 4
    ........Topic 5
    ...Topic 6
    ...Topic 7
  • Each Topic has an <h1> at the top, and I'd like to keep it that way. <h2>'s can be found within the Topics but ideally, they don't appear in the TOCs.
  • The hope is Topic 1 has a MiniTOC that contains the <h1> from Topics 2, 6, and 7. Topic 2 has a MiniTOC that contains the <h1> from 3, 4, and 5.
Anyway, I found that I could get the MiniTOCs to work with the right heading level depth set on the MiniTOCs (which, I have some questions about, but that's for another time). HOWEVER, even though I was using <h1> tags on all the topics, the print output would re-size them (seemingly using my <h3>, <h4>, etc. styles?). For example, Topic 2 would appear with <h2> and a MiniTOC. Topics 3-5 would appear with an <h3>.

I thought this was the MiniTOC so I tried setting the mc-toc-depth property to 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively for each header. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what that property does.

Regardless, I tried removing the MiniTOCs and I found the exact same result. But as soon as I removed the "Use TOC depth" option in the Advanced tab of the Target, my headers appeared as expected. However, I won't get a MiniTOC to work.

Based on what I've learned, I'm seeing that it's that Advanced option that's doing the re-sizing. Is there any way around using the TOC as a basis for the MiniTOC proxy on print output but still maintain header styles? Is there something I'm missing or a better alternative? I'd be okay with some automatic re-sizing, but on some of those lower levels, my <h4> is practically smaller than my regular text and it just seems silly.
doloremipsum
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Re: TOC headers are shrunk on PDF output

Post by doloremipsum »

Correct me if I'm wrong: I *think* that your problem is that the headings on your topics are changing based on their position in the TOC. This is exactly what the Use TOC depth for heading levels option in Target > Advanced does.

Have a read of the help page and see if that clears some things up for you: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare20 ... t-TOC1.htm
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sds
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Location: Tucson

Re: TOC headers are shrunk on PDF output

Post by sds »

Hmm... Although I did miss that article in the MadCap guide, that doesn't resolve the issue. I had, in fact, worked with the mc-heading-level with no luck. It's not necessarily the MiniTOC proxies themselves - they are displaying as expected. It's that the header styles that the MiniTOC is linking to are resized according to their position in the "table of contents". I'd prefer that it didn't do that, but it seems that the "Use TOC depth" Advanced option just does that automatically.

I suppose my question is... Is it possible to maintain header styles and have the "Use TOC depth" option on? Doesn't seem like it. I'm very new to print output. I might just have to do some more research on what my options are, and still maintain a single source project.

Thank you!
SteveS
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Re: TOC headers are shrunk on PDF output

Post by SteveS »

I deleted your duplicate post.

No big deal, just trying to keep the forums manageable and searchable. :)
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robdocsmith
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Re: TOC headers are shrunk on PDF output

Post by robdocsmith »

Hi,

Yes, what you're seeing is the way it's supposed to work. Use TOC Depth is a useful function where if you are reusing content, the headings will adapt to suit where the topic is placed in the TOC. You don't have to worry so much about rigidly nesting heading levels in the topic - they will change when generating output. That's why your H1s are converting to H2s or lower with this option switched on. Once the headings switch in this way, your mini-toc works because the headings are all nested correctly.

Without this option and the way your topics are structured, there are no headings for the minitoc in topic 1 to find.
Topic 1 H1
...Minitoc (depth of 1 - looks for H2s)
......list of H2s from Topic 1 - doesn't find the H1 from topic 2 because it is not a sub heading to the H1 in topic 1 - they are at the same level structurally.
...H2s from Topic 1 and rest of topic 1 content
...Topic 2 H1
...etc

mc-toc-depth in a heading style determines how the heading is displayed in the TOC generated from the TOC proxy. if a heading has a value of 0, it doesn't appear in the TOC. If it has a value of 1, it uses the TOC1 style, with a value of 2, it uses the TOC2 style etc. By default all headings appear with their associated styles.

So, how to do what you want to do...

I'm not sure you can. Not easily anyway. If you define all print medium base headings (H1-H6) to have the same size/font/appearance as your default H1, you can fudge making the H1 of each topic the same size in the output, but you'd have also have to create new classes for H2-H6 for headings within a topic with normal diminishing sizes (H2.topic, H3.topic etc). And even then you can't control which heading level gets applied to those headings because Flare will reorganise things according to how topics are structured in the TOC. If each topic only ever had one level of heading inside it (a H1 heading and a H2 subheading for example), you might be able to fix the size of those heading classes too. Other than that, perhaps manually create a mini-toc using links wherever you need one. Though that feels like a nightmare to maintain...

Sorry I'm not being too helpful here!

Rob
sds
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Re: TOC headers are shrunk on PDF output

Post by sds »

robdocsmith wrote:
So, how to do what you want to do...

I'm not sure you can. Not easily anyway. If you define all print medium base headings (H1-H6) to have the same size/font/appearance as your default H1, you can fudge making the H1 of each topic the same size in the output, but you'd have also have to create new classes for H2-H6 for headings within a topic with normal diminishing sizes (H2.topic, H3.topic etc). And even then you can't control which heading level gets applied to those headings because Flare will reorganise things according to how topics are structured in the TOC. If each topic only ever had one level of heading inside it (a H1 heading and a H2 subheading for example), you might be able to fix the size of those heading classes too. Other than that, perhaps manually create a mini-toc using links wherever you need one. Though that feels like a nightmare to maintain...

Sorry I'm not being too helpful here!

Rob
Ha! Thanks for the input anyway. After stepping away from it for a few days (PDF output is just not high on our priority list anyway) and then revisiting, it does make total sense why the headers would shrink according to their position in the TOC. I mean, it'd be silly in print output if every header was <h1>. It wouldn't make sense. For some reason I just wasn't seeing that. Although, I just would love it if the level 2s (where they have <h1> in the online Topic, but they'd display with <h2> in the print output) is as small as it gets. I was messing around with classes and stuff and, like you, feel like it's just a nightmare to maintain. I'm either going to have to rethink my header styles, or learn a whole new way to manage print output.

Thanks again for the input!
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