TOC Links in PDF Output Not Working

[shoria]

I have a TOC in my PDF output that lists all the proper topics in the right order. The entry printed in the TOC is the first heading entry, which is different from the topic title. This is fine and ideally what SHOULD be displayed in a printed output, but the problem is that the TOC entry is a link, and for some reason it's trying to link to the heading entry as a bookmark of the first topic in the TOC, not the actual topic.

For example:
First topic file title in the PDF is "BBQ Basics Title Page"
First topic heading in the PDF is "BBQ Basics"
Topic file title is "Hamburger_Ingredients"
Topic heading is "Everything you need to build a hamburger"

TOC displays "Everything you need to build a hamburger"
TOC link tries to find "BBQ Basics TItle Page.htm#Everything%20you%20need%20to%20build%20a%20hamburger" and of course fails because that doesn't exist.
TOC link SHOULD be trying to find "Content/BBQ_Basics/Hamburger_Ingredients"

I have tried changing the label of the topic in the TOC (properties > general tab) to: Linked File, Linked Header, Linked Title, Title. None of those made a difference. I am using a separate topic with a TOC proxy, but I have also tried an auto-generated TOC and that makes no difference.
I don't understand why the link is looking for the topic as a bookmark of the first topic in the PDF when it's linked to an actual standalone topic. The PDF generated pulls the topic and it displays just fine.

[doloremipsum]

It probably has nothing to do with the label - the print table of contents doesn't actually care what the TOC label is (it uses the topic heading for the text). I think the problem is that the TOC Link itself is trying to link to a bookmark in the topic that doesn't exist, while you actually want it to link to the topic itself.

In the TOC, open the Properties for the item. General tab > Link field, delete the # and everything after it. Now the TOC is linking directly to the topic. Build the PDF again and check whether that link works.

I suspect that your problem has something to do with how you're creating your TOC file. What's your workflow for entering a topic into the TOC? For example, I would create a new topic, then drag and drop it from the Content Explorer into the TOC to create the linked TOC entry.

[shoria]

The link field shows the correct destination, which is why I'm confused as to where the PDF is getting the new "#" link from. In every topic property across the board all the link fields are correctly linked to the topic in my project.
My process is exactly as yours, I drag the topic over from the content folder into the TOC.

[doloremipsum]

Hmm, then I'm stumped. I think I understand why the Print Table of Contents would convert the topic link into a bookmark - the topic doesn't exist any more, so it needs to link to the point where the heading is. But I have no idea why the link itself is failing to jump you to the heading. What application are you using to view the PDF output? Do you get an error when you click on the links, and what does it say?

[shoria]

Using Adobe Acrobat Reader, the error message says Could not open the file "BBQ Basics TItle Page.htm#Everything%20you%20need%20to%20build%20a%20hamburger"

[robdocsmith]

I wonder if there's something else going on here? Is there something off about the topic itself? It looks like during the PDF build, the topic hasn't been included correctly and therefore the link cannot be made. The error is like the PDF is looking for a file outside of the document itself.

• Is the topic itself correct and has good XML? I've had situations where a topic wasn't included because it couldn't be opened by Flare during the build.
• Can you open the .fltoc file as a text file and check the entry for this topic - compare it with something that is working. Perhaps drag another topic into the TOC in the same way to verify it against a similar but working link.
• Check the Output/<username>/Temporary/<target name> folder and see if the topic file has been included in the build. Flare uses this location to hold the things needed for the build and it's a good place to check to see that things are actually included or not.

Cheers,
Rob