PDF Bookmark Problem

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Serena_Tan
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:46 am

PDF Bookmark Problem

Post by Serena_Tan »

Hi all,

I have a project that has several topic files, each containing a number of sub-headings. My aim is to generate this into a PDF output. Everything comes out right except that the PDF bookmark pane that is generated only lists the main heading of each topic file. I want the output to have a bookmark list that appears something like this:

Main Topic Heading 1
Sub Heading 1
Sub Heading 2
Main Topic Heading 2
Sub Heading 1

and so on.

Some information on my files:
1) The style sheet was imported from a framemaker file (as the original files are .fm). I was told by the localization team to preserve the fm styles as much as possible so as to not incur additional localization costs due to formatting changes (which is a major nightmare since there's almost no structure to the styles in those files). What this means is that I'm not using the inbuilt h1, h2, h3 styles to define each heading and sub heading (even though I would love to start with a new set of styles, localization can be costly and I'm rather new to the team).

2) Because each topic file corresponds to 1 chapter (I'm not using a topic-based structure but rather a chapter-based structure again to keep in line with the original fm files), when I edit the Master TOC, I tried 2 methods:
A) adding only the topic files into the TOC. This generates, as expected, the PDF with only the main heading of each topic file in the bookmark pane
B) manually adding "items" into the TOC, arranging and linking them properly using madcap bookmarks. This still generates the same as (A).

Any suggestions aside from just restart the whole project and do it topic based? (would love to but my localization team may tear me apart) :P
TechnicalDisaster
Propeller Head
Posts: 61
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:09 pm

Re: PDF Bookmark Problem

Post by TechnicalDisaster »

Serena,
You will want to set the stylesheet mc-heading-level property on your subheading styles.

For example, if your subheadings are using a paragraph style like p.subheading2 or p.h2, you can set the mc-heading-level property in the p.h2 stylesheet to a 2. This will treat the subheading exactly like an h1, h2, etc in the PDF output.
MAD Certified Version 6
Flare 7.1
Serena_Tan
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:46 am

Re: PDF Bookmark Problem

Post by Serena_Tan »

Thank you! That worked wonderful :D
TechnicalDisaster
Propeller Head
Posts: 61
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:09 pm

Re: PDF Bookmark Problem

Post by TechnicalDisaster »

Serena_Tan wrote:Thank you! That worked wonderful :D
Glad I could help!
MAD Certified Version 6
Flare 7.1
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