TOC setup margins and indent

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markjulie
Got the auto-title mojo working
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2014 7:49 pm

TOC setup margins and indent

Post by markjulie »

I have my auto-title streams setup with correct formatting in my main document and in my TOC within the Configure Auto-Titles window but with one exception. When I Insert > TOC, I get a TOC with an end margin at every stream level that is 25–40% of the usable width of the document (8.5x11in with 1.25 and 1.0 left and right margins).

I can click and drag the end margin on the ruler to the location I desire, but that only persists until I reinsert/update the TOC. Where is the Style/Attribute path to the layout of the TOC itself so that a newly inserted one is correct without further formatting?

Mark :?
Amontillado
Knows everything, can prove it
Posts: 148
Joined: Fri May 04, 2018 4:00 am

Re: TOC setup margins and indent

Post by Amontillado »

Well, crud. I wasn't logged in when I replied. If this is a duplicate, apologies.

Each auto-title has its own ruler with tabs and margins independent of all other auto-titles, and independent of the document.

If the margins or tabs are wrong when you insert a TOC, the best fix is to delete the TOC, update the auto-titles TOC tab, and re-insert the TOC.

If you change tabs and margins in the document, it won't affect what you see the next time you insert a TOC.

Could that be what you're seeing?
markjulie
Got the auto-title mojo working
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2014 7:49 pm

Re: TOC setup margins and indent

Post by markjulie »

The document itself isn't having any margin problems. My auto-title streams have an end margin of 6.5 inches in the format areas. The reverse tab and leading dots for Levels 1 and 2 work properly, but an end margin changes randomly to between 1.5 and 4 inches from the left border when I delete and reinsert a new TOC. This jams the leading line of the chapter onto 2-3 SS lines and adds a dozen vertical lines to the entire TOC. Does the TOC have a modifiable page style and paragraph style? That appears to be the part of the template that needs tweaked. When I insert the TOC, it presents margin settings that do not match the Configure Auto Title streams TOC Format tab.
Amontillado
Knows everything, can prove it
Posts: 148
Joined: Fri May 04, 2018 4:00 am

Re: TOC setup margins and indent

Post by Amontillado »

The TOC uses whatever paragraph styles you want from the document. The same styles available when you're editing the document are available when setting up an auto-title.

One thing I've found that can cause grief is if you have more tab characters in an auto-title than you have tab stops in the auto-title's ruler. Or, if you have text that runs past a tab stop, eating the tab stop.

When you find a solution it would be nice to hear.

You might also want to get Eyal's help.

_Edited to add:_ Paragraph styles also have their own rulers. If you set your TOC tabs in new paragraph styles, not in either the document or as an ad-hoc setting in the autotitle, you may get what you need and in a more maintainable fashion.

If not, then you could select a TOC level at a time and apply the appropriate paragraph style for that level. I wouldn't want to do that, but it might be a workaround.
markjulie
Got the auto-title mojo working
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2014 7:49 pm

Re: TOC setup margins and indent

Post by markjulie »

Thanks, Amontillado. The simple solution came from watching more Mellel videos, looking at Auto-Title settings and using the Mellel manual in Mellel format: Mellel 5.1 Guide in Mellel Format
The Mellel guide is itself an example of how most features are used with proper settings (like well-written code for a developer). What finally worked came from a combination of Paragraph/Character Styles settings in Palettes and Insert > Auto-title > Configure Auto-Titles. These steps worked for me:

Paragraph palette
  1. Create or select an existing Character style to use for the desired level of auto-title flow
  2. Create or select an existing Paragraph style using TOC in its name (for simplicity) and open Edit style from the icon list
  3. Ctrl-click the ruler and select Remove All Tab Stops
  4. Set the Start Margin and End Margin values to 0 either in the boxes above or by sliding the left diamond icon on the ruler to 0.0 and the right diamond icon to the farthest right position on the ruler
  5. Drag an Indent Tab from the tab well above the left edge of the ruler to 0.25in on the ruler and release when the green plus sign appears.
  6. Drag again from the tab well to 0.5in, 0.75in, and 1.0in to create four potential levels of TOC indentation.
  7. Calculate the usable width of the printed page (total width of 8.5in minus 1.25in left margin and 1.0in right margin for 6.25in)
  8. Drag a Reverse Tab from the tab well to slightly left of the 6.25in calculated value above and drop on the ruler. (Hover over the tab until two arrows with a dot appear and click to select. The Tab: Lead: dropdown and Tab: Position: values will become usable.)
  9. From the Lead: dropdown, select Dots or another desired pattern to fill the space between the title and page number
  10. In the Tab: Position: adjust the value to slightly smaller to move the TOC page number away from the right margin as needed
    (If the Tab: Lead: and Position: fields gray out and become unusable, return to 8b)
  11. Save
Insert > Auto-titles > Configure auto-titles
  1. Select the TOC Format tab
  2. (Using Chapter in the structure flow as an example), note the Elements in the field. Mine are {Level #}{period/dot typed in from the keyboard} {Title}{Tab}{Page #}{Line Break}
  3. Select All (cmd-A) and delete
  4. Select Clear Formatting
  5. Move the margin diamonds to 0.0 and the far right as in 4 (Paragraph palette)
  6. Insert Elements to reinsert the elements removed in 2 above
  7. Select All (cmd-A)
  8. Click on or open the Palettes > Paragraph style
  9. Select the TOC Paragraph style as in 2 (Paragraph palette)
  10. Click the Apply Style (finger icon) to apple the styled paragraph to the Auto-title
  11. Click Save Changes to Style at the top center of the Auto-title Style window to save then select OK to close the window.
Use
These style changes will be applied to any existing auto-titles in the open document and will incorporate new auto-titles as they are added. Do not forget to delete the existing TOC in the document and reinsert a new TOC (since the TOC itself is not dynamic and cannot update itself within the document). Consult other Mellel resources to make a global template style set.
There are other solutions possible, but this approach eliminated possible overlapping and/or conflicting settings.

Mark
mokane99
New to all this
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2014 11:56 am

Re: TOC setup margins and indent

Post by mokane99 »

Is there a secret to dragging the reverse tab from the paragraph palette to the toolbar? When I try to do so, I get a blue (regular) tab that doesn't do anything. I've tried:
clicking and dragging: didn't work
alt-click: nothing
cmd-click: nothing
ctrl-click: nothing

Threw coins into an intersection to summon the favor of the santeria god Eleggua: nothing
Amontillado
Knows everything, can prove it
Posts: 148
Joined: Fri May 04, 2018 4:00 am

Re: TOC setup margins and indent

Post by Amontillado »

i don't have any trouble dragging tabs from tab well to the ruler when editing an autotitle or a paragraph style, but the trick is to drag it to the local ruler in the style, not the ruler as seen in the document.

If I add the tab well to the document's toolbar i can drag from there to the document's ruler.

I'm probably missing the point, but i beg forgiveness. I'm wracked with fever, what feels like wages of the seven deadly sins, and an overwhelming sense of self-pity. Microbes – they don't make good house guests. Fortunately, the ordeal reminds me of a short story I never wrote.
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