Alternative dot leaders

[Sarah R]

As a software trainer at a large law firm, I work with many secretaries who
frequently create tables of contents. By now most have learned to use the
built-in features to generate their TOCs (using styles).

Here's the kicker: Several attorneys don't want the "crunched together" dot
leaders -- the only dotted "tab leader" option available under Insert >
Reference > Index and Tables > Table of Contents. Since the resulting TOC is
a field code, the dot leaders canNOT be substituted with Find & Replace.
Similarly, style options for the TOC levels don't work because (a) the same
dot leader style is also the only dotted option available for Tabs in a style
definition and (b) changing the style to "expanded" character spacing would
affect the entire TOC entry.

Other than typing the TOC manually, is there a way to build spaced-out dot
leaders into the output?

Thanks!
-- Sarah

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The only alternative I know of is to expand the spacing of the leaders after
unlinking the TOC; obviously, this can't be done in a template, and it can't
be done in a document until editing is complete. Knowing how legal documents
often have to be updated after you *think* they're complete, I would suggest
saving the default TOC as an AutoText entry for ease of reinsertion. Be sure
to let the attorneys in question know how much extra time and effort this
requires; they may be willing to compromise their ideals.