ToC Tab Leader

[rekoop]

Hello,

I have a ToC that works fine with a "..." tab leader
unless the text contains 5 characters or less. When this
situation occurs the tab leader does not appear. Any
suggestions on how to correct this?

i.e.
abcde 16

versus

abcdef..................................................16

Thank-you

 

[Chad DeMeyer]

rekoop

A TOC built from styles that automatically number paragraphs will normally
have two tab sets on each line: the right-aligned leader tab for page
numbers, and a left aligned tab to indent text from the paragraph numbers.
Word tends to arbitrarily set this second tab in what it thinks is the
correct location, regardless of how the TOC styles are defined. Here are
two things you can try:

1) Check the style definition for the TOC style that corresponds to the
level in your TOC where you observe the problem. If there is a left-aligned
tab set, remove it from the style definition. Update your TOC field.
2) If there is no left-aligned tab set in the style definition, or if
removing it and updating the field does not fix the problem, Alt + F9 to
toggle display of field codes. Add a "\w" switch before the closing brace
of the TOC field, making sure to separate the switch from preceding field
code text with a space. Alt + F9 to toggle to display of field results.
Update the TOC field. Does that fix it?

Regards,
Chad

 

[Robert M. Franz]

Hi koopy

I have a ToC that works fine with a "..." tab leader
unless the text contains 5 characters or less. When this
situation occurs the tab leader does not appear. Any
suggestions on how to correct this?

i.e.
abcde 16

versus

abcdef..................................................16

The problem is most likely that you have a tabstop setting in this
paragraph, either through its style or direct formatting, somewhere
between character 5 and 6. Apply Ctrl-Q to this paragraph, if that fixes
it, you've probably become the victime of a Jason tab, see:

Whenever I update my Table of Contents it acquires unwanted tabs, and I
have to press Ctrl+Q to get rid of them (by Dave Rado)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/TOCJasonTabs.htm

HTH
..bob

 

[Chad DeMeyer]

Bob,

Out of curiosity I followed the link. I wanted to share that using the "\w"
switch in my TOC fields has been an effective deterrent of "Jason tabs".
The "\w" switch if referenced in help for the TOC field code as:

\w Preserves tab entries within table entries

Cryptic as this is, I found through experimentation that it suppresses the
Jason tab behavior.

Regards,
Chad

 

[Robert M. Franz]

Out of curiosity I followed the link. I wanted to share that using the "\w"
switch in my TOC fields has been an effective deterrent of "Jason tabs".
The "\w" switch if referenced in help for the TOC field code as:

\w Preserves tab entries within table entries

Cryptic as this is, I found through experimentation that it suppresses the
Jason tab behavior.

Thanks Jad, I've read about the switch before, but it seems I haven't
updated my own "KB" properly!

Greetinx
..bob