TOC Editor

The TOC Editor is used to create tables of contents manually. See Tables of Contents and Creating a TOC.

Creating and editing a table of contents file in Flare can be very easy to do for both online and print output. You can drag topics from the Content Explorer to the TOC Editor. You can also manually add TOC books and items, and then link them to other files. The links usually point to topics, but for online outputs they can also point to external files, other Help systems, and movies. You put all of these books and items in a structure that you think would be useful for the individual. In online output, end users browse through a TOC to find information. And in HTML5 Side and Top Navigation output, the TOC items become links in menus.

Online vs. Print TOCs

The TOC files you see in the Project Organizer work differently for online output than they do for print-based output. For online outputs, TOC files are exactly as their name suggests; they are files that create TOCs or menus in the output. But for print-based outputs, that same TOC file functions more like an outline. The element that actually generates a TOC in print-based output is called a “proxy,” which is inserted into a topic. You can manually create that proxy yourself, or you can select an option in the Advanced tab of the Target Editor and let Flare do it all for you. There are pros and cons for both methods. See Creating a TOC for Print-Based Output.

How to Open This Editor

  1. Open the Project Organizer.
  2. Expand the TOCs folder and double-click the file.

Buttons and Descriptions

Hides or shows special information pertaining to the editor or window pane.

Exports all of the data in the window pane to a comma-separated value (CSV) file. This option is enabled only if you are working in Grid View. See Exporting File Data to a CSV File.

Exports only the selected data in the window pane to a comma-separated value (CSV) file. This option is enabled only if you are working in Grid View. See Exporting File Data to a CSV File.

This button toggles between Tree View and Grid View when you click it. Tree View is the traditional format of the TOC, displaying books and items in a hierarchy. Grid View displays all of the books and items in a column format. In either view you can select a range of entries and set the same property information for all of those items.

Opens the Columns dialog, which lets you configure the way the column information is shown. This option is enabled in Grid View only.

Expands all

Expands all of the TOC books so that you can see the items under each book (enabled in Tree View only).

Collapses all

Collapses all of the TOC books so that you can no longer see the items under each book (enabled in Tree View only). You can only see the books.

If you have created and applied condition tags, clicking this button toggles between showing and hiding them in the TOC Editor. This option is enabled in Tree View only.

Create a new topic and link to it.

Click this button to create a new topic and simultaneously link it to a new item in the TOC. When you click this button, it opens the Add File dialog, which you use to create the new topic, associate it with a topic template, and give it any name you want. When you are finished with this dialog, the new topic is created and it opens in the XML Editor. You can click the tab containing your TOC to return to the TOC Editor. You will notice that the item is created at the selected location in the TOC. For example, if you have a TOC book selected and then click this button, the new item will be added under the book.

Click this button to add a new item to the TOC. You can link the item to a topic, a TOC, a browse sequence, another Flare project, an external Help system, or a MadCap Mimic movie. The item is created at the selected location in the TOC. For example, if you have a book selected and then click this button, the new item will be added under the book. (As an alternative, you can click existing topics in the Content Explorer and drag them to the TOC Editor. Doing this creates a new TOC item with the same name and automatically links it to the topic.)

Click this button to add a new book to the TOC. A TOC book simply acts as a folder in your TOC to help organize it. You can then click an item (such as a topic) and drag it under the book.

Click this button to add a new book at the top level (i.e., extreme left) of the TOC.

Click this button to create a test node in a TOC. Select an item in the TOC, and click to add a new TOC entry as a sibling below the selected entry.

Display properties for the selected item.

Click this button to open the Properties dialog for whatever item is selected in the TOC. You can then specify where the item is linked, whether it should have condition tags, and other behavioral settings.

If the item selected in the TOC Editor is a test node, this button displays as Test Options and opens directly to the eLearning tab in the Properties dialog.

Click this button to move the selected item to the left in the TOC structure.

Click this button to move the selected item to the right in the TOC structure.

Click this button to move the selected item upward in the TOC structure.

Click this button to move the selected item downward in the TOC structure.

Opens the Content Explorer and highlights the location of the selected content file within it. See Content Explorer.

Opens the Send Topic for Review Wizard, which lets you send the linked document to another person for review. See Sending Files for Review on Central or Sending Files for Review in Contributor or Flare.

Click this button to open the selected item. For example, if you select an item that is linked to a topic and then click this button, that topic opens in the XML Editor. You can also open an item by holding your CTRL key and double-clicking the item.

Click this button to show or hide reports of unlinked entries.

Click either of these buttons to open a small window that displays how many broken or unlinked items are in the editor. Below, in the editor, a triangle icon is displayed next to broken links, and another icon that looks like a small flag is displayed next to unlinked items.

Click this button to navigate to the previous warning in the TOC.

Click this button to navigate to the next warning in the TOC.

Click this button if you want to toggle the behavior of double-clicking an item in the TOC.

TOC Double-Click Button

Click in the toolbar of the TOC Editor if you want to toggle the behavior of double-clicking an item in the TOC.

The default behavior (without the toggle button selected) is that double-clicking an item will open the properties dialog, and holding down the CTRL key while double-clicking will open the file linked to the item. If you activate the toggle button, this behavior is reversed; double-clicking an item opens the file linked to it, and holding the CTRL key while double-clicking will open the properties dialog.

Displays the color of condition tags that are associated with the TOC entry (if any). Condition tags are used to determine specific content or files to be included in some targets but not in others. For more information see Creating Conditions.

What’s Noteworthy?

Tip To find where a particular topic has been inserted into a table of contents (TOC), right-click the topic file in the Content Explorer or within the topic itself, and select Locate in TOC. If the topic is located in more than one TOC, a dialog opens, listing all of those TOCs. Select the TOC you want to look in and click Open. See Locating Topics in TOCs.