Create a Table of Contents

You can create a table of contents that appears in the rendered output of your report. A table of contents is useful for reports that include sectioned items, grouped items, or multiple pages in the layout. The report output indicates page numbers and allows for easy navigation.

You can include multiple tables of contents in your report, which are useful if your report contains grouped lists. You can also add section numbers in front of entries in the table of contents by modifying the heading level property.

Table of contents entries are logical markers placed anywhere in a report. For example, you can place entries at the top of a page or in a list group header to mark each grouped data value. Although table of contents entries are visible in Report Studio, they cannot be seen when a report is run.

A table of contents works only for reports produced in PDF or non-interactive HTML format. In HTML format, they work best when viewing saved report outputs, as the entire report appears in a single HTML page. When reports are run interactively, more than one HTML page may be generated, and a table of contents works only if the target exists in the page currently being viewed.

Tip: You can reduce the number of HTML pages generated when a report is run interactively by specifying a value for the Rows Per Page property for a data container in the report.

If you want to quickly move from one part of a report to another without using page numbers, you can add bookmarks .

You must first create a table of contents before adding entries in the report. All entries must be inserted after the table of contents in the report layout.

Tip: The Briefing Book sample report in the GO Sales (analysis) package includes a table of contents. For more information about The Great Outdoors Company samples, see Sample Reports and Packages.

Steps

1. In the Insertable Objects pane, click the Toolbox tab.

2. Drag the Table of Contents object to the new location, which can be anywhere in the report.

   A table of contents placeholder appears.

3. Drag the Table of Contents Entry object to the location of your first table of contents marker.

   Tip: You can also click Insert Table of Contents Entry from the Structure menu.

   The new entry appears in the table of contents.

4. Double-click the Double click to edit text box of the new marker.

5. In the Text box, type the text to appear in the table of contents and click OK.

6. To edit the heading level of a table of contents entry, click the entry and, in the Properties pane, set the Heading Level property to the level.

   The heading level is used to insert section numbers in front of entries in the table of contents using layout calculations.

When you finish creating the table of contents, run the report. By clicking the arrow to the right of the run report button, you can specify whether to run the report as HTML or PDF.

Example - Add a Table of Contents to a Report

You are a report author at The Great Outdoors Company, which sells sporting equipment. You are requested to add a table of contents to an existing report so that users can more easily navigate your report.

Steps to Add a Table of Contents

1. Open Report Studio with the GO Data Warehouse (analysis) package.

2. Open the Budget vs. Actual sample report from the Report Studio Report Samples folder.

3. Create the report pages:

   • Pause the pointer over the page explorer button  and click Report Pages.

   • Click Page1, and then, in the Properties pane, set the Name property to Budget vs. Actual Sales.

   • Click the Budget vs. Actual Sales page and, from the Edit menu, click Copy.

   • From the Edit menu, click Paste to paste the copy of the page in the Report Pages pane.

   • Select the new page, and in the Properties pane, set the Name property to Table of Contents.

   • In the Report Pages pane, drag the Table of Contents page to the top of the list.

4. Pause the pointer over the page explorer button and click Table of Contents.

5. Delete the crosstab object:

   • Click somewhere in the report page.

   • In the Properties pane, click the select ancestor button  and click Crosstab.

   • Click the delete button .

6. Select the Camping Equipment block object and click the delete button.

7. Double-click the report title, type Table of Contents, and click OK.

8. In the Insertable Objects pane, on the Toolbox tab , drag a Table of Contents object onto the page.

9. Pause the pointer over the page explorer button and click Budget vs. Actual Sales.

10. In the Insertable Objects pane, on the Toolbox tab, drag a Table of Contents Entry object to the left of each region.

11. Pause the pointer over the page explorer button and click Table of Contents.

12. Double-click the first entry in the table of contents, type Americas, and click OK.

13. Rename the other table of contents entries as Asia Pacific, Northern Europe, Central Europe, and Southern Europe.

14. Save the report.

Steps to Format a Table of Contents

1. Number the table of contents entries:

   • In the Insertable Objects pane, on the Toolbox tab , drag a Layout Calculation object to just before the word Americas.

   • In the Report Expression dialog box, on the Functions tab , expand the Report Functions folder and double-click the TOCHeadingCount expression.

   • At the end of the expression definition, type 1) and click OK.

   • Repeat the above three steps to add layout calculations before the other table of contents entries.

   • Ctrl+click only the five table of contents entries and not the five layout calculations.

   • In the Properties pane, double-click the Padding property and set the left padding to 10 px.

2. Change the color of table of contents entries:

   • Ctrl+click the five layout calculations, the five table of contents entries, and the five page number calculations.

   • In the Properties pane, double-click the Foreground Color property and set the foreground color to blue.

3. Add links to the table of contents from another page:

   • In the Insertable Objects pane, on the Toolbox tab, drag a Bookmark object to just before the title.

   • Select the bookmark and, in the Properties pane, double-click the Label property, type TOC, and click OK.

   • Pause the pointer over the page explorer button  and click Budget vs. Actual Sales.

   • In the Insertable Objects pane, on the Toolbox tab, drag a Text Item object to the right of the crosstab object.

   • In the Text dialog box, type Return to the Table of Contents and click OK.

   • Right-click the text object and click Drill Through Definitions.

   • Click the add button .

   • On the Bookmark tab, in the Source Type list, click Text.

   • Click the ellipsis (…) button, type TOC, and then click OK twice.

4. Save the report.

5. Click the arrow to the right of the run report button  and click Run Report - PDF.

On the first page, the table of contents appears. Clicking a region brings you to the corresponding page in the report. You can return to the table of contents by clicking Return to the Table of Contents at the end of the last page.

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