Table of contents with alphabetical hyperlinks in LO 6.0.7.3 Writer ?

[JeroenGoesBananas]

I was looking for a way to make the Table of contents with hyperlinks, a alphabeticaly ordered one.
I’m using LibreOffice Writer Version: 6.0.7.3

In this closed item(see link), i found out that it was possible in older versions, but still a ‘problem’ in the recent versions.
(link to closed item: Hyperlinked alphabetic index )

Are there any workarounds for this, or is there a solution on the (probably busy) roadmap of the development-team ?

I recently started using Writer a lot more (used Calc most in the past years), so have to find my way in this new area, and have fun trying to find a solution for this, but thought i might ask over here.

Jeroen

[ajlittoz]

Dankje Jeroen, you made me discover a redundancy in Writer. You can create a Table of Figures and an Index of Tables which, despite their names, are strictly identical but for the default heading and the possibility of adding hyperlinks (none in Index …). A wording such as Index would let people think that entries should be ordered alphabetically while Table lists them in document order.

I reported this as fdo#134781.

IMHO, hyperlinks are not offered in indexes because individual entries are usually merged (therefore there is no unique return point for one entry name) and they are terminated by a list of pages. The link should then be limited to the page number, something like LS # LE, provided the index engine takes the sequence as a group when formatting a list of pages.

As for your question, a TOC is by definition always presenting document order.

Alphabetical order is only possible with Alphabetical Index and there is only one.

[JeroenGoesBananas]

Thanks ajlittoz,
for your clear explanation of index vs TOC.

But I still wanted to have a alphabeticaly sorted ‘index’ with hyperlinks, so I tried a few things. and this is the result that works for me! Thought I’d share it, for those looking for an answer, like me.

How to make a Alphabeticaly Sorted Hyperlink ‘Index’
-Create standard TOC at end of file(the non alphabetical hyperlinks Std.TOC)
-Copy all the lines(but NOT the first one, the TOC-title !) to a new page(inserted before the Std.TOC).
-Select and Convert these lines to a Table
-Select the whole Table (by Table menu or toolbar) and the ‘Sort’ the Table (thereby becomes a Alphabetical Hyper-Index)
-On PDF export, select a page-range, 1 until the last page BEFORE the ‘standard TOC’ at end of file.

Take these steps AFTER arranging your pages(change = repeat these steps)
Index and TOC at the end, makes it easier (inserted pages don’t shift pages above)
(it’s best to remove the old ‘index-copy’ before repeating the steps)

[JeroenGoesBananas]

Extra note !
Both (index and TOC) are going to stay in the .odt file, but the Std.TOC(at the end of the file!), is going to be left out when exporting to PDF.
Keep the .odt file as your ‘source-file’, the exported PDF is the end-product.

[ajlittoz]

This is a workaround but every time you update your doc, you must do it again in case a page number changed. It would be better if the issue could be addressed by the developers.

[JeroenGoesBananas]

You’re absolutely right about that.
For the time being, it works for me.
That’s why it’s my final step before exporting the pdf.
Because I keep the TOC in the .odt 'source’file, I personaly find those steps quick enough for my use.
But I understand it can be to much trouble in some cases.

Thankx again, your explanation gave me a better understanding of terminology in LO Writer