Re: How d'you set the font for Contents and List of Tables?

[Mark Summerfield]

On 2008-05-31, Jeff Kingston wrote:
> > But while a Chapter is a big thing and deserves a big title, the table
> > of contents and list of tables are smaller scale things and should be
> > able to have their fonts set separately.
>
> Well, we disagree about this.

Duh, isn't how the TOC looks an aethetic decision, i.e., lout should
provide a sensible default but allow the user to override?

> > The problem I have is getting a nice layout to my TOC and list of
> > tables, and that means I have to fiddle with the interline spacing (to
> > avoid bad breaks) but can't scale down the size of the title...
>
> Yes, I've fiddled with the interline spacing in TOCs for this same
> reason.  I wonder whether some other solution might be better, say
> a way to keep the TOC entries for one chapter together on one page.

I find fiddling the interline spacing a perfectly good solution; I just
wish I could do it independently for the TOC and List of Tables.

> > In my Python 3 book I have several tables that are too big for one
> > page. I never do multipage tables, so for each of these I have two
> > tables, but obviously I only want the first one of each pair to appear
> > in the TOC. Also in a couple of places I have tables that don't belong
> > in the TOC; most of the tables are about Python's syntax or APIs but a
> > couple are used to describe file formats for an example and just don't
> > belong in the TOC.  Hope you're convinced:-)
>
> I'm moderately convinced.  What about the numbering though?  Wouldn't
> this change cause gaps in the numbering of your tables in the List of
> Tables?  Wouldn't that look strange?

There're gaps anyway since not all chapters have figures, but the option
would still be v. useful.

> > That works perfectly for the List of Tables---and completely ruins the
> > TOC as the attached screenshots show.
>
> I haven't looked at your screen shots but I can guess what the problem
> is: lack of room for "Chapter 4" in a 1cm column.  That's why I said
> "fiddle with".  You could tart by trying a wider column width.

If you make the column wider for the chapter title numbers, i.e., for
"Chapter 1" and so on, the column for the section and subsections
becomes narrow to the point of real ugliness; ditto for the List of
Tables.

I can live with the left alignment, but would really like to be able to
omit specified tables from the list of tables.

-- 
Mark Summerfield, Qtrac Ltd., www.qtrac.eu