Updating TOC Fields - When Will This Feature Be Added?

Aspose.Words Product Family
1

We are licensed users of Aspose.Words and are very interested in getting support for updatable TOC fields. We dynamically construct Word Documents on the server side and make them available to clients via a web application. Having an end-user hit CTL-A + F9 is not an acceptable solution for our product. We also don’t have the option of using Macros on the client side for a variety of reasons.
We may be able to get around this problem using Automation. But, that’s an option we rather not exercise. We don’t want to implement Automation on our servers.
Has a decision been made to support updatable TOC fields? If so, can we look forward to a software update in the near future (next 30 - 45 days)? If not, any insight as to schedule and projected availability would be greatly appreciated as it would help us decide whether to wait or look to alternative solutions.
Thanks,
Ed

2

Hello!
Thank you for choosing Aspose.
TOC fields are currently not updated. We cannot promise to implement this within 30-45 days. Hopefully they will be ready by the end of 2009. I’ll discuss the issue with other developers.
Regards,

3

I appreciate that you’re not able to commit to any delivery dates. However, I would be happier with the answer if you could take out the word “hopefully” and at least confirm this item is on the queue for delivery. I can’t tell if Aspose is simply considering including this feature or has moved beyond that point and intends to incorporate the feature at some future date (e.g. end of 2009).
In any event, thank you for the quick reply. If you have any further news please let us know.
Thank you,
Ed

4

Hello Ed!
Thank you for understanding. In the future we plan to update all fields in documents, not only TOC. But it’s a big deal. Why didn’t we implement the update two or three years ago? Everything is simple. Most of the fields in Microsoft Word require knowledge about layout. In particular, numbers of pages in TOC should be calculated according to what pages contain the referenced objects. This all became possible only when we released our rendering engine, starting from Aspose.Words 6.0.0. As the product grows, now we have a lot of important and complex unsolved tasks. That’s why we delay TOC update. Of course we remember about this feature and will do all possible to deliver it sooner.
Regards,

5

Hi,
Is it possible to lodge Requests to make this a priority in an upcoming release? Basically without this the SaveasPDF is of little use as you can’t update the TOC before saving.
Thanks Bruce

6

Hi

Thanks for your request. We are currently working on this feature. But it is not so easy to implement as it sounds. This feature will be supported at the very beginning of the next year. You will be notified.
Best regards.

7

Will this include dynamic references?

Thanks Bruce

8

Hi

Thanks for your inquiry. Yes, updating of cross references will be also supported.
Best regards.

9

Is there any new information on how this feature is progressing? Is it actively being worked on?

10

Hi
Thanks for your request. Update TOC feature is already available in the latest version of Aspose.Words. You can download the latest version here:
https://releases.aspose.com/words/net
When you call the Document.UpdateFields method, Aspose.Words updates (entirely rebuilds) the TOC field, but does not insert page numbers into the TOC field yet. Aspose.Words calculates correct page numbers and inserts into the TOC when the document layout is built e.g. when you save to PDF or print. So to update page numbers in TOC, you should call Document.UpdatePageLayout or just save document in PDF or XPS.

Document doc = new Document("TestTOC.doc");
doc.UpdateFields();
doc.UpdatePageLayout();
doc.Save("out.doc");

Best regards,