Publisher preflight always shows table of contents needing update

[Tellus]

I a document I've been working on for a while the preflight check now shows "One or more tables of contents entries need updating." Previously, if I clicked "Fix" it would spin for a bit then be okay. Now, it spins for a bit and then still shows the issue. I think it is still updating the table of contents, it just thinks it still needs to update.

This started after it lost 60 or so cross reference links so there is potentially some document corruption that it is unable to remedy?

I completely deleted the table of contents and recreated it. At the end, I have the same error and lost probably every cross reference. Some are shown as being out of date, others cannot  be found. Since that didn't resolve the table of contents issue I'm going to try recovering a prior version of the document rather than tediously fix every cross reference.

The document has some heft: ~850 pages and 10 pages of table of contents, I'm guessing a hundred or two cross references -- am I hitting some sort of limit?

[MikeTO]

Hi @Tellus Which version of Publisher are you using?

There were a couple of bugs like this in 2.6.0 that were fixed in 2.6.2 but I believe one of them (AF-5780) may still be awaiting a fix. If this is the issue that you're experiencing, you will see a TOC out of date warning in Preflight when you open your file. While this is disconcerting, you'll just have to ignore it, your TOC isn't really out of date.

BTW, does your document have one TOC or multiple TOCs? Do you have manually-created anchors in addition to the ones generated by the TOC feature?

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/227263-257-toc-outdated-and-updating-breaks-cross-references/

 

[Tellus]

Thanks for the informative response. I'm on 2.6.2. There is just one TOC. I don't recall if there are any manual anchors.

A shame my searching didn't find that thread. Most likely seeing AF-5780 / AF-5781. It seems that AF-5668 may not have been completely fixed with the issue I saw on recreating the TOC (if I understand correctly it was in the 2.6.0 beta build and so should be included in the 2.6.2 public build?)

Edited April 15 by Tellus

[MikeTO]

I think Serif would likely need to see your document to determine if the issue you're experiencing is the remaining known issue or if it's something else.

[Tellus]

I don't disagree but I have yet to see an option for that. It may be my meager skills of discovery but all I could find for support was to search and post in the forums

[MikeTO]

13 hours ago, Tellus said:

I don't disagree but I have yet to see an option for that. It may be my meager skills of discovery but all I could find for support was to search and post in the forums

There isn't an option to submit the document but Serif may provide a private upload link to you if they'd like to review the document.

[stokerg]

Hi @Tellus,

I've just replied to your email on this issue.

I've had to create a new bug report for this issue.  The issues @MikeTOhas pointed to, AF-5781 was a file specific fix and theres clearly another trigger for this to happen, which is what we are seeing in your file.  Which will be related to AF-5781.  AF-5668 was fixed but the recipe for this is different to what we see with your file.  With AF-5668 clicking on the Fix button did fix the Preflight Error but then broke the Cross References, where clicking on Fix in your file does nothing and its rebuilding the Table of Contents that then breaks some of the Cross References.

 

[Michael Mooney]

On 4/15/2025 at 5:52 AM, MikeTO said:

Hi @Tellus Which version of Publisher are you using?

There were a couple of bugs like this in 2.6.0 that were fixed in 2.6.2 but I believe one of them (AF-5780) may still be awaiting a fix. If this is the issue that you're experiencing, you will see a TOC out of date warning in Preflight when you open your file. While this is disconcerting, you'll just have to ignore it, your TOC isn't really out of date.

BTW, does your document have one TOC or multiple TOCs? Do you have manually-created anchors in addition to the ones generated by the TOC feature?

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/227263-257-toc-outdated-and-updating-breaks-cross-references/

 

Hi @MikeTO I am at 2.6.3 and getting this same error. Mac Ventura. Full rebuild of TOCs and links and it went away. All was good and stable for about 15 minutes of editing until one add of a lower structural level item  (subheading) in the body of the text. Triggered this error again (but I can't seem to replicate - it just seems to remain in the "broken" state). I know my body text areas are clean; text flows routine page to page. No weird stuff going on. But I do use multiple TOCs (one per chapter or section and a detailed master TOC towards beginning of document). All looks ok for production but Preflight is complaining.  TOC hierarchy is 3 levels deep.

[Michael Mooney]

PS - the rest of the text flow goes to the red circle and triangle thing when this triggers.

[Alfred]

3 hours ago, Michael Mooney said:

the red circle and triangle thing

The red triangle indicates text overflow. The red ‘circle’ to its right is an eye (indicating visibility).

Increasing the size of the text frame should clear the overflow state.

[MikeTO]

@Michael Mooney Serif may need to see your document to know if this is the same issue or a new one. Are you able to share it?