How to Print Invisible TOC and Index Markers of a MS Word Technical Document
A well designed and written index is an indispensable component of any technical document.
As an indexer and technical author there might be occasions when you’d like to print a list of invisible TOC and index markers of a MS Word Technical Document which is a task that requires some experience.
In this post we explain how you can accomplish that.
When you mark the words in a MS Word technical document as a TOC or Index entry, MS Word throws in the following type of invisible marker codes:
These codes will be visible when you view the document on screen but will not print when you send the document to the printer. The dotted line underneath the TC (TOC) and XE (Index) codes means these are HIDDEN characters and thus they will not print.
In general, not printing these rather ugly looking codes is okay and desirable.
But there are cases when you might want to print these codes in order to study them within context and see if there is an extra term in your TOC and Index lists, or if any terms or word is missing.
For such visual inspection purposes, you can print these invisible codes by making them visible.
There are two alternatives in MS Word 2010:
- When you select Office Button > Print > Print, click the Options button on the lower-left corner of the Print dialog box.
- Or, alternatively, select Office Button > Word Options > Display.
After following either option, you should see a “Print Hidden Text” check-box. Select that check-box, click OK and close the dialog box.
Now when you print your document, all the hidden TOC and Index codes will also print.
