When you select a DynaText book from a DynaWeb server, the first information you receive is a table of contents (TOC) listing the titles of the high-level structural elements. Initially, the top level of the TOC is shown when the book is opened.
Sections of the TOC that can be further divided into smaller sections are marked with a right arrow. Sections that are fully expanded to show all subsections are marked with a down arrow, and sections which have no subsections of their own have no markings next to them.
The figure below shows a sample book TOC, partially expanded:
A DynaWeb server uses TOCs to provide you with a glimpse at the topics contained in large blocks of structured text. This allows you to scan element titles and select what, if any, portion of the text you want to view first, without having to wait for transmission of the full text.
Each time you click on a TOC title (or other hypertext link, such as a figure icon) your Web client retrieves a URL from the link. The client sends a request to the URL, which identifies a specific block of data on a specific server.
Using the TOC can help you to focus on the content you want, without spending time looking at information you do not want or need to see. At any time, you can click directly on a TOC element and be brought to the text it governs.
In order to reduce the burden on the server, sometimes not all of the TOC is shown at once. The default behavior of the server allows 150 lines of the TOC to be shown at one time. Parts of the TOC that have been hidden are represented by an ellipses (...) instead of the actual text of the TOC element.
Any of these ellipses can be clicked on to bring up a new TOC centered around the section that was selected. The new TOC is automatically expanded to the same depth that the original TOC was expanded.
A TOC can be navigated a number of ways, including the button bar and the markers next to the lines of the TOC.
The Expand and Contract buttons in the button bar can be used to change how many levels of the TOC you can see.
The Expand button causes every section of the TOC to reveal the next level of TOC elements contained within it.
The Contract button causes the lowest level of the TOC currently shown to be hidden.
Each section of the TOC can be controlled individually by the small symbol next to the title.
A right arrow means that there are TOC levels hidden below the one currently shown.
A down arrow means that all of the TOC elements from the level directly beneath the current one are shown.
No symbol means there are no further TOC elements in this section, shown or hidden.
After using the Table of Contents to reach the information you want, you can then view the contents themselves. DynaWeb provides you with alternate ways to move from section to section without returning to the TOC.
The navigation controls at the top of the page are useful when you are inside a book and want to quickly move from section to section without getting bogged down in the lower levels of the book.
The Prev button, when activated, retrieves the section of text preceding the current one. However, it should be noted that this button will bring you to the previous section at the current level or higher. To illustrate: You are currently reading section 4.2 of a manual. If you click on the Prev button at the top of the page, DynaWeb then sends section 4.1 to be displayed. Click again, and the beginning matter of Chapter 4 is sent. If you now click Prev a third time, you will be sent to the beginning of Chapter 3, because you are now viewing at a chapter level. DynaWeb “walks” you up the TOC of the book in this manner until you reach the beginning of the book.
The TOC button returns you to the TOC for the current book, with the section you were just viewing fully expanded.
The Next button works in a slightly different manner than the Prev button. When selected, it jumps forward in the document to the next section of the book. If subsections of the current section exist, they are effectively ignored, and the next section that resides at the same level of the TOC is requested. For example, you are looking at Chapter 1. By selecting the Next button, you will ignore any subsections (1.1, 1.2, 1.2.1, and so on) and the browser will display the beginning of Chapter 2.
Unlike the Prev button, which moves you upwards through successive levels of the TOC, Next remembers what level of the TOC you were viewing, and attempts to maintain that level as you move forward through the book.
Another example: You are currently viewing section 4.5 of a manual. When you click on Next to move ahead, the browser now displays section 4.6. Now, if section 4.6 is the last section of Chapter 4, and you select Next again. DynaWeb places you at the beginning of Chapter 5. However, one more Next places you back down to the level you were originally viewing, section 5.1. Further Nexts advance you to 5.2, 5.3, and so on.
The button bar at the bottom of a section of text looks identical to the button bar at the top, but the Next and Prev buttons perform different functions from their counterparts on the top of the pane.
The Prev button mimics the function of the top Next button, except that it moves towards the front of the book instead of the end. Clicking on the Prev button causes the previous section of text to be displayed. As you move backwards through the book, DynaWeb remembers what level of TOC you started at and maintains that level of depth as you move towards the front of the book.
For example: If you are at section 4.3.2 of the document, and you select the Prev button at the bottom of the section, you will move to the beginning of section 4.3.1. Subsequent Prev selections will move you to section 4.3, and then to whatever the last section of Chapter 4.2 is at the section level at which you began to move backwards. (e.g. 4.2.3).
The TOC button works just the same as its counterpart at the top of the section, returning you to the book TOC with the section you are looking at fully expanded.
Any pre-existing hyperlinks contained within the book are automatically brought over into HTML. These links are either highlighted or underlined by the Web browser you are using and act just like they would in DynaText, displaying the section of text to which they are linked.
Whenever you view the content of a DynaWeb book, DynaWeb automatically generates a TOC display that shows the nested TOC structure of the book that leads to the section you are currently viewing. This listing appears directly below the button bar at the top of the document pane and consists of the hierarchy of the book above the currently displayed section. The following graphic displays the content and placement of the TOC display.
The titles of the sections displayed are hyperlinks to the actual sections, providing fast and convenient access to other sections of the book.
In addition to the TOC display at the top of the document pane, DynaWeb provides a hypertext listing of the TOC headings contained within this section below the end of the text displayed. Any of the listings can be selected to display that section. The picture below shows a sample of this feature:
