Table of Contents Functionality with C# and .NET

Creating a Table of Contents (TOC) in a PDF document is a crucial feature for enhancing document navigation and user experience. With Sautinsoft.Pdf.Net, you can easily generate a TOC using C# and .NET. This article will guide you through the process of creating a TOC in a PDF document using Sautinsoft PDF.Net.

To add a TOC, you need to create a list of entries that will be included in the TOC. Each entry should have a title and a page number. Here’s how you can do it:

  1. Add SautinSoft.PDF from NuGet.
  2. Create a new PDF document and merge multiple PDF documents the new single PDF.
  3. Create a table of contents.
  4. Remove empty (placeholder) pages.
  5. Insert TOC pages and update TOC links.
  6. Save document as PDF.

Input file:

Output result:

Полный код

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Reflection;
using SautinSoft;
using SautinSoft.Document;
using SautinSoft.Pdf;
using SautinSoft.Pdf.Annotations;
using SautinSoft.Pdf.Content;

namespace Sample
{
    class Sample
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Merge PDF files and create TOC.
        /// </summary>
        /// <remarks>
        /// Details: https://sautinsoft.com/products/pdf/help/net/developer-guide/table-of-content.php
        /// </remarks>
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Before starting this example, please get a free 100-day trial key:
            // https://sautinsoft.com/start-for-free/

            // Apply the key here:
            // PdfDocument.SetLicense("...");
            
            string[] inpFiles = new string[] {
                        Path.GetFullPath(@"..\..\..\Simple Text.pdf"),
                        Path.GetFullPath(@"..\..\..\Potato Beetle.pdf"),
                        Path.GetFullPath(@"..\..\..\Text and Graphics.pdf")};

            string outFile = Path.GetFullPath(@"Merged.pdf");
            var tocEntries = new List<(string Title, int PagesCount)>();
            // Create a new PDF document.
            using (var pdf = new PdfDocument())
            {
                // Merge multiple PDF documents the new single PDF.
                foreach (var inpFile in inpFiles)
                    using (var source = PdfDocument.Load(inpFile))
                    {
                        pdf.Pages.Kids.AddClone(source.Pages);
                        tocEntries.Add((Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(inpFile), source.Pages.Count));
                    }

                int pagesCount;
                int tocPagesCount;

                // Create PDF with Table of Contents.
                using (var tocDocument = PdfDocument.Load(CreatePdfWithToc(tocEntries)))
                {
                    pagesCount = tocDocument.Pages.Count;
                    tocPagesCount = pagesCount - tocEntries.Sum(entry => entry.PagesCount);

                    // Remove empty (placeholder) pages.
                    for (int i = pagesCount - 1; i >= tocPagesCount; i--)
                        tocDocument.Pages.RemoveAt(i);

                    // Insert TOC pages.
                    pdf.Pages.Kids.InsertClone(0, tocDocument.Pages);
                }

                int entryIndex = 0;
                int entryPageIndex = tocPagesCount;

                // Update TOC links and outlines so that they point to adequate pages instead of placeholder pages.
                for (int i = 0; i < tocPagesCount; i++)
                    foreach (var annotation in pdf.Pages[i].Annotations.OfType<PdfLinkAnnotation>())
                    {
                        var entryPage = pdf.Pages[entryPageIndex];
                        annotation.SetDestination(entryPage, PdfDestinationViewType.FitPage);

                        entryPageIndex += tocEntries[entryIndex].PagesCount;
                        ++entryIndex;
                    }

                pdf.Save(outFile);
            }
            // Show the result.
            System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo(outFile) { UseShellExecute = true });
        }

        static Stream CreatePdfWithToc(List<(string Title, int PagesCount)> tocEntries)
        {
            // Create new document.
            var document = new DocumentCore();
            var section = new Section(document);
            document.Sections.Add(section);

            // Add Table of Content.
            var toc = new TableOfEntries(document, FieldType.TOC);
            section.Blocks.Add(toc);

            // Create heading style.
            var heading1Style = (ParagraphStyle)document.Styles.GetOrAdd(StyleTemplateType.Heading1);
            heading1Style.ParagraphFormat.PageBreakBefore = true;

            // Add heading paragraphs and empty (placeholder) pages.
            foreach (var tocEntry in tocEntries)
            {
                section.Blocks.Add(
                    new Paragraph(document, tocEntry.Title)
                    { ParagraphFormat = { Style = heading1Style } });

                for (int i = 0; i < tocEntry.PagesCount; i++)
                    section.Blocks.Add(
                        new Paragraph(document,
                            new SpecialCharacter(document, SpecialCharacterType.PageBreak)));
            }

            // Remove last extra-added empty page.
            section.Blocks.RemoveAt(section.Blocks.Count - 1);

            // When updating TOC element, an entry is created for each paragraph that has heading style.
            // The entries have the correct page numbers because of the added placeholder pages.
            toc.Update();

            // Save document as PDF.
            var pdfStream = new MemoryStream();
            document.Save(pdfStream, new SautinSoft.Document.PdfSaveOptions());
            return pdfStream;
        }
    }
}

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Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Reflection.Metadata
Imports SautinSoft
Imports SautinSoft.Document
Imports SautinSoft.Pdf
Imports SautinSoft.Pdf.Annotations
Imports SautinSoft.Pdf.Content

Namespace Sample
    Class Sample
        ''' <summary>
        ''' Merge PDF files and create TOC.
        ''' </summary>
        ''' <remarks>
        ''' Details: https://sautinsoft.com/products/pdf/help/net/developer-guide/table-of-content.php
        ''' </remarks>
        Shared Sub Main(args As String())
            ' Before starting this example, please get a free 100-day trial key:
            ' https://sautinsoft.com/start-for-free/

            ' Apply the key here:
            ' PdfDocument.SetLicense("...")

            Dim inpFiles As String() = {
                Path.GetFullPath("..\..\..\Simple Text.pdf"),
                Path.GetFullPath("..\..\..\Potato Beetle.pdf"),
                Path.GetFullPath("..\..\..\Text and Graphics.pdf")
            }

            Dim outFile As String = Path.GetFullPath("Merged.pdf")
            Dim tocEntries As New List(Of (Title As String, PagesCount As Integer))

            ' Create a new PDF document.
            Using pdf As New PdfDocument()
                ' Merge multiple PDF documents the new single PDF.
                For Each inpFile In inpFiles
                    Using source As PdfDocument = PdfDocument.Load(inpFile)
                        pdf.Pages.Kids.AddClone(source.Pages)
                        tocEntries.Add((Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(inpFile), source.Pages.Count))
                    End Using
                Next

                Dim pagesCount As Integer
                Dim tocPagesCount As Integer

                ' Create PDF with Table of Contents.
                Using tocDocument As PdfDocument = PdfDocument.Load(CreatePdfWithToc(tocEntries))
                    pagesCount = tocDocument.Pages.Count
                    tocPagesCount = pagesCount - tocEntries.Sum(Function(entry) entry.PagesCount)

                    ' Remove empty (placeholder) pages.
                    For i As Integer = pagesCount - 1 To tocPagesCount Step -1
                        tocDocument.Pages.RemoveAt(i)
                    Next

                    ' Insert TOC pages.
                    pdf.Pages.Kids.InsertClone(0, tocDocument.Pages)
                End Using

                Dim entryIndex As Integer = 0
                Dim entryPageIndex As Integer = tocPagesCount

                ' Update TOC links and outlines so that they point to adequate pages instead of placeholder pages.
                For i As Integer = 0 To tocPagesCount - 1
                    For Each annotation In pdf.Pages(i).Annotations.OfType(Of PdfLinkAnnotation)()
                        Dim entryPage As PdfPage = pdf.Pages(entryPageIndex)
                        annotation.SetDestination(entryPage, PdfDestinationViewType.FitPage)

                        entryPageIndex += tocEntries(entryIndex).PagesCount
                        entryIndex += 1
                    Next
                Next

                pdf.Save(outFile)
            End Using

            ' Show the result.
            System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(New System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo(outFile) With {.UseShellExecute = True})
        End Sub

        Shared Function CreatePdfWithToc(tocEntries As List(Of (Title As String, PagesCount As Integer))) As Stream
            ' Create new document.
            Dim document As New DocumentCore()
            Dim section As New Section(document)
            document.Sections.Add(section)

            ' Add Table of Content.
            Dim toc As New TableOfEntries(document, FieldType.TOC)
            section.Blocks.Add(toc)

            ' Create heading style.
            Dim heading1Style As ParagraphStyle = CType(document.Styles.GetOrAdd(StyleTemplateType.Heading1), ParagraphStyle)
            heading1Style.ParagraphFormat.PageBreakBefore = True

            ' Add headings and placeholder pages.
            For Each entry In tocEntries
                Dim heading As New Paragraph(document)
                heading.ParagraphFormat.Style = heading1Style
                heading.Content.Start.Insert(entry.Title)
                section.Blocks.Add(heading)

                For i As Integer = 1 To entry.PagesCount
                    section.Blocks.Add(New Paragraph(document))
                Next
            Next

            ' Save the document to a memory stream.
            Dim stream As New MemoryStream()
            document.Save(stream, New SautinSoft.Document.PdfSaveOptions())
            stream.Position = 0
            Return stream
        End Function
    End Class
End Namespace


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