19

How do I remove a section/subsection title, but keep the section/subsection name in the headings and in the table of contents?

For example, I type in my document somewhere,

\section{My Section}

and I get

  1. "(section number) MY SECTION" in the headings,

  2. "(section number) My Section.........(page number)" in the table of contents,

  3. "(section number) My Section" before the first paragraph.

How do I prevent the third item from occurring?

I have been searching for hours and it seems that this should have a simple one line solution, but I haven't found it. I have thought about using

\addcontentsline{toc}{subsection}{My Section}

but then I lose "(section number) MY SECTION" in the headings and I lose the (section number) in the table of contents. So an equivalent set of question,

How do I add numbered sections to the toc and to the headings?

Working example?

\documentclass[12pt]{book}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\begin{document}
\tableofcontents
\chapter{Chapter 1}
\section{Section 1}
\subsection{Subsection 1}
Here is lovely paragraph. And notice there is a ``subsection title'' right above me. How do I get rid of that title thingy???? 
\subsection{Subsection 2}
More stuff..... $$1+2+3+\cdots+\infty=-\frac{1}{12}$$
\lipsum[1-10]
\section{Section 2}
\lipsum[1-10]
\Section{Section 3}
\lipsum[1-10]
\chapter{Chapter 2}
\section{Section 1}
Again, above me a section name, how do I get rid of that guy??? \\
\lipsum[1-10]
\section{Section 2}
\lipsum[1-10]
\end{document}
ShreevatsaR
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Bobby Ocean
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3 Answers3

24

You can define a \fakesection that does all the things the regular \section does except print the actual heading:

\newcommand{\fakesection}[1]{%
  \par\refstepcounter{section}% Increase section counter
  \sectionmark{#1}% Add section mark (header)
  \addcontentsline{toc}{section}{\protect\numberline{\thesection}#1}% Add section to ToC
  % Add more content here, if needed.
}

A similar macro for \fakesubsection would be

\newcommand{\fakesubsection}[1]{%
  \par\refstepcounter{subsection}% Increase subsection counter
  \subsectionmark{#1}% Add subsection mark (header)
  \addcontentsline{toc}{subsection}{\protect\numberline{\thesubsection}#1}% Add subsection to ToC
  % Add more content here, if needed.
}

The uses would be \fakesection{some section} and \fakesubsection{some subsection}.

Werner
  • 603,163
  • I will try that. But one question? If I create a \label and then \ref that label, will it also still behave like a regular section? – Bobby Ocean Aug 25 '13 at 06:51
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    @BobbyOcean: Yes, since I've used \refstepcounter. That is, you'll receive the regular reference number. – Werner Aug 25 '13 at 06:55
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    It should be \protect\numberline. Also the \par should be the first item in the definition. There's still the possibility that the page reference is wrong, because the subsequent paragraph might cause a page break; so probably \@afterheading is needed at the end. – egreg Aug 25 '13 at 09:35
  • Hi Werner, why my fake section (included another supplemental tex with figures) in bookmark jump to the first page when the figure in the supplemental tex is long? When the figure is short, the fake section worked well. – Zuooo Nov 17 '19 at 07:36
  • @Zuooo: You'd have to provide some code to replicate your behaviour. This minimal example works as expected. – Werner Nov 17 '19 at 21:42
7

I can't see any application for this setting: without any visual clue in the text, a table of contents containing inexistent titles doesn't make sense.

However, one can do it with titlesec, ensuring that the references will be correct, both in the table of contents and with the \label-\ref mechanism.

\documentclass{book}

\usepackage{lipsum}

\usepackage{titlesec}

\makeatletter
\titleformat{\section}[runin]{}{}{0pt}{\@gobble}
\titleformat{\subsection}[runin]{}{}{0pt}{\@gobble}
\makeatother
\titlespacing{\section}{\parindent}{0pt}{0pt}
\titlespacing{\subsection}{\parindent}{0pt}{0pt}

\begin{document}
\tableofcontents

\chapter{Chapter 1}

\section{Section 1}

\subsection{Subsection 1}

Here is lovely paragraph. And notice there is a ``subsection title'' 
right above me. How do I get rid of that title thingy?

\subsection{Subsection 2}

More stuff:
\[
1+2+3+\cdots+\infty=-\frac{1}{12}
\]
\lipsum[1-10]

\section{Section 2}
\lipsum[1-10]

\end{document}

Table of contents page

enter image description here

First chapter page

enter image description here

egreg
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1

everybody!

I was tring to do the same and found a simple solution if it's helpfull.

Write:

\lhead{Whatever you want}
\rhead{nothing if you want to avoid the number and title of sections}
\begin{document}

It worked for me.

Good luck!

Paula H
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