Graphics, Figures & Tables ⇒ Exact placement of contents table

[dickturnip]

Hi there.

I am making a

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt,twocolumn, twoside]{report}

On my first page I would like the left hand column to be some introductory remarks from the author and at the top of the right-hand column I would like the contents information to appear.

Currently I am trying to use \tableofcontents - however, this places the content information on a new page of its own.

The LHC (left-hand column) is looks like this:
\begin{center}
\colorbox{background}{
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.92\columnwidth}
all my copy is here.... blah... blah
\end{minipage}
}
\end{center}

I tried something similar for the RHC, putting the \tableofcontents command within a minipage. It kinda worked, almost! The information was replicated in a smaller space but the rest of the entire document went to hell. Of course, I know I could just write this but then I would lose all the neat formatting that \tableofcontents does with the dots etc.

Can anyone tell me how to reproduce the table of contents in LaTeX without requiring a whole new page?

Thanks in advance,

DT

[dickturnip]

essentially I would like to be able to put the output of

\tableofcontents

into a minipage or any of the other many environments just as I could text...

[gmedina]

Yes, we understand your problem. Please take into account that sometimes we just have no free time.

I'll think about your request and, if (and only if) I can spare some time, I'll try to devise a solution (no promises attached).

[Faust]

Using minipages works just fine -at least for me-. Table of contents is placed inside a minipage, no page break or layout is messed up.

Try this code:

\begin{minipage}[t]{1\textwidth}
\vspace{0pt}
\tableofcontents
\end{minipage}

[Faust]

Well actually that wont work that well when the ToC is getting larger than one page. I'll see what I can do about it. The tocloft package provides control over the ToC and listoffigures. Maybe this helps

[dickturnip]

Many thanks Faust for trying to help.

I am using twocolumn. Currently I have a minipage with enough text in it to take up all of one column. At the top of the other column I would like my table of contents and below that some 'contact us' information.

I wonder if I should have the table of contents and the contact us in the first column.

Ultimately, I just need a pdf of my document to put on my site. I might try to make this page separately using a table in a non-twocolumn document.... trials continue.

DT

Edit: I have found a workaround for this by reclassifying my document as an 'article' rather than a 'report'. The tableofcontents information now fits in a nice minipage within the bounds of the second column without wreaking havoc on the rest of my document.