Problems with overriding the values in a cls file

Question

I'm writing a thesis and I'm trying to make the Table of Contents single spaced. This question was asked before and I tried the following solution in my .tex file:

\begin{singlespace}
\tableofcontents
\end{singlespace}

but it didn't work (everything compiles fine but the Table of Contents is still double spaced). I looked into the .cls file I'm using - iitthesis.cls - which prefer not to change; I found this:

% \ssp : single-spacing
% \dsp : double-spacing
% \tsp : triple-spacing
\renewcommand{\normalsize}{\@normalsize}
\def\ssp{\def\baselinestretch{1.0}\large\normalsize}
\def\dsp{\def\baselinestretch{1.66}\large\normalsize}
\def\tsp{\def\baselinestretch{2.6}\large\normalsize}
...
\def\tableofcontents{
 \begin{center}
 \dsp{TABLE OF CONTENTS\\}
 \end{center}
 \ssp
\hfill Page\@starttoc{toc}} 

So, is it the case that \dsp{TABLE OF CONTENTS\\} is overriding \begin{singlespace}? And if yes, how do I solve this? Should I define \tableofcontents in my .tex file as a new command that will override the one in the .cls file?

Answer 1

I think the problem resides in the definition of \Chapter. (The 'double spacing' is by design.) It seems like a very strange .cls file, and I'm not certain about the precise nature of the problem you are having, but the following might be the fix you are looking for:

\renewcommand{\Chapter}[1]{%
  \clearpage  
  \noindent 
  \refstepcounter{chapter} 
  \begin{center}   
    \dsp{CHAPTER\space\thechapter\\} 
    \vspace{10pt}       
     \ssp\uppercase{#1}     
     \vspace{-5pt}    
     \end{center}             
  \addtocontents{toc}{\protect%\vspace*{3pt}%  <--- commented out 
} 
  \addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{\protect
     \makebox[0.75in][r]{\thechapter.}\hspace*{3pt} \uppercase{#1}}
  \addtocontents{toc}{\protect%\vspace*{10pt}%  <--- commented out
}
}

For what it's worth, this seems like a pretty hacky way to get a chapter command up and running. If it is possible, you may want to consider using a more up to date (and much more flexible) document class --- although this may be out of your control.