Exclude appendix sections, subsections and subsubsection from TOC

Question

I want to exclude ALL sections, subsections, and subsubsection in the Appendix from the table of contents. But I need to have the "Chapter"(Appendix) to be shown in the TOC.

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt,icelandic]{report}
\usepackage[toc,page]{appendix}
\begin{document}
\tableofcontents

\chapter{Chapter 1}
\section{Section 1.1}
\subsection{Section 1.1.1}
\chapter{Chapter 2}
\section{Section 2.1}
\subsection{Section 2.1.1}
\appendix
\chapter{Appendix A}
\section{Appendix A.1}        % Do not show in table of content.
\subsection{Appendix A.1.1}   % Do not show in table of content.
\chapter{Appendix B}
\section{Appendix B.1}        % Do not show in table of content.
\section{Appendix B.2}        % Do not show in table of content.
\end{document}

Answer 1

You have to write \setcounter{tocdepth}{0} in the .toc file when \appendix is issued. You might do it as

\appendix
\addtocontents{toc}{\protect\setcounter{tocdepth}{0}}

but it's better programming style doing this in the preamble:

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{report}
\usepackage[toc,page]{appendix}

\usepackage{etoolbox}
\appto\appendix{\addtocontents{toc}{\protect\setcounter{tocdepth}{0}}}

% reinstate the correct level for list of tables and figures
\appto\listoffigures{\addtocontents{lof}{\protect\setcounter{tocdepth}{1}}}
\appto\listoftables{\addtocontents{lot}{\protect\setcounter{tocdepth}{1}}}


\begin{document}

\tableofcontents

\chapter{Chapter 1}
\section{Section 1.1}
\subsection{Section 1.1.1}
\chapter{Chapter 2}
\section{Section 2.1}
\subsection{Section 2.1.1}

\appendix
\chapter{Appendix A}
\section{Appendix A.1}        % Do not show in table of content.
\subsection{Appendix A.1.1}   % Do not show in table of content.
\chapter{Appendix B}
\section{Appendix B.1}        % Do not show in table of content.
\section{Appendix B.2}        % Do not show in table of content.
\end{document}

Answer 2

Here is the solution for future problems. Thanks to @albert

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt,icelandic]{report}
\usepackage[toc,page]{appendix}

\newcommand{\nocontentsline}[3]{}
\newcommand{\tocless}[2]{\bgroup\let\addcontentsline=\nocontentsline#1{#2}\egroup}

\begin{document}
\tableofcontents

\chapter{Chapter 1}
\section{1}
\subsection{2}
\chapter{Chapter 2}
\section{1}
\subsection{2}
\subsubsection{3}
\appendix
\chapter{Appendix A}
\tocless\section{Appendix A.1}        % Do not show in table of content.
\tocless\subsection{Appendix A.1.1}   % Do not show in table of content.
\chapter{Appendix B}
\tocless\section{Appendix B.1}        % Do not show in table of content.
\tocless\section{Appendix B.2}        % Do not show in table of content.
\end{document}

Answer 3

One could insert content into the ToC mid-document that would influence the way the ToC is printed. For that I've created two macros:

• \stoptocwriting

  Set the counter tocdepth to -5, where no sectional heading level exists above. As such, entries following this macro will be dropped with the ToC altogether;

• \resumetocwriting

  Resets the counter of tocdepth to whatever it was set at in the preamble. This restores the ToC entries style of display.

Here is a minimal example showing the use of the above macros:

\documentclass{report}
\usepackage[toc,page]{appendix}
\newcommand{\stoptocwriting}{%
  \addtocontents{toc}{\protect\setcounter{tocdepth}{-5}}}
\newcommand{\resumetocwriting}{%
  \addtocontents{toc}{\protect\setcounter{tocdepth}{\arabic{tocdepth}}}}
\begin{document}
\tableofcontents

\chapter{Chapter 1}
\section{Section 1.1}
\subsection{Section 1.1.1}
\chapter{Chapter 2}
\section{Section 2.1}
\subsection{Section 2.1.1}
\appendix
\chapter{Appendix A}
\stoptocwriting
\section{Appendix A.1}        % Do not show in table of content.
\subsection{Appendix A.1.1}   % Do not show in table of content.
\resumetocwriting
\chapter{Appendix B}
\stoptocwriting
\section{Appendix B.1}        % Do not show in table of content.
\section{Appendix B.2}        % Do not show in table of content.
\resumetocwriting
\end{document}

The .toc contains all the original entries, together with the setting of tocdepth:

\contentsline {chapter}{\numberline {1}Chapter 1}{2}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {1.1}Section 1.1}{2}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {1.1.1}Section 1.1.1}{2}
\contentsline {chapter}{\numberline {2}Chapter 2}{3}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {2.1}Section 2.1}{3}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.1.1}Section 2.1.1}{3}
\contentsline {chapter}{\numberline {A}Appendix A}{4}
\setcounter {tocdepth}{-5}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {A.1}Appendix A.1}{4}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {A.1.1}Appendix A.1.1}{4}
\setcounter {tocdepth}{0}
\contentsline {chapter}{\numberline {B}Appendix B}{5}
\setcounter {tocdepth}{-5}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {B.1}Appendix B.1}{5}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {B.2}Appendix B.2}{5}
\setcounter {tocdepth}{0}