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Index Menus and Printing an Index
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To print an index means to include it as part of a manual or Info
file. This does not happen automatically just because you use
`@cindex' or other index-entry generating commands in the Texinfo file;
those just cause the raw data for the index to be accumulated. To
generate an index, you must include the `@printindex' command at the
place in the document where you want the index to appear. Also, as
part of the process of creating a printed manual, you must run a
program called `texindex' (Format/Print Hardcopy) to sort the
raw data to produce a sorted index file. The sorted index file is what
is actually used to print the index.
Texinfo offers six different types of predefined index: the concept
index, the function index, the variables index, the keystroke index, the
program index, and the data type index (Predefined Indices).
Each index type has a two-letter name: `cp', `fn', `vr', `ky', `pg',
and `tp'. You may merge indices, or put them into separate sections
(Combining Indices); or you may define your own indices
(New Indices).
The `@printindex' command takes a two-letter index name, reads the
corresponding sorted index file and formats it appropriately into an
index.
The `@printindex' command does not generate a chapter heading for
the index. Consequently, you should precede the `@printindex' command
with a suitable section or chapter command (usually `@unnumbered') to
supply the chapter heading and put the index into the table of
contents. Precede the `@unnumbered' command with an `@node' line.
For example:
@node Variable Index, Concept Index, Function Index, Top
@comment node-name, next, previous, up
@unnumbered Variable Index
@printindex vr
@node Concept Index, , Variable Index, Top
@comment node-name, next, previous, up
@unnumbered Concept Index
@printindex cp
@summarycontents
@contents
@bye
(Readers often prefer that the concept index come last in a book, since
that makes it easiest to find.)