\include texinfo.tex @c -*- texinfo -*-

@setfilename makeinfo.info

@node Top, Top, Top, (DIR)
@chapter What is Makeinfo?

Makeinfo is a program for converting @dfn{texinfo} files into @dfn{info}
files.  Texinfo is a documentation language which allows a printed manual
and online documentation (an info file) to be produced from a single source
file.

This text does not explain how to write a texinfo file.  In order to
usefully use this documentation, you should be familiar with the texinfo
documentation language, and you should have used an info file reader to
read some info files.  A good place to start is with @code{info}, a program
for reading online documentation.  Just type @code{info} to get started.
Documentation on the texinfo language is available in the node Texinfo.
Type @code{info texinfo} to read it.

@menu
* Formatting Control::	Controlling the appearance of the output file.
* Options::		Command line options.
* Validation::		What makes a `valid' info file.
* Node Defaulting::	How Makeinfo can fill in the node fields for you.
@end menu

@node Formatting Control
@section Controlling Paragraph Formats

In general, Makeinfo @dfn{fills} the paragraphs that it outputs to the info
file.  Filling is the process of breaking up and connecting lines such that
the output is nearly justified.  With Makeinfo, you can control:

@itemize @bullet
@item
The width of the paragraph (the @dfn{fill-column}).
@item
The amount of indentation that the first line of the paragraph gets.
@end itemize


@node Options
@section Command Line Options

The following command line options are available for Makeinfo.

@table @code
@item -no-validate
Suppress the validation phase of Makeinfo.  Normally, after the file is
processed, some consistency checks are made to ensure that cross references
can be resolved, etc.  @xref{Validation}.

@item -no-warn
Suppress the output of warning messages.  This does @emph{not} suppress the
output of error messages, simply warnings.  You might want this if the file
you are creating has texinfo examples in it, and the nodes that are
referenced don't actually exist.

@item -no-split
Suppress the splitting stage of Makeinfo.  In general, large output files
(where the size is greater than 70k bytes) are split into smaller subfiles,
each one apporximately 50k bytes.  By specifying @code{-no-split}, Makeinfo
will not split up the output file.

@item -verbose
Causes Makeinfo to inform you as to what it is doing.  Normally Makeinfo
only output text if there are errors or warnings.

@item -version
Prints outs the version number of Makeinfo.

@item -paragraph-indent @var{num}
Sets the paragraph indentation to @var{num}.  The value of @var{num} is
interpreted as follows:

@itemize @bullet
@item
A value of 0 means don't change the existing indentation at the starts of
paragraphs.
@item
A value less than zero means indent paragraph starts to column zero by
deleting the existing indentation.
@item
A value greater than zero is the number of spaces to leave at the front of
each paragraph start.
@end itemize

@item -fill-column @var{num}
Specifies the maximum right-hand edge of a line.  Paragraphs that are
filled will be filled to this width.  The default value for fill-column is
72.

@item -error-limit @var{num}
Sets the maximum number of errors that Makeinfo will print before exiting
(on the assumption that continuing would be useless).  The default number
of errors that can be printed before Makeinfo gives up on processing the
input file is 100.

@item -footnote-style @var{style}

Sets the footnote style to @var{style}.  @var{style} should either be `MN'
for `make node', or `BN' for `bottom node'.  When the footnote style is
`MN', Makeinfo makes a new node containing the footnotes found in the
current node.  When the footnote style is `BN', Makeinfo places the
footnote references at the bottom of the current node.

@end table

@node Validation
@section What makes a valid Info file?

If you have not suppressed validation (with the @code{-no-validate}
option), Makeinfo will check the validity of the final info file.  Mostly,
this means ensuring that nodes you have referenced really exist.  Here is a
complete list of what is checked:

@enumerate
@item
If a node reference such as Prev, Next or Up is a reference to a node in
this file (i.e., not an external reference such as `(DIR)'), then the
referenced node must exist.

@item
In a given node, if the node referenced by the Prev is different than the
node referenced by the Up, then the node referenced by the Prev must have a
Next which references this node.

@item
Every node excepting @code{Top} must have an Up field.

@item
The node referenced by Up must contain a reference to this node, other than
a Next reference.  Obviously, this includes menu items and followed
references.

@item
If the Next reference is not the same as the Next reference of the Up
reference, then the node referenced by Next must have a Prev reference
pointing back at this node.  This rule still allows the last node in a
section to point to the first node of the next chapter.

@end enumerate

@node Node Defaulting
@section Defaulting the @code{Prev}, @code{Next}, and @code{Up}

Although the definition of an info file allows a great deal of flexibility,
there are some conventions that you are urged to follow.  By letting
Makeinfo default the Next, Prev, and Up pointers you can follow these
conventions with the minimum of effort.

A common error ocurrs when adding a new node to a menu; often the nodes
which are referenced in the menu do not point to each other in the same
order as they appear in the menu.

Makeinfo helps with this particular problem by defaulting Next, Prev, and
Up pointers in a @code{@@node} command if you leave off these pointers in
the command.

The node to receive the defaulted pointers must be followed immediately by
a sectioning command, such as @code{@@chapter} or @code{@@section}, and
must appear in a menu that is one sectioning level or more above the
sectioning level that this node is to have.

Here is an example of using this feature.

@example
@@setfilename default-nodes-example.info
@@node Top
@@chapter Introduction
@@menu
* foo::  the foo node
* bar::  the bar node
@@end menu

@@node foo
@@section foo
this is the foo node.

@@node bar
@@section Bar
This is the Bar node.
@@bye

@end example

produces

@example
Info file default-nodes-example.info, produced by Makeinfo, -*- Text -*-
from input file default-nodes.texinfo.

File: default-nodes-example.info,  Node: Top

Introduction
************

* Menu:

* foo::  the foo node
* bar::  the bar node

File: default-nodes-example.info,  Node: foo,  Next: bar,  Up: Top

foo
===

this is the foo node.

File: default-nodes-example.info,  Node: bar,  Prev: foo,  Up: Top

Bar
===

This is the Bar node.

@end example
@bye
