home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
GNU Info File | 1994-02-24 | 30.7 KB | 778 lines |
- This is Info file info.info, produced by Makeinfo-1.55 from the input
- file info.texi.
-
- This file describes how to use Info, the on-line, menu-driven GNU
- documentation system.
-
- Copyright (C) 1989, 1992 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
-
- Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
- manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
- preserved on all copies.
-
- Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
- this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that
- the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
- permission notice identical to this one.
-
- Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
- manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
- versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a
- translation approved by the Free Software Foundation.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Top, Next: Getting Started, Prev: (dir), Up: (dir)
-
- Info: An Introduction
- *********************
-
- Info is a program for reading documentation, which you are using now.
-
- To learn how to use Info, type the command `h'. It brings you to a
- programmed instruction sequence.
-
- To learn advanced Info commands, type `n' twice. This brings you to
- `Info for Experts', skipping over the . `Getting Started' chapter.
-
- * Menu:
-
- * Getting Started::
- * Advanced Info::
- * Create an Info File::
-
- File: info.info, Node: Getting Started, Next: Advanced Info, Prev: Top, Up: Top
-
- Getting Started
- ***************
-
- This first part of the Info manual describes how to get around inside
- of Info. The second part of the manual describes various advanced Info
- commands, and how to write an Info as distinct from a Texinfo file.
- The third part is about how to generate Info files from Texinfo files.
-
- * Menu:
-
- * Help-Small-Screen:: Starting Info on a Small Screen
- * Help:: How to use Info
- * Help-P:: Returning to the Previous node
- * Help-^L:: The Space, Rubout, B and ^L commands.
- * Help-M:: Menus
- * Help-Adv:: Some advanced Info commands
- * Help-Q:: Quitting Info
-
- File: info.info, Node: Help-Small-Screen, Next: Help, Up: Getting Started
-
- Starting Info on a Small Screen
- ===============================
-
- Since your terminal has an unusually small number of lines on its
- screen, it is necessary to give you special advice at the beginning.
-
- If you see the text `--All----' at near the bottom right corner of
- the screen, it means the entire text you are looking at fits on the
- screen. If you see `--Top----' instead, it means that there is more
- text below that does not fit. To move forward through the text and see
- another screen full, press the Space bar, SPC. To move back up, press
- the key labeled `Rubout' or `Delete' or DEL.
-
- Here are 40 lines of junk, so you can try SPC and DEL and see what
- they do. At the end are instructions of what you should do next.
-
- This is line 17
- This is line 18
- This is line 19
- This is line 20
- This is line 21
- This is line 22
- This is line 23
- This is line 24
- This is line 25
- This is line 26
- This is line 27
- This is line 28
- This is line 29
- This is line 30
- This is line 31
- This is line 32
- This is line 33
- This is line 34
- This is line 35
- This is line 36
- This is line 37
- This is line 38
- This is line 39
- This is line 40
- This is line 41
- This is line 42
- This is line 43
- This is line 44
- This is line 45
- This is line 46
- This is line 47
- This is line 48
- This is line 49
- This is line 50
- This is line 51
- This is line 52
- This is line 53
- This is line 54
- This is line 55
- This is line 56
- If you have managed to get here, go back to the beginning with DEL, and
- come back here again, then you understand SPC and DEL. So now type an
- `n'--just one character; do not type the quotes and do not type the
- Return key, RET, afterward--to get to the normal start of the course.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Help, Next: Help-P, Prev: Help-Small-Screen, Up: Getting Started
-
- How to use Info
- ===============
-
- You are talking to the program Info, for reading documentation.
-
- Right now you are looking at one "Node" of Information. A node
- contains text describing a specific topic at a specific level of
- detail. This node's topic is "how to use Info".
-
- The top line of a node is its "header". This node's header (look at
- it now) says that it is the node named `Help' in the file `info'. It
- says that the `Next' node after this one is the node called `Help-P'.
- An advanced Info command lets you go to any node whose name you know.
-
- Besides a `Next', a node can have a `Previous' or an `Up'. This
- node has a `Previous' but no `Up', as you can see.
-
- Now it is time to move on to the `Next' node, named `Help-P'.
-
- >> Type `n' to move there. Type just one character; do not type
- the quotes and do not type a RET afterward.
-
- `>>' in the margin means it is really time to try a command.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Help-P, Next: Help-^L, Prev: Help, Up: Getting Started
-
- Returning to the Previous node
- ==============================
-
- This node is called `Help-P'. The `Previous' node, as you see, is
- `Help', which is the one you just came from using the `n' command.
- Another `n' command now would take you to the next node, `Help-^L'.
-
- >> But do not do that yet. First, try the `p' command, which takes
- you to the `Previous' node. When you get there, you can do an `n'
- again to return here.
-
- This all probably seems insultingly simple so far, but *do not* be
- led into skimming. Things will get more complicated soon. Also, do
- not try a new command until you are told it is time to. Otherwise, you
- may make Info skip past an important warning that was coming up.
-
- >> Now do an `n' to get to the node `Help-^L' and learn more.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Help-^L, Next: Help-M, Prev: Help-P, Up: Getting Started
-
- The Space, Rubout, B and ^L commands.
- =====================================
-
- This node's header tells you that you are now at node `Help-^L', and
- that `p' would get you back to `Help-P'. The node's title is
- underlined; it says what the node is about (most nodes have titles).
-
- This is a big node and it does not all fit on your display screen.
- You can tell that there is more that is not visible because you can see
- the string `--Top-----' rather than `--All----' near the bottom right
- corner of the screen.
-
- The SPC, DEL and `b' commands exist to allow you to "move around" in
- a node that does not all fit on the screen at once. SPC moves forward,
- to show what was below the bottom of the screen. DEL moves backward,
- to show what was above the top of the screen (there is not anything
- above the top until you have typed some spaces).
-
- >> Now try typing a SPC (afterward, type a DEL to return here).
-
- When you type the SPC, the two lines that were at the bottom of the
- screen appear at the top, followed by more lines. DEL takes the two
- lines from the top and moves them to the bottom, *usually*, but if
- there are not a full screen's worth of lines above them they may not
- make it all the way to the bottom.
-
- If you type a SPC when there is no more to see, it rings the bell
- and otherwise does nothing. The same goes for a DEL when the header of
- the node is visible.
-
- If your screen is ever garbaged, you can tell Info to print it out
- again by typing `C-l' (`Control-L', that is--hold down "Control" and
- type an L or `l').
-
- >> Type `C-l' now.
-
- To move back to the beginning of the node you are on, you can type a
- lot of DELs. You can also type simply `b' for beginning.
-
- >> Try that now. (I have put in enough verbiage to make sure you are
- not on the first screenful now). Then come back, typing SPC
- several times.
-
- You have just learned a considerable number of commands. If you
- want to use one but have trouble remembering which, you should type a ?
- which prints out a brief list of commands. When you are finished
- looking at the list, make it go away by typing a SPC.
-
- >> Type a ? now. After it finishes, type a SPC.
-
- (If you are using the standalone Info reader, type `l' to return
- here.)
-
- From now on, you will encounter large nodes without warning, and
- will be expected to know how to use SPC and DEL to move around in them
- without being told. Since not all terminals have the same size screen,
- it would be impossible to warn you anyway.
-
- >> Now type `n' to see the description of the `m' command.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Help-M, Next: Help-Adv, Prev: Help-^L, Up: Getting Started
-
- Menus
- =====
-
- Menus and the `m' command
-
- With only the `n' and `p' commands for moving between nodes, nodes
- are restricted to a linear sequence. Menus allow a branching
- structure. A menu is a list of other nodes you can move to. It is
- actually just part of the text of the node formatted specially so that
- Info can interpret it. The beginning of a menu is always identified by
- a line which starts with `* Menu:'. A node contains a menu if and only
- if it has a line in it which starts that way. The only menu you can
- use at any moment is the one in the node you are in. To use a menu in
- any other node, you must move to that node first.
-
- After the start of the menu, each line that starts with a `*'
- identifies one subtopic. The line usually contains a brief name for
- the subtopic (followed by a `:'), the name of the node that talks about
- that subtopic, and optionally some further description of the subtopic.
- Lines in the menu that do not start with a `*' have no special
- meaning--they are only for the human reader's benefit and do not define
- additional subtopics. Here is an example:
-
- * Foo: FOO's Node This tells about FOO
-
- The subtopic name is Foo, and the node describing it is `FOO's Node'.
- The rest of the line is just for the reader's Information. [[ But this
- line is not a real menu item, simply because there is no line above it
- which starts with `* Menu:'.]]
-
- When you use a menu to go to another node (in a way that will be
- described soon), what you specify is the subtopic name, the first thing
- in the menu line. Info uses it to find the menu line, extracts the
- node name from it, and goes to that node. The reason that there is
- both a subtopic name and a node name is that the node name must be
- meaningful to the computer and may therefore have to be ugly looking.
- The subtopic name can be chosen just to be convenient for the user to
- specify. Often the node name is convenient for the user to specify and
- so both it and the subtopic name are the same. There is an
- abbreviation for this:
-
- * Foo:: This tells about FOO
-
- This means that the subtopic name and node name are the same; they are
- both `Foo'.
-
- >> Now use SPCs to find the menu in this node, then come back to
- the front with a `b'. As you see, a menu is actually visible in its
- node. If you cannot find a menu in a node by looking at it, then
- the node does not have a menu and the `m' command is not available.
-
- The command to go to one of the subnodes is `m'--but *do not do it
- yet!* Before you use `m', you must understand the difference between
- commands and arguments. So far, you have learned several commands that
- do not need arguments. When you type one, Info processes it and is
- instantly ready for another command. The `m' command is different: it
- is incomplete without the "name of the subtopic". Once you have typed
- `m', Info tries to read the subtopic name.
-
- Now look for the line containing many dashes near the bottom of the
- screen. There is one more line beneath that one, but usually it is
- blank If it is empty, Info is ready for a command, such as `n' or `b'
- or SPC or `m'. If that line contains text ending in a colon, it mean
- Info is trying to read the "argument" to a command. At such times,
- commands do not work, because Info tries to use them as the argument.
- You must either type the argument and finish the command you started,
- or type `Control-g' to cancel the command. When you have done one of
- those things, the line becomes blank again.
-
- The command to go to a subnode via a menu is `m'. After you type
- the `m', the line at the bottom of the screen says `Menu item: '. You
- must then type the name of the subtopic you want, and end it with a RET.
-
- You can abbreviate the subtopic name. If the abbreviation is not
- unique, the first matching subtopic is chosen. Some menus put the
- shortest possible abbreviation for each subtopic name in capital
- letters, so you can see how much you need to type. It does not matter
- whether you use upper case or lower case when you type the subtopic.
- You should not put any spaces at the end, or inside of the item name,
- except for one space where a space appears in the item in the menu.
-
- Here is a menu to give you a chance to practice.
-
- * Menu: The menu starts here.
-
- This menu givs you three ways of going to one place, Help-FOO.
-
- * Foo: Help-FOO. A node you can visit for fun.
- * Bar: Help-FOO. Strange! two ways to get to the same place.
- * Help-FOO:: And yet another!
- >> Now type just an `m' and see what happens:
-
- Now you are "inside" an `m' command. Commands cannot be used now;
- the next thing you will type must be the name of a subtopic.
-
- You can change your mind about doing the `m' by typing Control-g.
-
- >> Try that now; notice the bottom line clear.
-
- >> Then type another `m'.
-
- >> Now type `BAR' item name. Do not type RET yet.
-
- While you are typing the item name, you can use the DEL character to
- cancel one character at a time if you make a mistake.
-
- >> Type one to cancel the `R'. You could type another `R' to
- replace it. You do not have to, since `BA' is a valid abbreviation.
-
- >> Now you are ready to go. Type a RET.
-
- After visiting Help-FOO, you should return here.
-
- >> Type `n' to see more commands.
-
- Here is another way to get to Help-FOO, a menu. You can ignore this
- if you want, or else try it (but then please come back to here).
-
- * Menu:
-
- * Help-FOO::
-
- File: info.info, Node: Help-FOO, Up: Help-M
-
- The `u' command
- ---------------
-
- Congratulations! This is the node `Help-FOO'. Unlike the other
- nodes you have seen, this one has an `Up': `Help-M', the node you just
- came from via the `m' command. This is the usual convention--the nodes
- you reach from a menu have `Up' nodes that lead back to the menu.
- Menus move Down in the tree, and `Up' moves Up. `Previous', on the
- other hand, is usually used to "stay on the same level but go backwards"
-
- You can go back to the node `Help-M' by typing the command `u' for
- "Up". That puts you at the *front* of the node--to get back to where
- you were reading you have to type some SPCs.
-
- >> Now type `u' to move back up to `Help-M'.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Help-Adv, Next: Help-Q, Prev: Help-M, Up: Getting Started
-
- Some advanced Info commands
- ===========================
-
- The course is almost over, so please stick with it to the end.
-
- If you have been moving around to different nodes and wish to
- retrace your steps, the `l' command (`l' for "last") will do that, one
- node at a time. If you have been following directions, an `l' command
- now will get you back to `Help-M'. Another `l' command would undo the
- `u' and get you back to `Help-FOO'. Another `l' would undo the `m' and
- get you back to `Help-M'.
-
- >> Try typing three `l''s, pausing in between to see what each
- `l' does.
-
- Then follow directions again and you will end up back here.
-
- Note the difference between `l' and `p': `l' moves to where *you*
- last were, whereas `p' always moves to the node which the header says
- is the `Previous' node (from this node, to `Help-M').
-
- The `d' command gets you instantly to the Directory node. This
- node, which is the first one you saw when you entered Info, has a menu
- which leads (directly, or indirectly through other menus), to all the
- nodes that exist.
-
- >> Try doing a `d', then do an `l' to return here (yes, *do*
- return).
-
- Sometimes, in Info documentation, you will see a cross reference.
- Cross references look like this: *Note Cross: Help-Cross. That is a
- real, live cross reference which is named `Cross' and points at the
- node named `Help-Cross'.
-
- If you wish to follow a cross reference, you must use the `f'
- command. The `f' must be followed by the cross reference name (in this
- case, `Cross'). You can use DEL to edit the name, and if you change
- your mind about following any reference you can use `Control-g' to
- cancel the command.
-
- Completion is available in the `f' command; you can complete among
- all the cross reference names in the current node.
-
- >> Type `f', followed by `Cross', and a RET.
-
- To get a list of all the cross references in the current node, you
- can type `?' after an `f'. The `f' continues to await a cross
- reference name even after printing the list, so if you do not actually
- want to follow a reference you should type a `Control-g' to cancel the
- `f'.
-
- >> Type "f?" to get a list of the footnotes in this node. Then type
- a `Control-g' and see how the `f' gives up.
-
- >> Now type `n' to see the last node of the course.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Help-Cross, Up: Help-Adv
-
- The node reached by the cross reference in Info
- -----------------------------------------------
-
- This is the node reached by the cross reference named `Cross'.
-
- While this node is specifically intended to be reached by a cross
- reference, most cross references lead to nodes that "belong" someplace
- else far away in the structure of Info. So you cannot expect the
- footnote to have a `Next', `Previous' or `Up' pointing back to where
- you came from. In general, the `l' (el) command is the only way to get
- back there.
-
- >> Type `l' to return to the node where the cross reference was.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Help-Q, Prev: Help-Adv, Up: Getting Started
-
- Quitting Info
- =============
-
- To get out of Info, back to what you were doing before, type `q' for
- "Quit".
-
- This is the end of the course on using Info. There are some other
- commands that are not essential or are meant for experienced users;
- they are useful, and you can find them by looking in the directory for
- documentation on Info. Finding them will be a good exercise in using
- Info in the usual manner.
-
- >> Type `d' to go to the Info directory node; then type `mInfo'
- and RET, to get to the node about Info and see what other help is
- available.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Advanced Info, Next: Create an Info File, Prev: Getting Started, Up: Top
-
- Info for Experts
- ****************
-
- This chapter describes various advanced Info commands, and how to
- write an Info as distinct from a Texinfo file. (However, in most
- cases, writing a Texinfo file is better, since you can use it *both* to
- generate an Info file and to make a printed manual. *Note Overview of
- Texinfo: (texinfo)Top.)
-
- * Menu:
-
- * Expert:: Advanced Info commands: g, s, e, and 1 - 5.
- * Add:: Describes how to add new nodes to the hierarchy.
- Also tells what nodes look like.
- * Menus:: How to add to or create menus in Info nodes.
- * Cross-refs:: How to add cross-references to Info nodes.
- * Tags:: How to make tag tables for Info files.
- * Checking:: Checking an Info File
-
- File: info.info, Node: Expert, Next: Add, Up: Advanced Info
-
- Advanced Info Commands
- ======================
-
- `g', `s', `1', - `5', and `e'
-
- If you know a node's name, you can go there by typing `g', the name,
- and RET. Thus, `gTopRET' would go to the node called `Top' in this
- file (its directory node). `gExpertRET' would come back here.
-
- Unlike `m', `g' does not allow the use of abbreviations.
-
- To go to a node in another file, you can include the filename in the
- node name by putting it at the front, in parentheses. Thus,
- `g(dir)TopRET' would go to the Info Directory node, which is node `Top'
- in the file `dir'.
-
- The node name `*' specifies the whole file. So you can look at all
- of the current file by typing `g*RET' or all of any other file with
- `g(FILENAME)RET'.
-
- The `s' command allows you to search a whole file for a string. It
- switches to the next node if and when that is necessary. You type `s'
- followed by the string to search for, terminated by RET. To search for
- the same string again, just `s' followed by RET will do. The file's
- nodes are scanned in the order they are in in the file, which has no
- necessary relationship to the order that they may be in in the tree
- structure of menus and `next' pointers. But normally the two orders
- are not very different. In any case, you can always do a `b' to find
- out what node you have reached, if the header is not visible (this can
- happen, because `s' puts your cursor at the occurrence of the string,
- not at the beginning of the node).
-
- If you grudge the system each character of type-in it requires, you
- might like to use the commands `1', `2', `3', `4', and `5'. They are
- short for the `m' command together with an argument. "1", "2", "3",
- "4", and "5". `1' goes through the first item in the current node's
- menu; `2' goes through the second item, etc. Note that numbers larger
- than 5 are not allowed. If the item you want is that far down, you are
- better off using an abbreviation for its name than counting.
-
- The Info command `e' changes from Info mode to an ordinary Emacs
- editing mode, so that you can edit the text of the current node. Type
- `C-c C-c' to switch back to Info. The `e' command is allowed only if
- the variable `Info-enable-edit' is non-`nil'.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Add, Next: Menus, Prev: Expert, Up: Advanced Info
-
- Adding a new node to Info
- =========================
-
- To add a new topic to the list in the directory, you must:
-
- 1. Create a node, in some file, to document that topic.
-
- 2. Put that topic in the menu in the directory. *Note Menu: Menus.
-
- The new node can live in an existing documentation file, or in a new
- one. It must have a ^_ character before it (invisible to the user;
- this node has one but you cannot see it), and it ends with either a ^_,
- a ^L, or the end of file. Note: If you put in a ^L to end a new node,
- be sure that there is a ^_ after it to start the next one, since ^L
- cannot *start* a node. Also, a nicer way to make a node boundary be a
- page boundary as well is to put a ^L *right after* the ^_.
-
- The ^_ starting a node must be followed by a newline or a ^L
- newline, after which comes the node's header line. The header line
- must give the node's name (by which Info finds it), and state the names
- of the `Next', `Previous', and `Up' nodes (if there are any). As you
- can see, this node's `Up' node is the node `Top', which points at all
- the documentation for Info. The `Next' node is `Menus'.
-
- The keywords "Node", "Previous", "Up" and "Next", may appear in any
- order, anywhere in the header line, but the recommended order is the
- one in this sentence. Each keyword must be followed by a colon, spaces
- and tabs, and then the appropriate name. The name may be terminated
- with a tab, a comma, or a newline. A space does not end it; node names
- may contain spaces. The case of letters in the names is insignificant.
-
- A node name has two forms. A node in the current file is named by
- what appears after the `Node: ' in that node's first line. For
- example, this node's name is `Add'. A node in another file is named by
- `(FILENAME)NODE-WITHIN-FILE', as in `(info)Add' for this node. If the
- file name is relative, it is taken starting from the standard Info file
- directory of your site. The name `(FILENAME)Top' can be abbreviated to
- just `(FILENAME)'. By convention, the name `Top' is used for the
- "highest" node in any single file--the node whose `Up' points out of
- the file. The Directory node is `(dir)'. The `Top' node of a document
- file listed in the Directory should have an `Up: (dir)' in it.
-
- The node name `*' is special: it refers to the entire file. Thus,
- `g*' shows you the whole current file. The use of the node `*' is to
- make it possible to make old-fashioned, unstructured files into nodes
- of the tree.
-
- The `Node:' name, in which a node states its own name, must not
- contain a filename, since Info when searching for a node does not
- expect one to be there. The `Next', `Previous' and `Up' names may
- contain them. In this node, since the `Up' node is in the same file,
- it was not necessary to use one.
-
- Note that the nodes in this file have a file name in the header
- line. The file names are ignored by Info, but they serve as comments
- to help identify the node for the user.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Menus, Next: Cross-refs, Prev: Add, Up: Advanced Info
-
- How to Create Menus
- ===================
-
- Any node in the Info hierarchy may have a "menu"--a list of subnodes.
- The `m' command searches the current node's menu for the topic which it
- reads from the terminal.
-
- A menu begins with a line starting with `* Menu:'. The rest of the
- line is a comment. After the starting line, every line that begins
- with a `* ' lists a single topic. The name of the topic-the argument
- that the user must give to the `m' command to select this topic--comes
- right after the star and space, and is followed by a colon, spaces and
- tabs, and the name of the node which discusses that topic. The node
- name, like node names following `Next', `Previous' and `Up', may be
- terminated with a tab, comma, or newline; it may also be terminated
- with a period.
-
- If the node name and topic name are the same, than rather than
- giving the name twice, the abbreviation `* NAME::' may be used (and
- should be used, whenever possible, as it reduces the visual clutter in
- the menu).
-
- It is considerate to choose the topic names so that they differ from
- each other very near the beginning--this allows the user to type short
- abbreviations. In a long menu, it is a good idea to capitalize the
- beginning of each item name which is the minimum acceptable
- abbreviation for it (a long menu is more than 5 or so entries).
-
- The nodes listed in a node's menu are called its "subnodes", and it
- is their "superior". They should each have an `Up:' pointing at the
- superior. It is often useful to arrange all or most of the subnodes in
- a sequence of `Next' and `Previous' pointers so that someone who wants
- to see them all need not keep revisiting the Menu.
-
- The Info Directory is simply the menu of the node `(dir)Top'--that
- is, node `Top' in file `.../info/dir'. You can put new entries in that
- menu just like any other menu. The Info Directory is *not* the same as
- the file directory called `info'. It happens that many of Info's files
- live on that file directory, but they do not have to; and files on that
- directory are not automatically listed in the Info Directory node.
-
- Also, although the Info node graph is claimed to be a "hierarchy",
- in fact it can be *any* directed graph. Shared structures and pointer
- cycles are perfectly possible, and can be used if they are appropriate
- to the meaning to be expressed. There is no need for all the nodes in
- a file to form a connected structure. In fact, this file has two
- connected components. You are in one of them, which is under the node
- `Top'; the other contains the node `Help' which the `h' command goes
- to. In fact, since there is no garbage collector, nothing terrible
- happens if a substructure is not pointed to, but such a substructure is
- rather useless since nobody can ever find out that it exists.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Cross-refs, Next: Tags, Prev: Menus, Up: Advanced Info
-
- Creating Cross References
- =========================
-
- A cross reference can be placed anywhere in the text, unlike a menu
- item which must go at the front of a line. A cross reference looks
- like a menu item except that it has `*note' instead of `*'. It
- *cannot* be terminated by a `)', because `)''s are so often part of
- node names. If you wish to enclose a cross reference in parentheses,
- terminate it with a period first. Here are two examples of cross
- references pointers:
-
- *Note details: commands. (See *note 3: Full Proof.)
-
- They are just examples. The places they "lead to" do not really
- exist!
-
- File: info.info, Node: Tags, Next: Checking, Prev: Cross-refs, Up: Advanced Info
-
- Tag Tables for Info Files
- =========================
-
- You can speed up the access to nodes of a large Info file by giving
- it a tag table. Unlike the tag table for a program, the tag table for
- an Info file lives inside the file itself and is used automatically
- whenever Info reads in the file.
-
- To make a tag table, go to a node in the file using Emacs Info mode
- and type `M-x Info-tagify'. Then you must use `C-x C-s' to save the
- file.
-
- Once the Info file has a tag table, you must make certain it is up
- to date. If, as a result of deletion of text, any node moves back more
- than a thousand characters in the file from the position recorded in
- the tag table, Info will no longer be able to find that node. To
- update the tag table, use the `Info-tagify' command again.
-
- An Info file tag table appears at the end of the file and looks like
- this:
-
- ^_
- Tag Table:
- File: info, Node: Cross-refs^?21419
- File: info, Node: Tags^?22145
- ^_
- End Tag Table
-
- Note that it contains one line per node, and this line contains the
- beginning of the node's header (ending just after the node name), a DEL
- character, and the character position in the file of the beginning of
- the node.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Checking, Prev: Tags, Up: Advanced Info
-
- Checking an Info File
- =====================
-
- When creating an Info file, it is easy to forget the name of a node
- when you are making a pointer to it from another node. If you put in
- the wrong name for a node, this is not detected until someone tries to
- go through the pointer using Info. Verification of the Info file is an
- automatic process which checks all pointers to nodes and reports any
- pointers which are invalid. Every `Next', `Previous', and `Up' is
- checked, as is every menu item and every cross reference. In addition,
- any `Next' which does not have a `Previous' pointing back is reported.
- Only pointers within the file are checked, because checking pointers to
- other files would be terribly slow. But those are usually few.
-
- To check an Info file, do `M-x Info-validate' while looking at any
- node of the file with Emacs Info mode.
-
- File: info.info, Node: Create an Info File, Prev: Advanced Info, Up: Top
-
- Creating an Info File from a Makeinfo file
- ******************************************
-
- `makeinfo' is a utility that converts a Texinfo file into an Info
- file; `texinfo-format-region' and `texinfo-format-buffer' are GNU Emacs
- functions that do the same.
-
- *Note Creating an Info File: (texinfo)Create an Info File, to learn
- how to create an Info file from a Texinfo file.
-
- *Note Overview of Texinfo: (texinfo)Top, to learn how to write a
- Texinfo file.
-
-
- Tag Table:
- Node: Top913
- Node: Getting Started1431
- Node: Help-Small-Screen2179
- Node: Help3921
- Node: Help-P4949
- Node: Help-^L5811
- Node: Help-M8462
- Node: Help-FOO14030
- Node: Help-Adv14766
- Node: Help-Cross17148
- Node: Help-Q17794
- Node: Advanced Info18434
- Node: Expert19330
- Node: Add21601
- Node: Menus24635
- Node: Cross-refs27509
- Node: Tags28211
- Node: Checking29510
- Node: Create an Info File30434
- End Tag Table
-