texinfo: Directory File

Installing an Info File

New Info File

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23.2.1 The Directory File 'dir'
-------------------------------

For Info to work, the 'info' directory must contain a file that serves
as a top level directory for the Info system.  By convention, this file
is called 'dir'.  (You can find the location of this file within Emacs
by typing 'C-h i' to enter Info and then typing 'C-x C-f' to see the
pathname to the 'info' directory.)

  The 'dir' file is itself an Info file.  It contains the top level menu
for all the Info files in the system.  The menu looks like this:

     * Menu:
     * Info:    (info).     Documentation browsing system.
     * Emacs:   (emacs).    The extensible, self-documenting
                           text editor.
     * Texinfo: (texinfo).  With one source file, make
                           either a printed manual using
                           @TeX{} or an Info file.
     ...

  Each of these menu entries points to the 'Top' node of the Info file
that is named in parentheses.  (The menu entry does not need to specify
the 'Top' node, since Info goes to the 'Top' node if no node name is
mentioned.  Note: Nodes in Other Info Files.)

  Thus, the 'Info' entry points to the 'Top' node of the 'info' file and
the 'Emacs' entry points to the 'Top' node of the 'emacs' file.

  In each of the Info files, the 'Up' pointer of the 'Top' node refers
back to the 'dir' file.  For example, the line for the 'Top' node of the
Emacs manual looks like this in Info:

     File: emacs  Node: Top, Up: (DIR), Next: Distrib

In this case, the 'dir' file name is written in uppercase letters--it
can be written in either upper- or lowercase.  This is not true in
general, it is a special case for 'dir'.