texinfo: Overview

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1 Overview of Texinfo
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"Texinfo" is a documentation system that uses a single source file to
produce both online information and printed output.  This means that
instead of writing two different documents, one for the online
information and the other for a printed work, you need write only one
document.  Therefore, when the work is revised, you need revise only
that one document.

  Texinfo's markup commands are almost entirely "semantic"; that is,
they specify the intended meaning of text in the document, rather than
physical formatting instructions.

  Texinfo was devised for the purpose of writing software documentation
and manuals.  It is not, and was never intended to be, a general-purpose
formatting program.  If you need to lay out a newspaper, devise a glossy
magazine ad, or follow the exact formatting requirements of a publishing
house, Texinfo is not the simplest tool.  On the other hand, if you want
to write a good manual for your program, Texinfo has many features that
will make your job easier.  Overall, it's intended to let you
concentrate on the content, and thus provides almost no commands for
controlling the final formatting.

  The first syllable of "Texinfo" is pronounced like "speck", not "hex".
This odd pronunciation is derived from, but is not the same as, the
pronunciation of TeX.  In the word TeX, the 'X' is actually the Greek
letter "chi" rather than the English letter "ex".  Pronounce TeX as if
the 'X' were the last sound in the name 'Bach'; but pronounce Texinfo as
if the 'x' were a 'k'.  Spell "Texinfo" with a capital "T" and the other
letters in lowercase.

  Manuals for most GNU packages are written in Texinfo, and available
online at <http://www.gnu.org/doc>.  The Texinfo

Reporting Bugs

Submitting effective bug reports.

Using Texinfo

Create printed or online output.

Output Formats

Overview of the supported output formats.

Adding Output Formats

Man pages and implementing new formats.

Texinfo Document Structure

How Texinfo manuals are usually arranged.

Info Files

What is an Info file?

Printed Books

Characteristics of a printed book or manual.

Formatting Commands

@-commands are used for formatting.

Conventions

General rules for writing a Texinfo file.

Comments

Writing comments and ignored text in general.

Minimum

What a Texinfo file must have.

Six Parts

Usually, a Texinfo file has six parts.

Short Sample

A short sample Texinfo file.

History

Acknowledgements, contributors and genesis.