texinfo: Predefined Indices

Indices

Indexing Commands

Index Entries

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13.2 Predefined Indices
=======================

Texinfo provides six predefined indices.  Here are their nominal
meanings, abbreviations, and the corresponding index entry commands:

'cp'
     ('@cindex') concept index, for general concepts.
'fn'
     ('@findex') function index, for function and function-like names
     (such as entry points of libraries).
'ky'
     ('@kindex') keystroke index, for keyboard commands.
'pg'
     ('@pindex') program index, for names of programs.
'tp'
     ('@tindex') data type index, for type names (such as structures
     defined in header files).
'vr'
     ('@vindex') variable index, for variable names (such as global
     variables of libraries).

Not every manual needs all of these, and most manuals use only two or
three at most.  The present manual, for example, has two indices: a
concept index and an @-command index (that is actually the function
index but is called a command index in the chapter heading).

  You are not required to use the predefined indices strictly for their
canonical purposes.  For example, suppose you wish to index some C
preprocessor macros.  You could put them in the function index along
with actual functions, just by writing '@findex' commands for them;
then, when you print the "Function Index" as an unnumbered chapter, you
could give it the title 'Function and Macro Index' and all will be
consistent for the reader.

  On the other hand, it is best not to stray too far from the meaning of
the predefined indices.  Otherwise, in the event that your text is
combined with other text from other manuals, the index entries will not
match up.  Instead, define your own new index (Note: New Indices).

  We recommend having a single index in the final document whenever
possible, however many source indices you use, since then readers have
only one place to look.  Two or more source indices can be combined into
one output index using the '@synindex' or '@syncodeindex' commands
(Note: Combining Indices).