MAKEINDEX
NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION OPTIONS STYLE FILE EXAMPLES ORDERING SPECIAL EFFECTS FILES SEE ALSO AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
makeindex - a general purpose, formatter-independent index processor
makeindex [__-c__? [__-g__? [__-i__? [__-l__? [__-o ''ind''? [__-p ''num''? [__-q__? [__-r__? [__-s ''sfile''? [__-t ''log''? __[__''idx0 idx1 idx2''...?
The program makeindex is a general purpose hierarchical index generator; it accepts one or more input files (often produced by a text formatter such as TEX (tex(1L)) or troff(1), sorts the entries, and produces an output file which can be formatted. The index can have up to three levels (0, 1, and 2) of subitem nesting. The way in which words are flagged for indexing within the main document is specific to the formatter used; makeindex does not automate the process of selecting these words. As the output index is hierarchical, makeindex can be considered complimentary to the awk(1)-based make.index(1L) system of Bentley and Kernighan, which is specific to troff(1), generates non-hierarchical indices, and employs a much simpler syntax for indicating index entries. For illustration of use with troff and TEX, see the section EXAMPLES below.
The formats of the input and output files are specified in a style file; by default, input is assumed to be a .idx file, as generated by L A TEX.
Unless specified explicitly, the base name of the first input file (idx0) is used to determine the names of other files. For each input file name specified, a file of that name is sought. If this file is not found and the file name has no extension, the extension .idx is appended. If no file with this name is found, makeindex aborts.
If exactly one input file was given and no explicit style file was specified using -s, makeindex uses a file with the extension .mst as default style file (when present).
For important notes on how to select index keywords, see the document by Lamport cited below. As an issue separate from selecting index keywords, a systematic mechanism for placing index terms in a document is suggested in Index Preparation and Processing, a paper cited below.
-c Compress intermediate blanks (ignoring leading and trailing blanks and tabs). By default, blanks in the index key are retained.
-g Employ German word ordering in the index, in accord with rules set forth in DIN 5007. By default, makeindex employs a word ordering in which precedence is: symbols, numbers, uppercase letters, lowercase letters. The sequence in German word ordering is: symbols, lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers. Additionally, this option enables makeindex to recognize the German TEX-commands { makeindex will produce an error message and abort.
-i Take input from stdin. When this option is specified and -o is not, output is written to stdout.
-l Letter ordering; by default, word ordering is used (see the ORDERING section).
-o ind
Employ ind as the output index file. By default, the file name is created by appending the extension .ind to the base name of the first input file (idx0).
-p num
Set the starting page number of the output index file to be num (useful when the index file is to be formatted separately). The argument num may be numerical or one of the following:
any
The starting page is the last source page number plus 1.
odd
The starting page is the first odd page following the last source page number.
even
The starting page is the first even page following the last source page number.
The last source page is obtained by searching backward in the log file for the first instance of a number included within paired square brackets ([__...__?). If a page number is missing or the log file is not found, no attempt will be made to set the starting page number. The source log file name is determined by appending the extension .log to the base name of the first input file (idx0).
-q Quiet mode; send no messages to stderr. By default, progress and error messages are sent to stderr as well as to the transcript file.
-r Disable implicit page range formation; page ranges must be created by using explicit range operators; see SPECIAL EFFECTS below. By default, three or more successive pages are automatically abbreviated as a range (e.g. 1--5).
-s sty
Employ sty as the style file (no default). The environment variable INDEXSTYLE defines the path where the style file should be found.
-t log
Employ log as the transcript file. By default, the file name is created by appending the extension .ilg to the base name of the first input file (idx0).
The style file informs makeindex about the format of the .idx input files and the intended format of the final output file; examples appear below. This file can reside anywhere in the path defined by the environment variable INDEXSTYLE . The style file contains a list of specifier, attribute
INPUT STYLE SPECIFIERS
actual __
Symbol indicating that the next entry is to appear in the output file.
arg_close __
Closing delimiter for the index entry argument.
arg_open __
Opening delimiter for the index entry argument.
encap __
Symbol indicating that the rest of the argument list is to be used as the encapsulating command for the page number.
escape __
Symbol which escapes the following letter, unless its preceding letter is escape. Note: quote is used to escape the letter which immediately follows it, but if it is preceded by escape, it is treated as a ordinary character. These two symbols must be distinct.
keyword __
Command which tells makeindex that its argument is an index entry.
level __
Delimiter denoting a new level of subitem.
quote __
Note: quote is used to escape the letter which immediately follows it, but if it is preceded by escape, it is treated as a ordinary character. These two symbols must be distinct.
range_close __
) Closing delimiter indicating the end of an explicit page range.
range_open __
Opening delimiter indicating the beginning of an explicit page range.
OUTPUT STYLE SPECIFIERS
preamble __
Preamble of output file.
postamble __
Postamble of output file.
setpage_prefix __
Prefix of command which sets the starting page number.
setpage_suffix __
Suffix of command which sets the starting page number.
group_skip __
Vertical space to be inserted before a new group begins.
headings_flag __
0 Flag indicating treatment of new group headers, which are inserted when before a new group (symbols, numbers, and the 26 letters): positive values cause an uppercase letter to be inserted between prefix and suffix, and negative values cause a lowercase letter to be inserted (default is 0, which produces no header).
heading_prefix __
Header prefix to be inserted before a new letter begins.
symhead_positive __
Heading for symbols to be inserted if headings_flag is positive.
symhead_negative __
Heading for symbols to be inserted if headings_flag is negative.
numhead_positive __
Heading for numbers to be inserted if headings_flag is positive.
numhead_negative __
Heading for numbers to be inserted if headings_flag is negative.
item_0 __
Command to be inserted between two primary (level 0) items.
item_1 __
Command to be inserted between two secondary (level 1) items.
item_2 __
Command to be inserted between two level 2 items.
item_01 __
Command to be inserted between a level 0 item and a level 1 item.
item_x1 __
Command to be inserted between a level 0 item and a level 1 item, where the level 0 item does not have associated page numbers.
item_12 __
Command to be inserted between a level 1 item and a level 2 item.
item_x2 __
Command to be inserted between a level 1 item and a level 2 item, where the level 1 item does not have associated page numbers.
delim_0 __
Delimiter to be inserted between a level 0 key and its first page number (default: comma followed by a blank).
delim_1 __
Delimiter to be inserted between a level 1 key and its first page number (default: comma followed by a blank).
delim_2 __
Delimiter to be inserted between a level 2 key and its first page number (default: comma followed by a blank).
delim_n __
Delimiter to be inserted between two page numbers for the same key in any level (default: comma followed by a blank).
delim_r __
Delimiter to be inserted between the starting and ending page numbers of a range.
delim_t __
Delimiter to be inserted at the end of a page list. This delimiter has no effect on entries which have no associated page list.
encap_prefix __
First part of prefix for the command which encapsulates the page number.
encap_infix __
Second part of prefix for the command which encapsulates the page number.
encap_suffix __
Suffix for the command which encapsulates the page number.
line_max __
Maximum length of a line in the output, beyond which a line wraps.
indent_space __
Space to be inserted in front of a wrapped line (default: two tabs).
indent_length __
16 Length of indent_space (default: 16, equivalent to 2 tabs).
suffix_2p __
Delimiter to replace the range delimiter and the second page number of a two page list. When present, it overrides delim_r. Example: __
suffix_3p __
Delimiter to replace the range delimiter and the second page number of a three page list. When present, it overrides delim_r and suffix_mp. Example: __
suffix_mp __
Delimiter to replace the range delimiter and the second page number of a multiple page list (three or more pages). When present, it overrides delim_r. Example: __
TEX EXAMPLE
The following example shows a style file called book.ist, which defines an index for a book which can be formatted independently of the main source:
preamble
Assuming that a particular book style requires the index (as well as any chapters) to start from an odd page number, and that the input file is named foo.idx, the following command line produces output in file footmp.ind:
makeindex -s book.ist -o footmp.ind -p odd foo
Here a non-default output file name is used to avoid clobbering the output for the book itself (presumably foo.dvi, which would have been the default name for the index output file!).
TROFF EXAMPLE
A sample control file for creating an index, which we will assume resides in the file sample.ist:
keyword
The local macro package may require modification, as in this example of an extension to the -ms macros (note that at some sites, this macro should replace a pre-existing macro of the same name):
. .de IX .ie '\n(.z'' .tm IX: \$1 \$2 \$3 \$4 \$5 \$6 \$7 \$8 \$9 {\n(PN} .el \!.IX \$1 \$2 \$3 \$4 \$5 \$6 \$7 \$8 \$9 {\n(PN} ..
(note that the string {\n(PN} is separated from the rest of the line by a tab. If your local macro package does not contain this extension, just include those lines at the beginning of your file. Here is a simple troff(1) input file, which we will assume is named sample.txt:
This is a sample file to test the fImakeindexfP(1L) program, and see .IX {indexing!programs!C language} .IX {makeindex@fImakeindexfP(1L)} .bp .rs .IX {Knuth} .IX {typesetting!computer-aided} how well it functions in the fItrofffP(1)? environment.
Note that index entries are indicated by the .IX macro, which causes the following text to be written to stdout along with the current page number.
CREATING THE INDEX FILE IN THE BOURNE SHELL
To create an input file for makeindex, in the Bourne shell environment, do the equivalent at your site of the command:
psroff -ms -Tpsc -t sample.txt Some sites will require ditroff instead of psroff. To filter out any genuine error messages, invoke grep(1):
grep '^IX: ' sample.tmp
CREATING THE INDEX FILE USING UCSF ENHANCED TROFF/T RAN S CRIPT
With UCSF Enhanced troff/T RAN S CRIPT , the -I option of psroff(1L) can produce both formatter output and an index file:
psroff -ms -I sample.inp -Tpsc sample.txt
If it is wished to suppress the formatter output:
psroff -ms -I sample.inp -Tpsc -t sample.txt
COMPLETING THE INDEX
Any of the above procedures leaves the input for makeindex in sample.inp. The next step is to invoke makeindex:
makeindex -s sample.ist sample.idx
This leaves troff(1)-ready output in the file sample.ind.
By default, makeindex assumes word ordering; if the -l option is in effect, letter ordering is used. In word ordering, a blank precedes any letter in the alphabet, whereas in letter ordering, it does not count at all. This is illustrated by the following example:
word order letter order sea lion seal seal sea lion
Numbers are always sorted in numeric order. For instance,
9 (nine), 123 10 (ten), see Derek, Bo
Letters are first sorted without regard to case; when words are identical, the uppercase version precedes its lowercase counterpart.
A special symbol is defined here to be any character not appearing in the union of digits and the English alphabetic characters. Patterns starting with special symbols precede numbers, which precede patterns starting with letters. As a special case, a string starting with a digit but mixed with non-digits is considered to be a pattern starting with a special character.
Entries such as
indexentry{alpha}{1} indexentry{alpha!beta}{3} indexentry{alpha!beta!gamma}{10}
in the input file will be converted to
item alpha, 1 subitem beta, 3 subsubitem gamma, 10
in the output index file. Notice that the level symbol (`!') is used above to delimit hierarchical levels.
It is possible to make an item appear in a designated form by using the actual (`@') operator. For instance,
indexentry{alpha@{it alpha/}}{1}
will become
item {it alpha/}, 1
after processing. The pattern preceding `@' is used as sort key, whereas the one following it is written to the output file. Note that two appearances of the same key, one with and one without the actual operator, are regarded as distinct entries.
The item, subitem, and subsubitem fields may have individual sort keys:
indexentry{aa@{it aa/}!bb@{it bb/}!cc@{it cc/}}{1}
This will be converted to
item {it aa}, 1 subitem {it bb}, 3 subsubitem {it cc}, 10
It is possible to encapsulate a page number with a designated command using the encap (`|') operator:
indexentry{alpha|bold}{1}
will be converted to
item alpha, bold{1}
where, with a suitable definition for TEX, bold{n} will expand to {bf n}. In this example, the three output attributes associated with page encapsulation encap_prefix, encap_infix, and encap_suffix, correspond to backslash, left brace, and right brace, respectively. This mechanism allows page numbers to be set in different fonts. For example, the page where the definition of a keyword appears can be in one font, the location of a primary example can be in another font, and other appearances in yet a third font.
The encap operator can also be used to create cross references in the index:
indexentry{alpha|see{beta}}{1}
will become
item alpha, see{beta}{1}
in the output file, where
see{beta}{1}
will expand to
{it see/} beta
Note that in a cross reference like this the page number disappears.
A pair of encap concatenated with range_open (`|(') and range_close (`|)') creates an explicit page range:
indexentry{alpha|(}{1} indexentry{alpha|)}{5}
will become
item alpha, 1--5
Intermediate pages indexed by the same key will be merged into the range implicitly. This is especially useful when an entire section about a particular subject is to be indexed, in which case only the range opening and closing operators need to be inserted at the beginning and end of the section. Explicit page range formation can also include an extra command to set the page range in a designated font:
indexentry{alpha|(bold}{1} indexentry{alpha|)}{5}
will become
item alpha, bold{1--5}
Several potential problems are worth mentioning. First, entries like
indexentry{alpha|(}{1} indexentry{alpha|bold}{3} indexentry{alpha|)}{5}
will be interpreted as
item alpha, bold{3}, 1--5
but with a warning message in the transcript about encountering an inconsistent page encapsulator. An explicit range beginning in a Roman page number and ending in Arabic is also considered an error. In this instance, (if possible) the range is broken into two subranges, one in Roman and the other in Arabic. For instance,
indexentry{alpha|(}{i} indexentry{alpha}{iv} indexentry{alpha}{3} indexentry{alpha|)}{7}
will be turned into
item alpha, i--iv, 3--7
with a warning message in the transcript file complaining about an illegal range formation.
Finally, every special symbol mentioned in this section may be escaped by the quote operator (` __
indexentry{alpha
will actually become
item alpha@beta, 1
as a result of executing makeindex. The quoting power of quote is eliminated if it is immediately preceded by escape (`'). For example,
indexentry{f
becomes
item f
which represents an umlaut-accented `u' to the TEX family of processors.
From version 2.11 of makeindex, the quote operator may quote any character in the range 1 ... 255. Character 0 is excluded because it is used internally in the makeindex source code as a string terminator. With this change, sort keys can be created for all eight-bit characters except 0. The sorting order is
punctuation characters (in ASCII order), digits, control characters (1 ... 31), space (32), letters (ignoring case), characters 127 ... 255.
Here is an example showing the indexing of all printable ASCII characters other than letters and digits, assuming the default TEX format. For convenience, the page number references are the corresponding ASCII ordinal values.
indexentry{
Characters in the actual fields following the `@' character which have special significance to TEX must be represented as control sequences, or as math mode characters. Note particularly how the entries for the at sign, left and right braces, and the vertical bar, are coded. The index file output by makeindex for this example looks like this:
begin{theindex} item ! (exclamation point), 33 item
makeindex executable file
$TEXMFMAIN/tex/plain/misc/idxmac.tex
TEX macro file used by makeindex
$TEXMFMAIN/tex/latex/base/makeidx.sty
TEX macro file used by makeindex
ditroff(1L), latex(1L), make.index (1L), qsort(3), tex(1L), troff(1L)
UCSF Enhanced troff/T RAN S CRIPT -- An Overview, R. P. C. Rodgers and Conrad Huang, LSMB Technical Report 90-2, UCSF School of Pharmacy, San Francisco, 1990.
Index Preparation and Processing, Pehong Chen and Michael A. Harrison, Software: Practice and Experience, !19(9)?, 897-915, September 1988.
Automating Index Preparation, Pehong Chen and Michael A. Harrison. Technical Report 87/347, Computer Science Division, University of California, Berkeley, 1987 (a L A TEX document supplied with makeindex).
!MakeIndex?: An Index Processor for L A TEX, Leslie Lamport, February 1987 (a L A TEX document supplied with makeindex).
Tools for Printing Indices, Jon L. Bentley and Brian W. Kernighan, Electronic Publishing -- Origination, Dissemination, and Design, !1(1)?, 3-18, June 1988 (also available as: Computing Science Technical Report No. 128, AT ''
Pehong Chen, Chen Manual page extensively revised and corrected, and troff(1) examples created by Rick P. C. Rodgers, UCSF School of Pharmacy ''
Leslie Lamport contributed significantly to the design. Michael Harrison provided valuable comments and suggestions. Nelson Beebe improved on the portable version, and maintains the source distribution for the TEX Users Group. Andreas Brosig contributed to the German word ordering. The modification to the -ms macros was derived from a method proposed by Ravi Sethi of AT __LOG and CONTRIB files in the makeindex'' source distribution record other contributions.
4 pages link to makeindex(1):
