Re: Request For Clarification: Indexterm processing in auto-index generation.

[Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>]

/ Dave Pawson <davep@dpawson.co.uk> was heard to say:
| Bob Stayton wrote:
|> FrameMaker's online help index uses this format:
|>
|> cats [1]
|> dogs [1] [2]
|>
|> where the [1] is the hot text that takes you to the point
|> destination.  All entries have [1], and any duplicates get more
|> numbers.  It is pretty obvious that those are not page numbers.
|>
|> Just another suggestion.
|
| My basic point is that the author should identify duplicates
| (perhaps from viewing the presented format) and do something about it.

But that flies completely in the face of 500-or-so years of indexing
tradition.

Terms in an index identify concepts that may be discussed in several
places in a document. In general, *the same concept* may be discussed
in several places; in such cases, it would not only be an excruciating
exercise for the author to differentiate them in some way, *it would
be wrong*.

                                        Be seeing you,
                                          norm

-- 
Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>      | Whoever is abandoned by hope has
http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/ | also been abandoned by fear; this
Chair, DocBook Technical Committee | is the meaning of the word
                                   | "desperate."-- Schopenhauer

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