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Subject: Re: [docbook-apps] Indexing.


Dave,

Regarding the markup mechanics, here are two possibly unexpected things to look out for:

1) When you are doing a range, the closing index term in the range cannot follow a section close. I.e., If you have the following

        <para> some text.</para>
     <!-- indexterm ok -->
    </section>
 <!-- indexterm not ok -->
</section>

Generally this is not a problem, since you can move the index term up in a case like this without changing its position in the resulting text.  It happens because the grammar doesn't allow much after a section closes except another section and a couple of other elements.

2) If you have space (including newlines) between index terms, you will get extra space in the output. E.g.,

In Shakespeare's Hamlet,<indexterm><primary>Shakespeare</primary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>Hamlet</primary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>plays, Shakespeare</primary></indexterm>
everyone (nearly) dies in the end.

In PDF output, you will get "In Shakespeare's Hamlet,^^^^ everyone (nearly) dies in the end." The "^" characters are space characters that come through in the output. You can avoid this by not leaving any space/newlines between successive index terms. In the Definitive guide, you will find things like the following, where an indexterm is opened on one line and then continued (space inside are ok):

In Shakespeare's Hamlet,<indexterm><primary>Shakespeare</primary></indexterm><indexterm>
<primary>Hamlet</primary></indexterm><indexterm>
<primary>plays, Shakespeare</primary>
</indexterm> everyone (nearly) dies in the end.

I think this happens because the parser sees the white space between the index terms (and in front or after) as distinct instances of white space that need to be preserved.

Neither is hard to avoid, but they can be frustrating (esp. the second one) if you're not expecting them.

Dick Hamilton
-------
XML Press
XML for Technical Communicators
http://xmlpress.net
hamilton@xmlpress.net



On May 5, 2012, at 12:10 AM, davep wrote:

> I'm about to start indexing a db5 book.
> Reading up on the subject(Nancy C. Mulvany) and wondered if anyone has
> been there and done that, got the tee-shirt and found the pitfalls in docbook? Any advice from those with lots of experience of using
> db indexes please?
> 
> 
> 
> regards
> 
> -- 
> Dave Pawson
> XSLT XSL-FO FAQ.
> http://www.dpawson.co.uk
> 
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