Re: Info enhancements

[Juri Linkov]

address@hidden (Karl Berry) writes:
>     > From: Juri Linkov <address@hidden>
>     > Date: Tue, 02 Dec 2003 12:18:09 +0200
>     > 
>     > Yes, using anchors might be a more clean solution, but it has one
>     > drawback: it will generate too many excessive references in the tag
>     > table for its Info file.  And these references will be mixed up with
>     > node names, e.g. in the completion list of `Info-goto-node'.
>
>     Perhaps there should be a way to tell Info-goto-node to complete on
>     node names only, or maybe we should have two distinct commands, one
>     which considers only nodes, the other which considers all entries in
>     the tag tables.
>
> Once again I've been removed from the thread.  What is under discussion now?

There is a problem of more accurate addressing of a position within a
given Info node.  For example, currently the Glossary node of the
Emacs Manual has non-functional references that merely has a form of a
simple text "(q.v.)" or "See `default.'".  There are many other
places in Info documentation where more exact referencing is needed.
This discussion currently goes about two solutions to this problem:

- use anchors

for example:

@item Argument
@xref{Numeric Argument}.
...
@item Numeric Argument
@anchor{Numeric Argument}
A numeric argument is a number, specified before a command, to change

- or use reference names

@item Argument
@xref{Glossary,Numeric Argument}.

This works by selecting an Info node ("Glossary") and then by
using some heuristics to find a needed position in this Info node.
The stand-alone Info reader searches for the first occurrence of the
reference name ("Numeric Argument") and moves point here. The Emacs
Info reader now uses the function `Info-find-index-name' to move point
to the place within the current node where reference name ("Numeric
Argument") is defined (but still sometimes it misses the correct place).

If the solution will be to use anchors, then I can suggest to develop
it further and generate anchors (i.e. Ref: tags in tag tables of
Info files) from all indexing commands (@findex, @vindex, etc.).
Currently their positions are not available in Info files, but it
might be useful to jump unambiguously to positions in Info files where
these index entries were defined in Texinfo source files.

-- 
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