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Re: Manual: indexes are missing links
From: |
Eli Zaretskii |
Subject: |
Re: Manual: indexes are missing links |
Date: |
Sun, 07 Jan 2007 22:39:44 +0200 |
> From: Juri Linkov <address@hidden>
> Cc: address@hidden
> Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2007 11:52:54 +0200
>
> > Why do you think it's more important to see the node names in the
> > index than it is in any other menu?
>
> Menu item names in any other menu are often just a modified version
> of the node name, so it makes sense to hide node names as e.g. in:
>
> * Format: Outline Format. What the text of an outline looks like.
> * Motion: Outline Motion. Special commands for moving through outlines.
> * Visibility: Outline Visibility. Commands to control what is visible.
> * Views: Outline Views. Outlines and multiple views.
>
> Unlike this, index entry names contain no information about node names
> to which they belong, and it is helpful to see them, e.g.:
I asked why it is more important in an index, and your response is
that it's ``helpful to see'', which doesn't really explain anything.
Suppose that a regular menu item did not have a resemblance to its
node--would you still say then that it is more important to show nodes
in the index, and why?
> * face-background: Attribute Functions.
> * face-bold-p: Attribute Functions.
> * face-differs-from-default-p: Face Functions.
> * face-documentation <1>: Face Functions.
> * face-documentation: Accessing Documentation.
>
> It is especially important to see node names with the same index names
> like in the two last lines above.
The last two lines are actually a case of less than optimal indexing:
the two index entries should have had different qualifiers, to tell
the reader which aspects are described in each referenced place. Like
this, for example:
* advice, enabling and disabling: Enabling Advice. (line 6)
* advice, preactivating: Preactivation. (line 6)
I will fix this when I have time, unless someone beats me to it.
> There is enough horizontal space in the index menus to leave node
> names displayed where they were displayed for many years so far
> without complaints from users.
The same can be said about hiding node names in general.