Guido van Rossum | 9cf8f33 | 1992-03-30 10:54:51 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | This file documents the ibrowse program. -*-Text-*- |
| 2 | The H command of ibrowse goes to the node Help in this file. |
| 3 | |
| 4 | File: ibrowse Node: Top Up: (DIR) Next: Expert |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Ibrowse is a program for reading documentation, which you are using now. |
| 7 | ** Ibrowse uses the file format of the Emacs Info program, and its |
| 8 | ** commands are similar, but not identical. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | To learn how to use Ibrowse, type the command "h". It will bring you |
| 11 | to a programmed instruction sequence. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | * Menu: |
| 14 | |
| 15 | * Expert:: Advanced Ibrowse commands: c, k, g, s, 1 - 9, arrows. |
| 16 | * Add:: Describes how to add new nodes to the hierarchy. |
| 17 | Also tells what nodes look like. |
| 18 | * Menus:: How to add to or create menus in Info nodes. |
| 19 | * Cross-refs:: How to add cross-references to Info nodes. |
| 20 | * Tags:: How to make tag tables for Info files. |
| 21 | * Checking:: How to check the consistency of an Info file. |
| 22 | * Texinfo: (texinfo). |
| 23 | How to generate an Info file and a printed manual |
| 24 | from the same source file. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | File: ibrowse Node: Summary Next: Help |
| 27 | |
| 28 | Ibrowse is a Python program for browsing through the Emacs Info |
| 29 | documentation tree. Documentation in Info is divided into "nodes", |
| 30 | each of which discusses one topic and contains references to other |
| 31 | nodes which discuss related topics. Ibrowse has commands to follow the |
| 32 | references and show you other nodes. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | h Invoke the Ibrowse tutorial. |
| 35 | ? Display this Summary node. |
| 36 | q Quit Ibrowse. |
| 37 | w Close current window. |
| 38 | |
| 39 | Selecting other nodes: |
| 40 | n Move to the "next" node of this node. |
| 41 | p Move to the "previous" node of this node. |
| 42 | m Pick menu item specified by name (or abbreviation). |
| 43 | 1-9 Pick first..ninth in node's menu. |
| 44 | Menu items select nodes that are "subsections" of this node. |
| 45 | u Move "up" from this node (i.e., from a subsection to a section). |
| 46 | f Follow a cross reference by name (or abbrev). Type `l' to get back. |
| 47 | l Move back to the last node you were in. |
| 48 | |
| 49 | Moving within a node: |
| 50 | Space Scroll forward a full screen. DEL, BS Scroll backward. |
| 51 | b Go to beginning of node. |
| 52 | |
| 53 | Advanced commands: |
| 54 | k Clone current window (create an independent duplicate). |
| 55 | c Copy text selection to clipboard (for paste in another application). |
| 56 | g Move to node specified by name. |
| 57 | You may include a filename as well, as (FILENAME)NODENAME. |
| 58 | d Go to the main directory of Info files. |
| 59 | t Go to Top node of this file. |
| 60 | s Search through this Info file for node with specified regexp. |
| 61 | |
| 62 | File: ibrowse Node: Help-Small-Screen Next: Help |
| 63 | |
| 64 | Since your terminal has an unusually small number of lines on its |
| 65 | screen, it is necessary to give you special advice at the beginning. |
| 66 | |
| 67 | If you see the text "--All----" at near the bottom right corner of |
| 68 | the screen, it means the entire text you are looking at fits on the |
| 69 | screen. If you see "--Top----" instead, it means that there is more |
| 70 | text below that does not fit. To move forward through the text and |
| 71 | see another screen full, press the Space bar. To move back up, press |
| 72 | the key labeled Rubout or Delete or DEL. |
| 73 | |
| 74 | Here are 40 lines of junk, so you can try Spaces and Rubout and |
| 75 | see what they do. At the end are instructions of what you should do |
| 76 | next. |
| 77 | |
| 78 | This is line 17 |
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| 118 | |
| 119 | If you have managed to get here, go back to the beginning with |
| 120 | Rubout, and come back here again, then you understand Space and |
| 121 | Rubout. So now type an "n"--just one character; don't type the |
| 122 | quotes and don't type a Return afterward-- to get to the normal start |
| 123 | of the course. |
| 124 | |
| 125 | File: ibrowse Node: Help Next: Help-P Previous: Help-Small-Screen |
| 126 | |
| 127 | You are talking to the program Ibrowse, for reading documentation. |
| 128 | |
| 129 | Right now you are looking at one "Node" of Information. |
| 130 | A node contains text describing a specific topic at a specific |
| 131 | level of detail. This node's topic is "how to use Ibrowse". |
| 132 | |
| 133 | The top line of a node is its "header". This node's header (look at |
| 134 | it now) says that it is the node named "Help" in the file "ibrowse". |
| 135 | It says that the Next node after this one is the node called "Help-P". |
| 136 | An advanced Ibrowse command lets you go to any node whose name you know. |
| 137 | |
| 138 | Besides a "Next", a node can have a "Previous" or an "Up". |
| 139 | This node has a "Previous" but no "Up", as you can see. |
| 140 | |
| 141 | Now it's time to move on to the Next node, named "Help-P". |
| 142 | |
| 143 | >> Type "n" to move there. Type just one character; |
| 144 | don't type the quotes and don't type a Return afterward. |
| 145 | |
| 146 | ">>" in the margin means it is really time to try a command. |
| 147 | |
| 148 | File: ibrowse Node: Help-P Next: Help-Page Previous: Help |
| 149 | |
| 150 | This node is called "Help-P". The "Previous" node, as you see, is |
| 151 | "Help", which is the one you just came from using the "N" command. |
| 152 | Another "N" command now would take you to the Next node, "Help-Page". |
| 153 | |
| 154 | >> But don't do that yet. First, try the "p" command, which takes |
| 155 | you to the Previous node. When you get there, you can do an "n" |
| 156 | again to return here. |
| 157 | |
| 158 | This all probably seems insultingly simple so far, but DON'T be |
| 159 | led into skimming. Things will get more complicated soon. Also, |
| 160 | don't try a new command until you are told it's time to. Otherwise, |
| 161 | you may make Ibrowse skip past an important warning that was coming up. |
| 162 | |
| 163 | >> Now do an "n" to get to the node "Help-Page" and learn more. |
| 164 | |
| 165 | File: ibrowse Node: Help-Page Next: Help-M Previous: Help-P |
| 166 | |
| 167 | Space, Backspace, and B commands. |
| 168 | |
| 169 | This node's header tells you that you are now at node "Help-Page", and |
| 170 | that "P" would get you back to "Help-P". The line starting "Space," |
| 171 | is a "Title", saying what the node is about (most nodes have titles). |
| 172 | |
| 173 | This is a big node and it doesn't all fit on your display screen. |
| 174 | You can tell that there is more that isn't visible because you |
| 175 | the scroll bar on the side of the window has become active (gray). |
| 176 | |
| 177 | The Space, Backspace and B commands exist to allow you to "move |
| 178 | around" in a node that doesn't all fit on the screen at once. |
| 179 | Space moves forward, to show what was below the bottom of the screen. |
| 180 | Backspace moves backward, to show what was above the top of the screen |
| 181 | (there isn't anything above the top until you have typed some spaces). |
| 182 | |
| 183 | >> Now try typing a Space (afterward, type a Backspace to return here). |
| 184 | |
| 185 | When you type the space, the two lines that were at the bottom of the |
| 186 | screen appear at the top, followed by more lines. Backspace takes the |
| 187 | two lines from the top and moves them to the bottom, USUALLY, but if |
| 188 | there are not a full screen's worth of lines above them they may not |
| 189 | make it all the way to the bottom. |
| 190 | |
| 191 | If you type a Space when there is no more to see, it will ring the |
| 192 | bell and otherwise do nothing. The same goes for a Backspace when |
| 193 | the header of the node is visible. |
| 194 | |
| 195 | Of course you can use the mouse and directly move the scroll bar |
| 196 | as well, but Ibrowse has keyboard commands for almost everything, |
| 197 | including scrolling. These keyboard commands are called "shortcuts", |
| 198 | because it generally takes less effort to press a key on the |
| 199 | keyboard than to move the mouse. On the other hand, if you are |
| 200 | an infrequent user of Ibrowse, you can do everything with the |
| 201 | mouse that you can do with the keyboard. Just look in the menus |
| 202 | (I'm sure you must know how to use the menus on this system, or |
| 203 | else you couldn't have gotten this far...). In fact you'll see that |
| 204 | the commands and shortcuts listed in the menus are the same as those |
| 205 | described in this course. You can use the shortcuts either with or |
| 206 | without the "Command" or "Meta" key. |
| 207 | |
| 208 | Two menus are always available: the "Ibrowse" menu contains commands |
| 209 | pertaining to the Ibrowse program at large, while the "Navigation" menu |
| 210 | contains commands that move around between nodes. There may be other |
| 211 | menus; these will be explained later. |
| 212 | |
| 213 | To move back to the beginning of the node you are on, you can type |
| 214 | a lot of Backspaces. You can also type simply "b" for beginning. |
| 215 | >> Try that now. (I have put in enough verbiage to make sure you are |
| 216 | not on the first screenful now). Then come back, with Spaces. |
| 217 | |
| 218 | You have just learned a considerable number of commands. If you |
| 219 | want to use one but have trouble remembering which, just pull down |
| 220 | the menus to get a summary of commands and shortcuts. Some additional |
| 221 | shortcuts (not listed in the menus) are listed by the "Short help" |
| 222 | command. This brings up a dialog box which you can acknowledge |
| 223 | by clicking the OK button or pressing the Return key. |
| 224 | |
| 225 | From now on, you will encounter large nodes without warning, and |
| 226 | will be expected to know how to use Space and Backspace to move |
| 227 | around in them without being told. Since you could change the |
| 228 | size of the window used, it would be impossible to warn you anyway. |
| 229 | |
| 230 | >> Now type "n" to see the description of the "m" command. |
| 231 | |
| 232 | File: ibrowse Node: Help-M Next: Help-Adv Previous: Help-Page |
| 233 | |
| 234 | Menus and the "m" command |
| 235 | |
| 236 | With only the "n" and "p" commands for moving between nodes, nodes |
| 237 | are restricted to a linear sequence. Menus allow a branching |
| 238 | structure. A menu is a list of other nodes you can move to. It is |
| 239 | actually just part of the text of the node formatted specially so that |
| 240 | Ibrowse can interpret it. The beginning of a menu is always identified |
| 241 | by a line which starts with "* Menu:". A node contains a menu if and |
| 242 | only if it has a line in it which starts that way. The only menu you |
| 243 | can use at any moment is the one in the node you are in. To use a |
| 244 | menu in any other node, you must move to that node first. |
| 245 | |
| 246 | (There is an unfortunate confusion of terms here. "Menu" may refer |
| 247 | to one of the Ibrowse menus at the top, such as as the "Ibrowse" and |
| 248 | "Navigation" menus explained in the previous node, or to the menu in |
| 249 | a node. Where confusion is possible, these will be disambiguated by |
| 250 | calling them "Ibrowse menus" or "node menu".) |
| 251 | |
| 252 | After the start of the menu, each line that starts with a "*" |
| 253 | identifies one subtopic. The line will usually contain a brief name |
| 254 | for the subtopic (followed by a ":"), the name of the node that talks |
| 255 | about that subtopic, and optionally some further description of the |
| 256 | subtopic. Lines in the menu that don't start with a "*" have no |
| 257 | special meaning - they are only for the human reader's benefit and do |
| 258 | not define additional subtopics. Here is an example: |
| 259 | * Foo: FOO's Node This tells about FOO |
| 260 | The subtopic name is Foo, and the node describing it is "FOO's Node". |
| 261 | The rest of the line is just for the reader's Information. |
| 262 | [[ But this line is not a real menu item, simply because there is |
| 263 | no line above it which starts with "* Menu:".]] |
| 264 | |
| 265 | When you use a menu to go to another node (in a way that will be |
| 266 | described soon), what you specify is the subtopic name, the first |
| 267 | thing in the menu line. Ibrowse uses it to find the menu line, extracts |
| 268 | the node name from it, and goes to that node. The reason that there |
| 269 | is both a subtopic name and a node name is that the node name must be |
| 270 | meaningful to the computer and may therefore have to be ugly looking. |
| 271 | The subtopic name can be chosen just to be convenient for the user to |
| 272 | specify. Often the node name is convenient for the user to specify |
| 273 | and so both it and the subtopic name are the same. There is an |
| 274 | abbreviation for this: |
| 275 | * Foo:: This tells about FOO |
| 276 | This means that the subtopic name and node name are the same; they are |
| 277 | both "Foo". |
| 278 | |
| 279 | >> Now use Spaces to find the menu in this node, then come back to |
| 280 | the front with a "b". As you see, a menu is actually visible |
| 281 | in its node. If you can't find a menu in a node by looking at it, |
| 282 | then the node doesn't have a menu and the "m" command is not available. |
| 283 | |
| 284 | (Actually, a quicker way to see if there is a node menu, is to look |
| 285 | for an Ibrowse menu at the top named "Menu".) |
| 286 | |
| 287 | The command to go to one of the subnodes is "m" - but DON'T DO IT |
| 288 | YET! Before you use "m", you must understand the difference between |
| 289 | commands and arguments. So far, you have learned several commands |
| 290 | that do not need arguments. When you type one, Ibrowse processes it and |
| 291 | is instantly ready for another command. The "m" command is different: |
| 292 | it is incomplete without the NAME OF THE SUBTOPIC. Once you have |
| 293 | typed "m", Ibrowse wants to read the subtopic name. |
| 294 | |
| 295 | Thanks to modern user interface technology, this will be obvious: |
| 296 | you are prompted for the subtopic name in a dialog box. When you are |
| 297 | finished typing the name, press Return or click the OK button. You can |
| 298 | cancel the dialog box by clicking the Cancel button. The first subtopic |
| 299 | is provided as a default choice, so if you want to go there, you can |
| 300 | just press Return. |
| 301 | |
| 302 | You can abbreviate the subtopic name. If the abbreviation is not |
| 303 | unique, the first matching subtopic is chosen. Some menus will put |
| 304 | the shortest possible abbreviation for each subtopic name in capital |
| 305 | letters, so you can see how much you need to type. It does not |
| 306 | matter whether you use upper case or lower case when you type the |
| 307 | subtopic. You should not put any spaces at the end, or inside of the |
| 308 | item name, except for one space where a space appears in the item in |
| 309 | the menu. |
| 310 | |
| 311 | Here is a menu to give you a chance to practice. |
| 312 | |
| 313 | * Menu: The menu starts here. |
| 314 | |
| 315 | This menu gives you three ways of going to one place, Help-FOO. |
| 316 | |
| 317 | * Foo: Help-FOO A node you can visit for fun |
| 318 | * Bar: Help-FOO Strange! two ways to get to the same place. |
| 319 | * Help-FOO:: And yet another! |
| 320 | |
| 321 | >> Now type just an "m" and see what happens. (Read ahead before |
| 322 | >> trying this out, as the dialog box will probably cover these |
| 323 | >> instructions!) |
| 324 | |
| 325 | Now you are "inside" an "m" command. Commands can't be used now; |
| 326 | the next thing you will type must be the name of a subtopic. |
| 327 | |
| 328 | You can change your mind about doing the "m" by clicking the Cancel |
| 329 | button. |
| 330 | >> Try that now; notice the dialog box disappear. |
| 331 | >> Then type another "m". |
| 332 | |
| 333 | >> Now type "BAR", the item name. Don't type Return yet. |
| 334 | |
| 335 | While you are typing the item name, you can use the Backspace |
| 336 | key to cancel one character at a time if you make a mistake. |
| 337 | >> Type one to cancel the "R". You could type another "R" to |
| 338 | replace it. You don't have to, since "BA" is a valid abbreviation. |
| 339 | >> Now you are ready to go. Type a Return. |
| 340 | |
| 341 | After visiting Help-FOO, you should return here (it will tell how). |
| 342 | |
| 343 | >> Type "n" to see more commands. |
| 344 | |
| 345 | File: ibrowse Node: Help-FOO Up: Help-M |
| 346 | |
| 347 | The "u" command |
| 348 | |
| 349 | Congratulations! This is the node Help-FOO. Unlike the other |
| 350 | nodes you have seen, this one has an "Up": "Help-M", the node you |
| 351 | just came from via the "m" command. This is the usual convention-- |
| 352 | the nodes you reach from a menu have Ups that lead back to the menu. |
| 353 | Menus move Down in the tree, and Up moves Up. Previous, on the other |
| 354 | hand, is usually used to "stay on the same level but go backwards". |
| 355 | |
| 356 | You can go back to the node Help-M by typing the command |
| 357 | "u" for "Up". That will put you at the FRONT of the node - to get |
| 358 | back to where you were reading you will have to type some Spaces. |
| 359 | |
| 360 | >> Now type "u" to move back up to Help-M. |
| 361 | |
| 362 | File: ibrowse Node: Help-Adv Next: Help-Q Previous: Help-M |
| 363 | |
| 364 | Some advanced Ibrowse commands |
| 365 | |
| 366 | The course is almost over, so please stick with it to the end. |
| 367 | |
| 368 | If you have been moving around to different nodes and wish to |
| 369 | retrace your steps, the "l" command ("l" for "last") will do that, one |
| 370 | node at a time. If you have been following directions, an "l" command |
| 371 | now will get you back to Help-M. Another "l" command would undo the "u" |
| 372 | and get you back to Help-FOO. Another "l" would undo the M and get you |
| 373 | back to Help-M. |
| 374 | |
| 375 | >> Try typing three "l"'s, pausing in between to see what each "l" does. |
| 376 | Then follow directions again and you will end up back here. |
| 377 | |
| 378 | Note the difference between "l" and "p": "l" moves to where YOU |
| 379 | last were, whereas "p" always moves to the node which the header says |
| 380 | is the "Previous" node (from this node, to Help-M). |
| 381 | |
| 382 | The "d" command gets you instantly to the Directory node. |
| 383 | This node, which is the first one you saw when you entered Ibrowse, |
| 384 | has a menu which leads (directly, or indirectly through other menus), |
| 385 | to all the nodes that exist. |
| 386 | |
| 387 | >> Try doing a "d", then do an "l" to return here (yes, DO return). |
| 388 | |
| 389 | Sometimes, in Ibrowse documentation, you will see a cross reference. |
| 390 | Cross references look like this: *Note Cross: Help-Cross. That is a |
| 391 | real, live cross reference which is named "Cross" and points at the |
| 392 | node named "Help-Cross". |
| 393 | |
| 394 | If you wish to follow a cross reference, you must use the "f" |
| 395 | command. The "f" prompts for the cross reference name (in this case, |
| 396 | "Cross") with a dialog box. |
| 397 | |
| 398 | >> Type "f", followed by "Cross", and a Return. |
| 399 | |
| 400 | The "f" command allows abbreviations just like "m". |
| 401 | |
| 402 | To get a list of all the cross references in the current node, |
| 403 | look in the Ibrowse menu at the top labeled "Footnotes". This menu is |
| 404 | only present if there are cross references in the current node, and |
| 405 | can be used to directly follow a cross reference, just like the "Menu" |
| 406 | menu is another way to choose an item of the node's menu. |
| 407 | |
| 408 | >> Now type "n" to see the last node of the course. |
| 409 | |
| 410 | File: ibrowse Node: Help-Cross |
| 411 | |
| 412 | This is the node reached by the cross reference named "Cross". |
| 413 | |
| 414 | While this node is specifically intended to be reached by a cross |
| 415 | reference, most cross references lead to nodes that "belong" someplace |
| 416 | else far away in the structure of Ibrowse. So you can't expect the |
| 417 | footnote to have a Next, Previous or Up pointing back to where you |
| 418 | came from. In general, the "l" (el) command is the only way to get |
| 419 | back there. |
| 420 | |
| 421 | >> Type "l" to return to the node where the cross reference was. |
| 422 | |
| 423 | File: ibrowse Node: Help-Q Previous: Help-Adv Up: Top |
| 424 | |
| 425 | To get out of Ibrowse, type "q" for "Quit". All Ibrowse windows |
| 426 | will be closed (on UNIX, only those managed by the same process). |
| 427 | To close just one window, use the standard method of closing windows |
| 428 | on your system; you can also use "w". |
| 429 | |
| 430 | This is the end of the course on using Ibrowse. There are some other |
| 431 | commands that are not essential or meant for experienced users; they |
| 432 | are useful, and you can find them by looking in the directory for |
| 433 | documentation on Ibrowse. Finding them will be a good exercise in using |
| 434 | Ibrowse in the usual manner. |
| 435 | |
| 436 | >> Close this window and find back the window where you typed "h" |
| 437 | to enter this tutorial. |
| 438 | Then type "d" to go to the Ibrowse directory node if necessary, |
| 439 | and choose the "Ibrowse" menu item, to get to the node about |
| 440 | Ibrowse and see what other help is available. |
| 441 | |
| 442 | File: ibrowse, Node: Expert, Up: Top, Previous: Top, Next: Add |
| 443 | |
| 444 | Some Advanced Ibrowse Commands ("c", "k", "g", "s", "1" - "9", arrows). |
| 445 | |
| 446 | The "c" command lets you copy text from the window to the clipboard. |
| 447 | You must first select the text to be copied with the mouse. |
| 448 | |
| 449 | The "k" command means "klone" (we are running out of letters now...). |
| 450 | It creates a new Ibrowse window, showing the same node as the current. |
| 451 | You can then make an excursion in the new window to different nodes or |
| 452 | files, while the old window keeps showing the original node. Each |
| 453 | window has its own history for use by the "l" command. |
| 454 | |
| 455 | If you know a node's name, you can go there with the "g" command. |
| 456 | This prompts for a node name with a dialog box. Entering, "Top" |
| 457 | would go to the node called Top in this file (its directory node). |
| 458 | Pressing "g" again and entering "Expert" would come back here. |
| 459 | |
| 460 | Unlike "m", "g" does not allow the use of abbreviations. |
| 461 | |
| 462 | To go to a node in another file, you can include the filename in the |
| 463 | node name by putting it at the front, in parentheses. Thus, |
| 464 | "(dir)Top" would go to the Ibrowse Directory node, which is |
| 465 | node Top in the file dir. |
| 466 | |
| 467 | The node name "*" specifies the whole file. So you can look at all |
| 468 | of the current file by typing "*" or all of any other file |
| 469 | with "(FILENAME)*". |
| 470 | |
| 471 | File names are converted to lower case before they are tried; this |
| 472 | is necessary to be compatible with Emacs Info. (File names are |
| 473 | generally relative to the Info directory, but needn't be.) |
| 474 | |
| 475 | The "s" command allows you to search a whole file for a regular |
| 476 | expression. Unlike the corresponding Emacs Info command, it will |
| 477 | not search beyond the end of the current node. |
| 478 | |
| 479 | Regular expressions are like in UNIX egrep; if you don't know what |
| 480 | regular expressions are, limit your search strings to letters, digits |
| 481 | and spaces. Searches in Ibrowse are case-sensitive; searching for |
| 482 | "foo" will not find "Foo" or "FOO"! |
| 483 | |
| 484 | A description of regular expressions as they occur in Emacs is |
| 485 | available. (*Note Emacs Regular Expressions: (regex)syntax.) |
| 486 | Ibrowse regular expressions are slightly different: the meaning |
| 487 | of \( \| \) is swapped with that of ( | ), and there are no |
| 488 | escapes to handle "words" specially. |
| 489 | |
| 490 | Searching starts after the current focus position. The "B" command |
| 491 | resets the focus to the beginning of the file, but space and backspace |
| 492 | leave it unchanged (so they may render the focus invisible). |
| 493 | |
| 494 | If you grudge the system each character of type-in it requires, |
| 495 | you might like to use the commands "1", "2", "3", through "9". |
| 496 | They are short for the first nine entries of the node menu. |
| 497 | |
| 498 | The left, right and up arrow keys are duplicates of "p", "n" and "u". |
| 499 | |
| 500 | The down arrow key, as well as the Return key, goes to the first item |
| 501 | of the node's menu if there is one, else it executes "n". This is a |
| 502 | quick way to visit all nodes in a tree in pre-order: use Return to go |
| 503 | down and right as far as possible, then use "u" and "n" to go right |
| 504 | at the next higher level. |
| 505 | |
| 506 | File: ibrowse, Node: Add, Up: Top, Previous: Expert, Next: Menus |
| 507 | |
| 508 | To add a new topic to the list in the directory, you must |
| 509 | 1) enter the Emacs text editor. *Note Emacs: (emacs). |
| 510 | 2) create a node, in some file, to document that topic. |
| 511 | 3) put that topic in the menu in the directory. *Note Menu: Menus. |
| 512 | |
| 513 | The new node can live in an existing documentation file, or in a new |
| 514 | one. It must have a ^_ character before it (invisible to the user; |
| 515 | this node has one but you can't see it), and it ends with either a ^_, |
| 516 | or the end of file. A nice way to make a node boundary be a |
| 517 | page boundary as well is to put a ^L RIGHT AFTER the ^_. |
| 518 | |
| 519 | The ^_ starting a node must be followed by a newline or a ^L newline, |
| 520 | after which comes the node's header line. The header line must give |
| 521 | the node's name (by which Ibrowse will find it), and state the names of |
| 522 | the Next, Previous, and Up nodes (if there are any). As you can see, |
| 523 | this node's Up node is the node Top, which points at all the |
| 524 | documentation for Ibrowse. The Next node is "Menus". |
| 525 | |
| 526 | The keywords "Node", "Previous", "Up" and "Next", may appear in |
| 527 | any order, anywhere in the header line, but the recommended order is |
| 528 | the one in this sentence. Each keyword must be followed by a colon, |
| 529 | spaces and tabs, and then the appropriate name. The name may be |
| 530 | terminated with a tab, a comma, or a newline. A space does not end |
| 531 | it; node names may contain spaces. The case of letters in the names |
| 532 | is insignificant. "Previous" can be abbreviated to "Prev". |
| 533 | |
| 534 | A node name has two forms. A node in the current file is named by |
| 535 | what appears after the "Node: " in that node's first line. For |
| 536 | example, this node's name is "Add". A node in another file is named |
| 537 | by "(FILENAME)NODE-WITHIN-FILE", as in "(ibrowse)Add" for this node. |
| 538 | If the file name is relative, it is taken starting from the standard |
| 539 | Info file directory of your site. The name "(FILENAME)Top" can be |
| 540 | abbreviated to just "(FILENAME)". By convention, the name "Top" is |
| 541 | used for the "highest" node in any single file - the node whose "Up" |
| 542 | points out of the file. The Directory node is "(dir)". The Top node |
| 543 | of a document file listed in the Directory should have an "Up: (dir)" |
| 544 | in it. |
| 545 | |
| 546 | The node name "*" is special: it refers to the entire file. Thus, |
| 547 | g* will show you the whole current file. The use of the node * is to |
| 548 | make it possible to make old-fashioned, unstructured files into nodes |
| 549 | of the tree. Footnotes and node menus appearing in a file are disabled |
| 550 | when it is viewed in this way. |
| 551 | |
| 552 | The "Node:" name, in which a node states its own name, must not |
| 553 | contain a filename, since Ibrowse when searching for a node does not |
| 554 | expect one to be there. The Next, Previous and Up names may contain |
| 555 | them. In this node, since the Up node is in the same file, it was not |
| 556 | necessary to use one. |
| 557 | |
| 558 | Note that the nodes in this file have a File name in the header |
| 559 | line. The File names are ignored by Ibrowse, but they serve as |
| 560 | comments to help identify the node for the user. |
| 561 | |
| 562 | File: ibrowse, Node: Menus, Previous: Add, Up: Top, Next: Cross-refs |
| 563 | |
| 564 | How to Create Menus: |
| 565 | |
| 566 | Any node in the Ibrowse hierarchy may have a MENU--a list of subnodes. |
| 567 | The "m" command searches the current node's menu for the topic which it |
| 568 | reads from the terminal. |
| 569 | |
| 570 | A menu begins with a line starting with "* Menu:". The rest of the |
| 571 | line is a comment. After the starting line, every line that begins |
| 572 | with a "* " lists a single topic. The name of the topic--the arg |
| 573 | that the user must give to the "m" command to select this topic-- |
| 574 | comes right after the star and space, and is followed by |
| 575 | a colon, spaces and tabs, and the name of the node which discusses |
| 576 | that topic. The node name, like node names following Next, |
| 577 | Previous and Up, may be terminated with a tab, comma, or newline; |
| 578 | it may also be terminated with a period. |
| 579 | |
| 580 | If the node name and topic name are the same, than rather than |
| 581 | giving the name twice, the abbreviation "* NAME::" may be used |
| 582 | (and should be used, whenever possible, as it reduces the visual |
| 583 | clutter in the menu). |
| 584 | |
| 585 | It is considerate to choose the topic names so that they differ |
| 586 | from each other very near the beginning--this allows the user to type |
| 587 | short abbreviations. In a long menu, it is a good idea to capitalize |
| 588 | the beginning of each item name which is the minimum acceptable |
| 589 | abbreviation for it (a long menu is more than 5 or so entries). |
| 590 | |
| 591 | The node's listed in a node's menu are called its "subnodes", and |
| 592 | it is their "superior". They should each have an "Up:" pointing at |
| 593 | the superior. It is often useful to arrange all or most of the |
| 594 | subnodes in a sequence of Next's/Previous's so that someone who |
| 595 | wants to see them all need not keep revisiting the Menu. |
| 596 | |
| 597 | The Info Directory is simply the menu of the node "(dir)Top"--that |
| 598 | is, node Top in file .../info/dir. You can put new entries in that |
| 599 | menu just like any other menu. The Info Directory is NOT the same as |
| 600 | the file directory called "info". It happens that many of Ibrowse's |
| 601 | files live on that file directory, but they don't have to; and files |
| 602 | on that directory are not automatically listed in the Info Directory |
| 603 | node. |
| 604 | |
| 605 | The Ibrowse program uses a second directory called .../ibrowse, |
| 606 | which contains versions of the "dir" and "info" files adapted to |
| 607 | Ibrowse (the latter renamed to "ibrowse", obviously). It searches |
| 608 | any file first in the "ibrowse", then in the "info" directory. |
| 609 | (Actually, the search path is configurable.) |
| 610 | |
| 611 | Also, although the Info node graph is claimed to be a "hierarchy", |
| 612 | in fact it can be ANY directed graph. Shared structures and pointer |
| 613 | cycles are perfectly possible, and can be used if they are |
| 614 | appropriate to the meaning to be expressed. There is no need for all |
| 615 | the nodes in a file to form a connected structure. In fact, this |
| 616 | file has two connected components. You are in one of them, which is |
| 617 | under the node Top; the other contains the node Help which the "h" |
| 618 | command goes to. In fact, since there is no garbage collector, |
| 619 | nothing terrible happens if a substructure is not pointed to, but |
| 620 | such a substructure will be rather useless since nobody will ever |
| 621 | find out that it exists. |
| 622 | |
| 623 | File: ibrowse, Node: Cross-refs, Previous: Menus, Up: Top, Next: Tags |
| 624 | |
| 625 | Creating Cross References: |
| 626 | |
| 627 | A cross reference can be placed anywhere in the text, unlike a menu |
| 628 | item which must go at the front of a line. A cross reference looks |
| 629 | like a menu item except that it has "*note" instead of "*". It CANNOT |
| 630 | be terminated by a ")", because ")"'s are so often part of node names. |
| 631 | If you wish to enclose a cross reference in parentheses, terminate it |
| 632 | with a period first. Here are two examples of cross references pointers: |
| 633 | |
| 634 | *Note details: commands. (See *note 3: Full Proof.) |
| 635 | |
| 636 | They are just examples. The places they "lead to" don't really exist! |
| 637 | |
| 638 | File: ibrowse, Node: Tags, Previous: Cross-refs, Up: Top, Next: Checking |
| 639 | |
| 640 | Tag Tables for Info Files: |
| 641 | |
| 642 | You can speed up the access to nodes of a large Info file by giving |
| 643 | it a tag table. Unlike the tag table for a program, the tag table for |
| 644 | an Info file lives inside the file itself and will automatically be |
| 645 | used whenever Ibrowse reads in the file. |
| 646 | |
| 647 | To make a tag table, go to a node in the file using Emacs Info and type |
| 648 | M-x Info-tagify. Then you must use C-x C-s to save the file. |
| 649 | |
| 650 | Once the Info file has a tag table, you must make certain it is up |
| 651 | to date. If, as a result of deletion of text, any node moves back |
| 652 | more than a thousand characters in the file from the position |
| 653 | recorded in the tag table, Ibrowse will no longer be able to find that |
| 654 | node. To update the tag table, use the Info-tagify command again. |
| 655 | |
| 656 | An Info file tag table appears at the end of the file and looks like |
| 657 | this: |
| 658 | |
| 659 | ^_^L |
| 660 | Tag Table: |
| 661 | File: ibrowse, Node: Cross-refs21419 |
| 662 | File: ibrowse, Node: Tags22145 |
| 663 | ^_ |
| 664 | End Tag Table |
| 665 | |
| 666 | Note that it contains one line per node, and this line contains |
| 667 | the beginning of the node's header (ending just after the node name), |
| 668 | a rubout (DEL) character, and the character position in the file of the |
| 669 | beginning of the node. The words "Tag Table" may occur in lower case |
| 670 | as well. |
| 671 | |
| 672 | It is also possible for an extra level of indirection to be present. |
| 673 | In this case, the first line of the Tag table contains the string |
| 674 | "(Indirect)", and preceding the tag table is another "pseudo node" |
| 675 | whose header reads "Indirect:". Each following line has the form |
| 676 | "filename: offset", meaning that nodes at that offset or larger (but |
| 677 | less than the offset in the next line) really occur in the file named |
| 678 | here, and that the file's offset should be subtracted from the node's |
| 679 | offset. (Indirect tables are created by texinfo for large files. |
| 680 | *Note Texinfo: (texinfo). *Note Splitting files: (texinfo)Splitting.) |
| 681 | |
| 682 | File: ibrowse, Node: Checking, Previous: Tags, Up: Top |
| 683 | |
| 684 | Checking an Info File: |
| 685 | |
| 686 | When creating an Info file, it is easy to forget the name of a node |
| 687 | when you are making a pointer to it from another node. If you put in |
| 688 | the wrong name for a node, this will not be detected until someone |
| 689 | tries to go through the pointer using Ibrowse. Verification of the Info |
| 690 | file is an automatic process which checks all pointers to nodes and |
| 691 | reports any pointers which are invalid. Every Next, Previous, and Up |
| 692 | is checked, as is every menu item and every cross reference. In addition, |
| 693 | any Next which doesn't have a Previous pointing back is reported. |
| 694 | Only pointers within the file are checked, because checking pointers |
| 695 | to other files would be terribly slow. But those are usually few. |
| 696 | |
| 697 | To check an Info file, do M-x Info-validate while looking at any |
| 698 | node of the file with Emacs Info. |
| 699 | |
| 700 | Tag table: |
| 701 | Node: Top117 |
| 702 | Node: Summary952 |
| 703 | Node: Help-Small-Screen997 |
| 704 | Node: Help2628 |
| 705 | Node: Help-P3588 |
| 706 | Node: Help-Page4348 |
| 707 | Node: Help-M7763 |
| 708 | Node: Help-FOO13183 |
| 709 | Node: Help-Adv13887 |
| 710 | Node: Help-Cross15923 |
| 711 | Node: Help-Q16443 |
| 712 | Node: Expert17326 |
| 713 | Node: Add20280 |
| 714 | Node: Menus23273 |
| 715 | Node: Cross-refs26394 |
| 716 | Node: Tags27050 |
| 717 | Node: Checking28966 |
| 718 | |
| 719 | End tag table |