MAKEINDEX(1) TeX Live MAKEINDEX(1)
NAME
makeindex - a general purpose, formatter-independent index processor
SYNOPSIS
makeindex [-c] [-g] [-i] [-l] [-o ind] [-p num] [-q] [-r] [-s sfile] [-t
log] [-L] [-T] [idx0 idx1 idx2...]
DESCRIPTION
The program makeindex is a general purpose hierarchical index generator;
it accepts one or more input files (often produced by a text formatter
such as TeX (tex(1L)) or troff(1), sorts the entries, and produces an
output file which can be formatted. The index can have up to three lev-
els (0, 1, and 2) of subitem nesting. The way in which words are
flagged for indexing within the main document is specific to the format-
ter used; makeindex does not automate the process of selecting these
words. As the output index is hierarchical, makeindex can be considered
complementary to the awk(1)-based make.index(1L) system of Bentley and
Kernighan, which is specific to troff(1), generates non-hierarchical in-
dices, and employs a much simpler syntax for indicating index entries.
For illustration of use with troff and TeX, see the section EXAMPLES be-
low.
The formats of the input and output files are specified in a style file;
by default, input is assumed to be a .idx file, as generated by LaTeX.
Unless specified explicitly, the base name of the first input file
(idx0) is used to determine the names of other files. For each input
file name specified, a file of that name is sought. If this file is not
found and the file name has no extension, the extension .idx is ap-
pended. If no file with this name is found, makeindex aborts.
If exactly one input file was given and no explicit style file was spec-
ified using -s, makeindex uses a file with the extension .mst as default
style file (when present).
For important notes on how to select index keywords, see the document by
Lamport cited below. As an issue separate from selecting index key-
words, a systematic mechanism for placing index terms in a document is
suggested in Index Preparation and Processing, a paper cited below.
OPTIONS
-c Compress intermediate blanks (ignoring leading and trailing
blanks and tabs). By default, blanks in the index key are re-
tained.
-g Employ German word ordering in the index, in accord with rules
set forth in DIN 5007. By default, makeindex employs a word
ordering in which precedence is: symbols, numbers, uppercase
letters, lowercase letters. The sequence in German word or-
dering is: symbols, lowercase letters, uppercase letters, num-
bers. Additionally, this option enables makeindex to recog-
nize the German TeX-commands {"a, "o, "u and "s} as {ae, oe,
ue and ss} during the sorting of the entries. The quote char-
acter must be redefined in a style file (for example, redefine
quote as '+'). If the quote character is not redefined,
makeindex will produce an error message and abort.
-i Take input from stdin. When this option is specified and -o
is not, output is written to stdout.
-l Letter ordering; by default, word ordering is used (see the
ORDERING section).
-o ind Employ ind as the output index file. By default, the file
name is created by appending the extension .ind to the base
name of the first input file (idx0).
-p num Set the starting page number of the output index file to be
num (useful when the index file is to be formatted sepa-
rately). The argument num may be numerical or one of the fol-
lowing:
any The starting page is the last source page number
plus 1.
odd The starting page is the first odd page following
the last source page number.
even The starting page is the first even page following
the last source page number.
The last source page is obtained by searching backward in the
log file for the first instance of a number included within
paired square brackets ([...]). If a page number is missing
or the log file is not found, no attempt will be made to set
the starting page number. The source log file name is deter-
mined by appending the extension .log to the base name of the
first input file (idx0).
-q Quiet mode; send no messages to stderr. By default, progress
and error messages are sent to stderr as well as to the tran-
script file.
-r Disable implicit page range formation; page ranges must be
created by using explicit range operators; see SPECIAL EFFECTS
below. By default, three or more successive pages are auto-
matically abbreviated as a range (e.g. 1—5).
-s sty Employ sty as the style file (no default). The environment
variable INDEXSTYLE defines the path where the style file
should be found.
-t log Employ log as the transcript file. By default, the file name
is created by appending the extension .ilg to the base name of
the first input file (idx0).
-L sort based on locale settings. Not available on all systems.
-T special support for Thai documents. Not available on all sys-
tems.
STYLE FILE
The style file informs makeindex about the format of the .idx input
files and the intended format of the final output file; examples appear
below. This file can reside anywhere in the path defined by the envi-
ronment variable INDEXSTYLE. The style file contains a list of <speci-
fier, attribute> pairs. There are two types of specifiers: input and
output. Pairs do not have to appear in any particular order. A line
begun by `%' is a comment. In the following list of specifiers and ar-
guments, <string> is an arbitrary string delimited by double quotes
("..."), <char> is a single letter embraced by single quotes ('...'),
and <number> is a nonnegative integer. The maximum length of a <string>
is 2048. A literal backslash or quote must be escaped (by a backslash).
Anything not specified in the style file will be assigned a default
value, which is shown at the head of the rightmost column.
INPUT STYLE SPECIFIERS
actual <char> ´@´
Symbol indicating that the next entry is to ap-
pear in the output file.
arg_close <char> ´}´
Closing delimiter for the index entry argument.
arg_open <char> ´{´
Opening delimiter for the index entry argument.
encap <char> ´|´
Symbol indicating that the rest of the argument
list is to be used as the encapsulating command
for the page number.
escape <char> ´\\´
Symbol which escapes the following letter, un-
less its preceding letter is escape. Note:
quote is used to escape the letter which imme-
diately follows it, but if it is preceded by
escape, it is treated as a ordinary character.
These two symbols must be distinct.
keyword <string> "\\indexentry"
Command which tells makeindex that its argument
is an index entry.
level <char> ´!´
Delimiter denoting a new level of subitem.
page_compositor <string> "-"
Delimiter separating parts of a composite page
number (see SPECIAL EFFECTS below).
quote <char> ´"´
Note: quote is used to escape the letter which
immediately follows it, but if it is preceded
by escape, it is treated as a ordinary charac-
ter. These two symbols must be distinct.
range_close <char> ´)´
Closing delimiter indicating the end of an ex-
plicit page range.
range_open <char> ´(´
Opening delimiter indicating the beginning of
an explicit page range.
OUTPUT STYLE SPECIFIERS
preamble <string> "\\begin{theindex}\n"
Preamble of output file.
postamble <string> "\n\n\\end{theindex}\n"
Postamble of output file.
setpage_prefix <string> "\n \\setcounter{page}{"
Prefix of command which sets the starting page
number.
setpage_suffix <string> "}\n"
Suffix of command which sets the starting page
number.
group_skip <string> "\n\n \\indexspace\n"
Vertical space to be inserted before a new
group begins.
headings_flag <string> 0
Flag indicating treatment of new group headers,
which are inserted when before a new group
(symbols, numbers, and the 26 letters): posi-
tive values cause an uppercase letter to be in-
serted between prefix and suffix, and negative
values cause a lowercase letter to be inserted
(default is 0, which produces no header).
heading_prefix <string> ""
Letter heading prefix to be inserted before a
new letter begins.
heading_suffix <string> ""
Letter heading suffix to be inserted when a new
letter begins.
symhead_positive <string>
"Symbols"
Heading for symbols to be inserted if head-
ings_flag is positive.
symhead_negative <string>
"symbols"
Heading for symbols to be inserted if head-
ings_flag is negative.
numhead_positive <string>
"Numbers"
Heading for numbers to be inserted if head-
ings_flag is positive.
numhead_negative <string>
"numbers"
Heading for numbers to be inserted if head-
ings_flag is negative.
item_0 <string> "\n \\item "
Command to be inserted between two primary
(level 0) items.
item_1 <string> "\n \\subitem "
Command to be inserted between two secondary
(level 1) items.
item_2 <string> "\n \\subsubitem "
Command to be inserted between two level 2
items.
item_01 <string> "\n \\subitem "
Command to be inserted between a level 0 item
and a level 1 item.
item_x1 <string> "\n \\subitem "
Command to be inserted between a level 0 item
and a level 1 item, where the level 0 item does
not have associated page numbers.
item_12 <string> "\n \\subsubitem "
Command to be inserted between a level 1 item
and a level 2 item.
item_x2 <string> "\n \\subsubitem "
Command to be inserted between a level 1 item
and a level 2 item, where the level 1 item does
not have associated page numbers.
delim_0 <string> ", "
Delimiter to be inserted between a level 0 key
and its first page number (default: comma fol-
lowed by a blank).
delim_1 <string> ", "
Delimiter to be inserted between a level 1 key
and its first page number (default: comma fol-
lowed by a blank).
delim_2 <string> ", "
Delimiter to be inserted between a level 2 key
and its first page number (default: comma fol-
lowed by a blank).
delim_n <string> ", "
Delimiter to be inserted between two page num-
bers for the same key in any level (default:
comma followed by a blank).
delim_r <string> "--"
Delimiter to be inserted between the starting
and ending page numbers of a range.
delim_t <string> ""
Delimiter to be inserted at the end of a page
list. This delimiter has no effect on entries
which have no associated page list.
encap_prefix <string> "\\"
First part of prefix for the command which en-
capsulates the page number.
encap_infix <string> "{"
Second part of prefix for the command which en-
capsulates the page number.
encap_suffix <string> "}".
Suffix for the command which encapsulates the
page number.
page_precedence <string> "rnaRA".
Page type precedence order. The default speci-
fies: lowercase roman, numeric/arabic, lower-
case alphabetic, uppercase roman, uppercase al-
phabetic.
line_max <number> 72
Maximum length of a line in the output, beyond
which a line wraps.
indent_space <string> "\t\t"
Space to be inserted in front of a wrapped line
(default: two tabs).
indent_length <number> 16
Length of indent_space (default: 16, equivalent
to 2 tabs).
suffix_2p <string> ""
Delimiter to replace the range delimiter and
the second page number of a two page list. When
present, it overrides delim_r. Example: "f.".
suffix_3p <string> ""
Delimiter to replace the range delimiter and
the second page number of a three page list.
When present, it overrides delim_r and suf-
fix_mp. Example: "ff.".
suffix_mp <string> ""
Delimiter to replace the range delimiter and
the second page number of a multiple page list
(three or more pages). When present, it over-
rides delim_r. Example: "f.".
EXAMPLES
TeX EXAMPLE
The following example shows a style file called book.ist, which defines
an index for a book which can be formatted independently of the main
source:
preamble
"\\documentstyle[12pt]{book}
\\begin{document}
\\begin{theindex}
{\\small\n"
postamble
"\n\n}
\\end{theindex}
\\end{document}\n"
Assuming that a particular book style requires the index (as well as any
chapters) to start from an odd page number, and that the input file is
named foo.idx, the following command line produces output in file
footmp.ind:
makeindex -s book.ist -o footmp.ind -p odd foo
Here a non-default output file name is used to avoid clobbering the out-
put for the book itself (presumably foo.dvi, which would have been the
default name for the index output file!).
TROFF EXAMPLE
A sample control file for creating an index, which we will assume re-
sides in the file sample.ist:
keyword "IX:"
preamble
".\\\" start of index output
\".\\\" enter two column mode
.2C
.SH
.ce
INDEX
.XS
INDEX
.XE
.R
.ps 9p
.vs 11p
.sp
.de I1
.ti 0.25i
..
.de I2
.ti 0.5i
.."
postamble "\n.\\\" end of index output"
setpage_prefix "\n.nr % "
setpage_suffix ""
group_skip "\n.sp 1.0"
headings_flag 1
heading_prefix "\n.IS\n"
heading_suffix "\n.IE"
item_0 "\n.br\n"
item_1 "\n.I1\n"
item_2 "\n.I2\n"
item_01 "\n.I1\n"
item_x1 "\n.I1\n"
item_12 "\n.I2\n"
item_x2 "\n.I2\n"
delim_0 ", "
delim_1 ", "
delim_2 ", "
delim_r "-"
delim_t "."
encap_prefix "\\fB"
encap_infix ""
encap_suffix "\\fP"
indent_space ""
indent_length 0
The local macro package may require modification, as in this example of
an extension to the -ms macros (note that at some sites, this macro
should replace a pre-existing macro of the same name):
.
.de IX
.ie '\\n(.z'' .tm IX: \\$1 \\$2 \\$3 \\$4 \\$5 \\$6 \\$7 \\$8 \\$9 {\\n(PN}
.el \\!.IX \\$1 \\$2 \\$3 \\$4 \\$5 \\$6 \\$7 \\$8 \\$9 {\\n(PN}
..
(note that the string {\\n(PN} is separated from the rest of the line by
a tab. If your local macro package does not contain this extension,
just include those lines at the beginning of your file. Here is a sim-
ple troff(1) input file, which we will assume is named sample.txt:
This is a sample file to test the \fImakeindex\fP(1L)
program, and see
.IX {indexing!programs!C language}
.IX {makeindex@\fImakeindex\fP(1L)}
.bp
.rs
.IX {Knuth}
.IX {typesetting!computer-aided}
how well it functions in the \fItroff\fP(1) environment.
Note that index entries are indicated by the .IX macro, which causes the
following text to be written to stdout along with the current page num-
ber.
CREATING THE INDEX FILE IN THE BOURNE SHELL
To create an input file for makeindex, in the Bourne shell environment,
do the equivalent at your site of the command:
psroff -ms -Tpsc -t sample.txt > /dev/null 2> sample.tmp
Some sites will require ditroff instead of psroff. To filter out any
genuine error messages, invoke grep(1):
grep '^IX: ' sample.tmp > sample.idx
CREATING THE INDEX FILE USING UCSF ENHANCED TROFF/TRANSCRIPT
With UCSF Enhanced troff/TRANSCRIPT, the -I option of psroff(1L) can
produce both formatter output and an index file:
psroff -ms -I sample.inp -Tpsc sample.txt
If it is wished to suppress the formatter output:
psroff -ms -I sample.inp -Tpsc -t sample.txt > /dev/null
COMPLETING THE INDEX
Any of the above procedures leaves the input for makeindex in sam-
ple.inp. The next step is to invoke makeindex:
makeindex -s sample.ist sample.idx
This leaves troff(1)-ready output in the file sample.ind.
ORDERING
By default, makeindex assumes word ordering; if the -l option is in ef-
fect, letter ordering is used. In word ordering, a blank precedes any
letter in the alphabet, whereas in letter ordering, it does not count at
all. This is illustrated by the following example:
word order letter order
sea lion seal
seal sea lion
Numbers are always sorted in numeric order. For instance,
9 (nine), 123
10 (ten), see Derek, Bo
Letters are first sorted without regard to case; when words are identi-
cal, the uppercase version precedes its lowercase counterpart.
A special symbol is defined here to be any character not appearing in
the union of digits and the English alphabetic characters. Patterns
starting with special symbols precede numbers, which precede patterns
starting with letters. As a special case, a string starting with a
digit but mixed with non-digits is considered to be a pattern starting
with a special character.
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Entries such as
\indexentry{alpha}{1}
\indexentry{alpha!beta}{3}
\indexentry{alpha!beta!gamma}{10}
in the input file will be converted to
\item alpha, 1
\subitem beta, 3
\subsubitem gamma, 10
in the output index file. Notice that the level symbol (`!') is used
above to delimit hierarchical levels.
It is possible to make an item appear in a designated form by using the
actual (`@') operator. For instance,
\indexentry{alpha@{\it alpha\/}}{1}
will become
\item {\it alpha\/}, 1
after processing. The pattern preceding `@' is used as sort key,
whereas the one following it is written to the output file. Note that
two appearances of the same key, one with and one without the actual op-
erator, are regarded as distinct entries.
The item, subitem, and subsubitem fields may have individual sort keys:
\indexentry{aa@{\it aa\/}!bb@{\it bb\/}!cc@{\it cc\/}}{1}
This will be converted to
\item {\it aa}, 1
\subitem {\it bb}, 3
\subsubitem {\it cc}, 10
It is possible to encapsulate a page number with a designated command
using the encap (`|') operator:
\indexentry{alpha|bold}{1}
will be converted to
\item alpha, \bold{1}
where, with a suitable definition for TeX, \bold{n} will expand to {\bf
n}. In this example, the three output attributes associated with page
encapsulation encap_prefix, encap_infix, and encap_suffix, correspond to
backslash, left brace, and right brace, respectively. This mechanism
allows page numbers to be set in different fonts. For example, the page
where the definition of a keyword appears can be in one font, the loca-
tion of a primary example can be in another font, and other appearances
in yet a third font.
The encap operator can also be used to create cross references in the
index:
\indexentry{alpha|see{beta}}{1}
will become
\item alpha, \see{beta}{1}
in the output file, where
\see{beta}{1}
will expand to
{\it see\/} beta
Note that in a cross reference like this the page number disappears.
A pair of encap concatenated with range_open (`|(') and range_close
(`|)') creates an explicit page range:
\indexentry{alpha|(}{1}
\indexentry{alpha|)}{5}
will become
\item alpha, 1—5
Intermediate pages indexed by the same key will be merged into the range
implicitly. This is especially useful when an entire section about a
particular subject is to be indexed, in which case only the range open-
ing and closing operators need to be inserted at the beginning and end
of the section. Explicit page range formation can also include an extra
command to set the page range in a designated font:
\indexentry{alpha|(bold}{1}
\indexentry{alpha|)}{5}
will become
\item alpha, \bold{1--5}
Several potential problems are worth mentioning. First, entries like
\indexentry{alpha|(}{1}
\indexentry{alpha|bold}{3}
\indexentry{alpha|)}{5}
will be interpreted as
\item alpha, \bold{3}, 1--5
but with a warning message in the transcript about encountering an in-
consistent page encapsulator. An explicit range beginning in a Roman
page number and ending in Arabic is also considered an error. In this
instance, (if possible) the range is broken into two subranges, one in
Roman and the other in Arabic. For instance,
\indexentry{alpha|(}{i}
\indexentry{alpha}{iv}
\indexentry{alpha}{3}
\indexentry{alpha|)}{7}
will be turned into
\item alpha, i--iv, 3--7
with a warning message in the transcript file complaining about an ille-
gal range formation.
Every special symbol mentioned in this section may be escaped by the
quote operator (`"'). Thus
\indexentry{alpha"@beta}{1}
will actually become
\item alpha@beta, 1
as a result of executing makeindex. The quoting power of quote is elim-
inated if it is immediately preceded by escape (`\'). For example,
\indexentry{f\"ur}{1}
becomes
\item f\"ur, 1
which represents an umlaut-accented `u' to the TeX family of processors.
A page number can be a composite of one or more fields separated by the
delimiter bound to page_compositor (`-'), e.g., II-12 for page 12 of
Chapter II. Page numbers may contain up to ten fields.
Since version 2.11 of makeindex, the quote operator may quote any char-
acter in the range 1 ... 255. Character 0 is excluded because it is
used internally in the makeindex source code as a string terminator.
With this change, sort keys can be created for all eight-bit characters
except 0. The sorting order is
punctuation characters (in ASCII order),
digits,
control characters (1 ... 31),
space (32),
letters (ignoring case),
characters 127 ... 255.
Here is an example showing the indexing of all printable ASCII charac-
ters other than letters and digits, assuming the default TeX format.
For convenience, the page number references are the corresponding ASCII
ordinal values.
\indexentry{" @" (space)}{32}
\indexentry{"!@"! (exclamation point)}{33}
\indexentry{""@"" (quotation mark)}{34}
\indexentry{"#@"\# (sharp sign)}{35}
\indexentry{"$@"\$ (dollar sign)}{36}
\indexentry{"%@"\% (percent sign)}{37}
\indexentry{"&@"\& (ampersand)}{38}
\indexentry{"<@"$<$ (left angle bracket)}{60}
\indexentry{"=@"= (equals)}{61}
\indexentry{">@"$>$ (right angle bracket)}{62}
\indexentry{"?@"? (query)}{63}
\indexentry{"@@"@ (at sign)}{64}
\indexentry{"[@"[ (left square bracket)}{91}
\indexentry{"\@"\verb=\= (backslash)}{92}
\indexentry{"]@"] (right square bracket)}{93}
\indexentry{"^@"\verb=^= (caret)}{94}
\indexentry{"_@"\verb=_= (underscore)}{95}
\indexentry{"`@"\verb=~= (grave accent)}{96}
\indexentry{"{@"\"{ (left brace)}{123}
\indexentry{"|@"\verb="|= (vertical bar)}{124}
\indexentry{"}@"\"} (right brace)}{125}
\indexentry{"~@"\verb=~= (tilde)}{126}
Characters in the actual fields following the `@' character which have
special significance to TeX must be represented as control sequences, or
as math mode characters. Note particularly how the entries for the at
sign, left and right braces, and the vertical bar, are coded. The index
file output by makeindex for this example looks like this:
\begin{theindex}
\item ! (exclamation point), 33
\item " (quotation mark), 34
\item \# (sharp sign), 35
\item \$ (dollar sign), 36
\item \% (percent sign), 37
\item \& (ampersand), 38
\item $<$ (left angle bracket), 60
\item = (equals), 61
\item $>$ (right angle bracket), 62
\item ? (query), 63
\item @ (at sign), 64
\item [ (left square bracket), 91
\item \verb=\= (backslash), 92
\item ] (right square bracket), 93
\item \verb=^= (caret), 94
\item \verb=_= (underscore), 95
\item \verb=~= (grave accent), 96
\item \{ (left brace), 123
\item \verb=|= (vertical bar), 124
\item \} (right brace), 125
\item \verb=~= (tilde), 126
\indexspace
\item (space), 32
\end{theindex}
FILES
makeindex executable file
$TEXMFMAIN/tex/plain/makeindex/idxmac.tex
TeX macro file used by makeindex
$TEXMFMAIN/tex/latex/base/makeidx.sty
TeX macro file used by makeindex
SEE ALSO
ditroff(1L), latex(1L), make.index (1L), qsort(3), tex(1L), troff(1L)
UCSF Enhanced troff/TRANSCRIPT — An Overview, R. P. C. Rodgers and Con-
rad Huang, LSMB Technical Report 90-2, UCSF School of Pharmacy, San
Francisco, 1990.
Index Preparation and Processing, Pehong Chen and Michael A. Harrison,
Software: Practice and Experience, 19(9), 897–915, September 1988.
Automating Index Preparation, Pehong Chen and Michael A. Harrison.
Technical Report 87/347, Computer Science Division, University of Cali-
fornia, Berkeley, 1987 (a LaTeX document supplied with makeindex).
MakeIndex: An Index Processor for LaTeX, Leslie Lamport, February 1987
(a LaTeX document supplied with makeindex).
Tools for Printing Indices, Jon L. Bentley and Brian W. Kernighan, Elec-
tronic Publishing — Origination, Dissemination, and Design, 1(1), 3–18,
June 1988 (also available as: Computing Science Technical Report No.
128, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974, 1986).
AUTHOR
Pehong Chen, Chen & Harrison International Systems, Inc. Palo Alto,
California, USA.
Manual page extensively revised and corrected, and troff(1) examples
created by Rick P. C. Rodgers, UCSF School of Pharmacy.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Leslie Lamport contributed significantly to the design of MakeIndex.
Michael Harrison provided valuable comments and suggestions. Nelson
Beebe improved on the portable version, and maintained the source dis-
tribution for the TeX Users Group for many years. Andreas Brosig con-
tributed to the German word ordering. The modification to the -ms
macros was derived from a method proposed by Ravi Sethi of AT&T Bell
Laboratories. The LOG and CONTRIB files in the makeindex source distri-
bution record other contributions.
makeindex is currently maintained as part of the TeX Live distribution
(http://tug.org/texlive); please send bug reports to tex-k@tug.org.
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