You may edit a Texinfo file with any text editor you choose. A Texinfo file is no different from any other ASCII file. However, GNU Emacs comes with a special mode, called Texinfo mode, that provides Emacs commands and tools to help ease your work.
This chapter describes features of GNU Emacs' Texinfo mode but not any features of the Texinfo formatting language. If you are reading this manual straight through from the beginning, you may want to skim through this chapter briefly and come back to it after reading succeeding chapters which describe the Texinfo formatting language in detail.
Texinfo mode provides special features for working with Texinfo files:
@node lines.
Perhaps the two most helpful features are those for inserting frequently used @-commands and for creating node pointers and menus.
In most cases, the usual Text mode commands work the same in Texinfo
mode as they do in Text mode. Texinfo mode adds new editing commands
and tools to GNU Emacs' general purpose editing features. The major
difference concerns filling. In Texinfo mode, the paragraph
separation variable and syntax table are redefined so that Texinfo
commands that should be on lines of their own are not inadvertently
included in paragraphs. Thus, the M-q (fill-paragraph)
command will refill a paragraph but not mix an indexing command on a
line adjacent to it into the paragraph.
In addition, Texinfo mode sets the page-delimiter variable to
the value of texinfo-chapter-level-regexp; by default, this is
a regular expression matching the commands for chapters and their
equivalents, such as appendices. With this value for the page
delimiter, you can jump from chapter title to chapter title with the
C-x ] (forward-page) and C-x [
(backward-page) commands and narrow to a chapter with the
C-x p (narrow-to-page) command. (See section `Pages' in The GNU Emacs Manual, for details about the page commands.)
You may name a Texinfo file however you wish, but the convention is to
end a Texinfo file name with one of the three extensions
`.texinfo', `.texi', or `.tex'. A longer extension is
preferred, since it is explicit, but a shorter extension may be
necessary for operating systems that limit the length of file names.
GNU Emacs automatically enters Texinfo mode when you visit a file with
a `.texinfo' or `.texi'
extension. Also, Emacs switches to Texinfo mode
when you visit a
file that has `-*-texinfo-*-' in its first line. If ever you are
in another mode and wish to switch to Texinfo mode, type M-x
texinfo-mode.
Like all other Emacs features, you can customize or enhance Texinfo mode as you wish. In particular, the keybindings are very easy to change. The keybindings described here are the default or standard ones.
Texinfo mode provides commands to insert various frequently used @-commands into the buffer. You can use these commands to save keystrokes.
The insert commands are invoked by typing C-c twice and then the first letter of the @-command:
@code{} and put the
cursor between the braces.
@dfn{} and put the
cursor between the braces.
@end and attempt to insert the correct following word,
such as `example' or `table'. (This command does not handle
nested lists correctly, but inserts the word appropriate to the
immediately preceding list.)
@item and put the
cursor at the beginning of the next line.
@kbd{} and put the
cursor between the braces.
@node and a comment line
listing the sequence for the `Next',
`Previous', and `Up' nodes.
Leave point after the @node.
@noindent and put the
cursor at the beginning of the next line.
@samp{} and put the
cursor between the braces.
@table followed by a SPC
and leave the cursor after the SPC.
@var{} and put the
cursor between the braces.
@example and put the
cursor at the beginning of the next line.
{} and put the cursor between the braces.
To put a command such as @code{...} around an
existing word, position the cursor in front of the word and type
C-u 1 C-c C-c c. This makes it easy to edit existing plain text.
The value of the prefix argument tells Emacs how many words following
point to include between braces---`1' for one word, `2' for
two words, and so on. Use a negative argument to enclose the previous
word or words. If you do not specify a prefix argument, Emacs inserts
the @-command string and positions the cursor between the braces. This
feature works only for those @-commands that operate on a word or words
within one line, such as @kbd and @var.
This set of insert commands was created after analyzing the frequency with which different @-commands are used in the GNU Emacs Manual and the GDB Manual. If you wish to add your own insert commands, you can bind a keyboard macro to a key, use abbreviations, or extend the code in `texinfo.el'.
C-c C-c C-d (texinfo-start-menu-description) is an insert
command that works differently from the other insert commands. It
inserts a node's section or chapter title in the space for the
description in a menu entry line. (A menu entry has three parts, the
entry name, the node name, and the description. Only the node name is
required, but a description helps explain what the node is about.
See section The Parts of a Menu.)
To use texinfo-start-menu-description, position point in a menu
entry line and type C-c C-c C-d. The command looks for and copies
the title that goes with the node name, and inserts the title as a
description; it positions point at beginning of the inserted text so you
can edit it. The function does not insert the title if the menu entry
line already contains a description.
This command is only an aid to writing descriptions; it does not do the whole job. You must edit the inserted text since a title tends to use the same words as a node name but a useful description uses different words.
You can show the section structure of a Texinfo file by using the
C-c C-s command (texinfo-show-structure). This command
shows the section structure of a Texinfo file by listing the lines
that begin with the @-commands for @chapter,
@section, and the like. It constructs what amounts
to a table of contents. These lines are displayed in another buffer
called the `*Occur*' buffer. In that buffer, you can position
the cursor over one of the lines and use the C-c C-c command
(occur-mode-goto-occurrence), to jump to the corresponding spot
in the Texinfo file.
@chapter, @section, and such lines of a
Texinfo file.
If you call texinfo-show-structure with a prefix argument by
typing C-u C-c C-s, it will list not only those lines with the
@-commands for @chapter, @section, and the like,
but also the @node lines. (This is how the
texinfo-show-structure command worked without an argument in
the first version of Texinfo. It was changed because @node
lines clutter up the `*Occur*' buffer and are usually not
needed.) You can use texinfo-show-structure with a prefix
argument to check whether the `Next', `Previous', and `Up' pointers of
an @node line are correct.
Often, when you are working on a manual, you will be interested only
in the structure of the current chapter. In this case, you can mark
off the region of the buffer that you are interested in by using the
C-x n n (narrow-to-region) command and
texinfo-show-structure will work on only that region. To see
the whole buffer again, use C-x n w (widen).
(See section `Narrowing' in The GNU Emacs Manual, for more
information about the narrowing commands.)
In addition to providing the texinfo-show-structure command,
Texinfo mode sets the value of the page delimiter variable to match
the chapter-level @-commands. This enables you to use the C-x
] (forward-page) and C-x [ (backward-page)
commands to move forward and backward by chapter, and to use the
C-x p (narrow-to-page) command to narrow to a chapter.
See section `Pages' in The GNU Emacs Manual, for more information
about the page commands.
Texinfo mode provides commands for automatically creating or updating
menus and node pointers. The commands are called "update" commands
because their most frequent use is for updating a Texinfo file after
you have worked on it; but you can use them to insert the `Next',
`Previous', and `Up' pointers into an @node line that has none and to
create menus in a file that has none.
If you do not use the updating commands, you need to write menus and node pointers by hand, which is a tedious task.
You can use the updating commands
You can also use the commands to update all the nodes and menus in a region or in a whole Texinfo file.
The updating commands work only with conventional Texinfo files, which
are structured hierarchically like books. In such files, a structuring
command line must follow closely after each @node line, except
for the `Top' @node line. (A structuring command line is
a line beginning with @chapter, @section, or other
similar command.)
You can write the structuring command line on the line that follows
immediately after an @node line or else on the line that
follows after a single @comment line or a single
@ifinfo line. You cannot interpose more than one line between
the @node line and the structuring command line; and you may
interpose only an @comment line or an @ifinfo line.
Commands which work on a whole buffer require that the `Top' node be
followed by a node with an @chapter or equivalent-level command.
Note that the menu updating commands will not create a main or master
menu for a Texinfo file that has only @chapter-level nodes! The
menu updating commands only create menus within nodes for lower level
nodes. To create a menu of chapters, you must provide a `Top'
node.
The menu updating commands remove menu entries that refer to other Info files since they do not refer to nodes within the current buffer. This is a deficiency. Rather than use menu entries, you can use cross references to refer to other Info files. None of the updating commands affect cross references.
Texinfo mode has five updating commands that are used most often: two
are for updating the node pointers or menu of a single node (or a
region); two are for updating every node pointer and menu in a file;
and one, the texinfo-master-menu command, is for creating a
master menu for a complete file, and optionally, for updating every
node and menu in the whole Texinfo file.
The texinfo-master-menu command is the primary command:
texinfo-master-menu to work, the Texinfo file must have a
`Top' node and at least one subsequent node.
After extensively editing a Texinfo file, you can type the following:
C-u M-x texinfo-master-menu or C-u C-c C-u mThis updates all the nodes and menus completely and all at once.
The other major updating commands do smaller jobs and are designed for the person who updates nodes and menus as he or she writes a Texinfo file.
The commands are:
@node line preceding point). If the
@node line has pre-existing `Next', `Previous', or `Up'
pointers in it, the old pointers are removed and new ones inserted.
With an argument (prefix argument, C-u, if interactive), this command
updates all @node lines in the region (which is the text
between point and mark).
texinfo-make-menu updates an existing menu, the
descriptions from that menu are incorporated into the new menu. This
is done by copying descriptions from the existing menu to the entries
in the new menu that have the same node names. If the node names are
different, the descriptions are not copied to the new menu.
texinfo-all-menus-update command
updates it; but the command does not create a new master menu if none
already exists. (Use the texinfo-master-menu command for
that.)
When working on a document that does not merit a master menu, you can
type the following:
C-u C-c C-u C-a or C-u M-x texinfo-all-menus-updateThis updates all the nodes and menus.
The texinfo-column-for-description variable specifies the
column to which menu descriptions are indented. By default, the value
is 32 although it is often useful to reduce it to as low as 24. You
can set the variable with the M-x edit-options command
(see section `Editing Variable Values' in The GNU Emacs Manual) or with the M-x set-variable command (see section `Examining and Setting Variables' in The GNU Emacs Manual).
Also, the texinfo-indent-menu-description command may be used to
indent existing menu descriptions to a specified column. Finally, if
you wish, you can use the texinfo-insert-node-lines command to
insert missing @node lines into a file. (See section Other Updating Commands, for more information.)
To use the updating commands, you must organize the Texinfo file hierarchically with chapters, sections, subsections, and the like. When you construct the hierarchy of the manual, do not `jump down' more than one level at a time: you can follow the `Top' node with a chapter, but not with a section; you can follow a chapter with a section, but not with a subsection. However, you may `jump up' any number of levels at one time--for example, from a subsection to a chapter.
Each @node line, with the exception of the line for the `Top'
node, must be followed by a line with a structuring command such as
@chapter, @section, or
@unnumberedsubsec.
Each @node line/structuring-command line combination
must look either like this:
@node Comments, Minimum, Conventions, Overview @comment node-name, next, previous, up @section Comments
or like this (without the @comment line):
@node Comments, Minimum, Conventions, Overview @section Comments
In this example, `Comments' is the name of both the node and the
section. The next node is called `Minimum' and the previous node is
called `Conventions'. The `Comments' section is within the `Overview'
node, which is specified by the `Up' pointer. (Instead of an
@comment line, you can write an @ifinfo line.)
If a file has a `Top' node, it must be called `top' or `Top' and be the first node in the file.
The menu updating commands create a menu of sections within a chapter, a menu of subsections within a section, and so on. This means that you must have a `Top' node if you want a menu of chapters.
Incidentally, the makeinfo command will create an Info file for
a hierarchically organized Texinfo file that lacks `Next', `Previous'
and `Up' pointers. Thus, if you can be sure that your Texinfo file
will be formatted with makeinfo, you have no need for the
`update node' commands. (See section Creating an Info File, for more information about makeinfo.) However,
both makeinfo and the texinfo-format-... commands
require that you insert menus in the file.
In addition to the five major updating commands, Texinfo mode possesses several less frequently used updating commands:
@node lines before the @chapter,
@section, and other sectioning commands wherever they are
missing throughout a region in a Texinfo file.
With an argument (C-u as prefix argument, if interactive), the
texinfo-insert-node-lines command not only inserts
@node lines but also inserts the chapter or section titles as
the names of the corresponding nodes. In addition, it inserts the
titles as node names in pre-existing @node lines that lack
names. Since node names should be more concise than section or
chapter titles, you must manually edit node names so inserted.
For example, the following marks a whole buffer as a region and inserts
@node lines and titles throughout:
C-x h C-u M-x texinfo-insert-node-lines(Note that this command inserts titles as node names in
@node
lines; the texinfo-start-menu-description command
(see section Inserting Frequently Used Commands) inserts titles
as descriptions in menu entries, a different action. However, in both
cases, you need to edit the inserted text.)
texinfo-multiple-files-update command is
described in the appendix on @include files.
See section texinfo-multiple-files-update.
texinfo-indent-menu-description command indents
every description in every menu in the region. However, this command
does not indent the second and subsequent lines of a multi-line
description.
texinfo-sequential-node-update command
sequentially updates all the nodes in the region.Texinfo mode provides several commands for formatting part or all of a Texinfo file for Info. Often, when you are writing a document, you want to format only part of a file--that is, a region.
You can use either the texinfo-format-region or the
makeinfo-region command to format a region:
You can use either the texinfo-format-buffer or the
makeinfo-buffer command to format a whole buffer:
For example, after writing a Texinfo file, you can type the following:
C-u C-c C-u m or C-u M-x texinfo-master-menu
This updates all the nodes and menus. Then type the following to create an Info file:
C-c C-m C-b or M-x makeinfo-buffer
For TeX or the Info formatting commands to work, the file must
include a line that has @setfilename in its header.
See section Creating an Info File, for details about Info formatting.
Typesetting and printing a Texinfo file is a multi-step process in which
you first create a file for printing (called a DVI file), and then
print the file. Optionally, you may also create indices. To do this,
you must run the texindex command after first running the
tex typesetting command; and then you must run the tex
command again. Or else run the texi2dvi command which
automatically creates indices as needed.
Often, when you are writing a document, you want to typeset and print
only part of a file to see what it will look like. You can use the
texinfo-tex-region and related commands for this purpose. Use
the texinfo-tex-buffer command to format all of a
buffer.
texi2dvi on the buffer. In addition to running TeX on the
buffer, this command automatically creates or updates indices as
needed.
texindex to sort the indices of a Texinfo file formatted with
texinfo-tex-region. The texinfo-tex-region command does
not run texindex automatically; it only runs the tex
typesetting command. You must run the texinfo-tex-region command
a second time after sorting the raw index files with the texindex
command. (Usually, you do not format an index when you format a region,
only when you format a buffer. Now that the texi2dvi command
exists, there is little or no need for this command.)
texinfo-tex-buffer or texinfo-tex-region.
For texinfo-tex-region or texinfo-tex-buffer to work, the
file must start with a `\input texinfo' line and must
include an @settitle line. The file must end with @bye
on a line by itself. (When you use texinfo-tex-region, you must
surround the @settitle line with start-of-header and
end-of-header lines.)
See section Format and Print Hardcopy, for a description of the other TeX related
commands, such as tex-show-print-queue.
In Texinfo mode, each set of commands has default keybindings that begin with the same keys. All the commands that are custom-created for Texinfo mode begin with C-c. The keys are somewhat mnemonic.
The insert commands are invoked by typing C-c twice and then the first letter of the @-command to be inserted. (It might make more sense mnemonically to use C-c C-i, for `custom insert', but C-c C-c is quick to type.)
C-c C-c c Insert `@code'.
C-c C-c d Insert `@dfn'.
C-c C-c e Insert `@end'.
C-c C-c i Insert `@item'.
C-c C-c n Insert `@node'.
C-c C-c s Insert `@samp'.
C-c C-c v Insert `@var'.
C-c C-c { Insert braces.
C-c C-c ]
C-c C-c } Move out of enclosing braces.
C-c C-c C-d Insert a node's section title
in the space for the description
in a menu entry line.
The texinfo-show-structure command is often used within a
narrowed region.
C-c C-s List all the headings.
The texinfo-master-menu command creates a master menu; and can
be used to update every node and menu in a file as well.
C-c C-u m
M-x texinfo-master-menu
Create or update a master menu.
C-u C-c C-u m With C-u as a prefix argument, first
create or update all nodes and regular
menus, and then create a master menu.
The update pointer commands are invoked by typing C-c C-u and
then either C-n for texinfo-update-node or C-e for
texinfo-every-node-update.
C-c C-u C-n Update a node. C-c C-u C-e Update every node in the buffer.
Invoke the update menu commands by typing C-c C-u
and then either C-m for texinfo-make-menu or
C-a for texinfo-all-menus-update. To update
both nodes and menus at the same time, precede C-c C-u
C-a with C-u.
C-c C-u C-m Make or update a menu.
C-c C-u C-a Make or update all
menus in a buffer.
C-u C-c C-u C-a With C-u as a prefix argument,
first create or update all nodes and
then create or update all menus.
The Info formatting commands that are written in Emacs Lisp are invoked by typing C-c C-e and then either C-r for a region or C-b for the whole buffer.
The Info formatting commands that are written in C and based on the
makeinfo program are invoked by typing C-c C-m and then
either C-r for a region or C-b for the whole buffer.
Use the texinfo-format... commands:
C-c C-e C-r Format the region. C-c C-e C-b Format the buffer.
Use makeinfo:
C-c C-m C-r Format the region. C-c C-m C-b Format the buffer. C-c C-m C-l Recenter themakeinfooutput buffer. C-c C-m C-k Kill themakeinfoformatting job.
The TeX typesetting and printing commands are invoked by typing
C-c C-t and then another control command: C-r for
texinfo-tex-region, C-b for texinfo-tex-buffer,
and so on.
C-c C-t C-r Run TeX on the region. C-c C-t C-b Runtexi2dvion the buffer. C-c C-t C-i Runtexindex. C-c C-t C-p Print the DVI file. C-c C-t C-q Show the print queue. C-c C-t C-d Delete a job from the print queue. C-c C-t C-k Kill the current TeX formatting job. C-c C-t C-x Quit a currently stopped TeX formatting job. C-c C-t C-l Recenter the output buffer.
The `other updating commands' do not have standard keybindings because they are rarely used.
M-x texinfo-insert-node-lines
Insert missing @node lines in region.
With C-u as a prefix argument,
use section titles as node names.
M-x texinfo-multiple-files-update
Update a multi-file document.
With C-u 2 as a prefix argument,
create or update all nodes and menus
in all included files first.
M-x texinfo-indent-menu-description
Indent descriptions.
M-x texinfo-sequential-node-update
Insert node pointers in strict sequence.
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