13.5 Defining New Indices

In addition to the predefined indices, you may use the @defindex and @defcodeindex commands to define new indices. These commands create new indexing @-commands with which you mark index entries. The @defindex command is used like this:

     @defindex name

The name of an index should be a two letter word, such as `au'. For example:

     @defindex au

This defines a new index, called the `au' index. At the same time, it creates a new indexing command, @auindex, that you can use to make index entries. Use this new indexing command just as you would use a predefined indexing command.

For example, here is a section heading followed by a concept index entry and two `au' index entries.

     @section Cognitive Semantics
     @cindex kinesthetic image schemas
     @auindex Johnson, Mark
     @auindex Lakoff, George

(Evidently, `au' serves here as an abbreviation for “author”.)

In general, Texinfo constructs the new indexing command by concatenating the name of the index with `index'; thus, defining an `xy' index leads to the automatic creation of an @xyindex command.

Use the @printindex command to print the index, as you do with the predefined indices. For example:

     @node Author Index
     @unnumbered Author Index
     
     @printindex au

The @defcodeindex is like the @defindex command, except that, in the printed output, it prints entries in an @code font by default instead of a roman font.

You should define new indices before the end-of-header line of a Texinfo file, and (of course) before any @synindex or @syncodeindex commands (see Texinfo File Header).