Second Edition Features

The second edition of the Texinfo manual describes more than 20 new Texinfo mode commands and more than 50 previously undocumented Texinfo @-commands. This edition is more than twice the length of the first edition.

Here is a brief description of the new commands.

New Texinfo Mode Commands

Texinfo mode provides commands and features especially designed for working with Texinfo files. More than 20 new commands have been added, including commands for automatically creating and updating both nodes and menus. This is a tedious task when done by hand.

The keybindings are intended to be somewhat mnemonic.

Update all nodes and menus

The texinfo-master-menu command is the primary command:

C-c C-u m

M-x texinfo-master-menu

Create or update a master menu. With C-u as a prefix argument, first create or update all nodes and regular menus.

Update Pointers

Create or update `Next', `Previous', and `Up' node pointers.

See section Updating Nodes and Menus.

C-c C-u C-n

M-x texinfo-update-node

Update a node.

C-c C-u C-e

M-x texinfo-every-node-update

Update every node in the buffer.

Update Menus

Create or update menus.

See section Updating Nodes and Menus.

C-c C-u C-m

M-x texinfo-make-menu

Make or update a menu.

C-c C-u C-a

M-x texinfo-all-menus-update

Make or update all the menus in a buffer. With C-u as a prefix argument, first update all the nodes.

Insert Title as Description

Insert a node's chapter or section title in the space for the description in a menu entry line; position point so you can edit the insert. (This command works somewhat differently than the other insertion commands, which insert only a predefined string.)

See section Inserting Frequently Used Commands.

C-c C-c C-d

Insert title.

Format for Info

Provide keybindings both for the Info formatting commands that are written in Emacs Lisp and for makeinfo that is written in C.

See section Formatting for Info.

Use the Emacs lisp 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 the makeinfo output buffer.

C-c C-m C-k

Kill the makeinfo formatting job.

Typeset and Print

Typeset and print Texinfo documents from within Emacs.

See section Formatting and Printing.

C-c C-t C-b

Run texi2dvi on the buffer.

C-c C-t C-r

Run TeX on the region.

C-c C-t C-i

Run texindex.

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.

Other Updating Commands

The "other updating commands" do not have standard keybindings because they are used less frequently.

See section Other Updating Commands.

M-x texinfo-insert-node-lines

Insert missing @node lines using section titles as node names.

M-x texinfo-multiple-files-update

Update a multi-file document. With a numeric prefix, such as C-u 8, update every pointer and menu in all the files and then insert a master menu.

M-x texinfo-indent-menu-description

Indent descriptions in menus.

M-x texinfo-sequential-node-update

Insert node pointers in strict sequence.

New Texinfo @-Commands

The second edition of the Texinfo manual describes more than 50 commands that were not described in the first edition. A third or so of these commands existed in Texinfo but were not documented in the manual; the others are new. Here is a listing, with brief descriptions of them:

Indexing

Create your own index, and merge indices.

See section Creating Indices.

@defindex index-name

Define a new index and its indexing command. See also the @defcodeindex command.

@synindex from-index into-index

Merge the from-index index into the into-index index. See also the @syncodeindex command.

Definitions

Describe functions, variables, macros, commands, user options, special forms, and other such artifacts in a uniform format.

See section Definition Commands.

@deffn category name arguments...

Format a description for functions, interactive commands, and similar entities.

@defvr, @defop, ...

15 other related commands.

Glyphs

Indicate the results of evaluation, expansion, printed output, an error message, equivalence of expressions, and the location of point.

See section Glyphs for Examples.

@equiv{}

==

Equivalence:

@error{}

error-->

Error message

@expansion{}

==>

Macro expansion

@point{}

-!-

Position of point

@print{}

-|

Printed output

@result{}

=>

Result of an expression

Page Headings

Customize page headings.

See section Page Headings.

@headings on-off-single-double

Headings on or off, single, or double-sided.

@evenfooting [left] @| [center] @| [right]

Footings for even-numbered (left-hand) pages.

@evenheading, @everyheading, @oddheading, ...

Five other related commands.

@thischapter

Insert name of chapter and chapter number.

@thischaptername, @thisfile, @thistitle, @thispage

Related commands.

Formatting

Format blocks of text.

See section Quotations and Examples, and
section Making Lists and Tables.

@cartouche

Draw rounded box surrounding text (not in Info).

@enumerate optional-arg

Enumerate a list with letters or numbers.

@exdent line-of-text

Remove indentation.

@flushleft

Left justify.

@flushright

Right justify.

@format

Do not narrow nor change font.

@ftable formatting-command

@vtable formatting-command

Two-column table with indexing.

@lisp

For an example of Lisp code.

@smallexample

@smalllisp

Like @table and @lisp but for @smallbook.

Conditionals

Conditionally format text.

See section @set, @clear, and @value.

@set flag [string]

Set a flag. Optionally, set value of flag to string.

@clear flag

Clear a flag.

@value{flag}

Replace with value to which flag is set.

@ifset flag

Format, if flag is set.

@ifclear flag

Ignore, if flag is set.

@heading series for Titles

Produce unnumbered headings that do not appear in a table of contents.

See section Chapter Structuring.

@heading title

Unnumbered section-like heading not listed in the table of contents of a printed manual.

@chapheading, @majorheading, @subheading, @subsubheading

Related commands.

Font commands

See section @sc{text}: The Small Caps Font, and
section Fonts for Printing, Not Info.

@r{text}

Print in roman font.

@sc{text}

Print in SMALL CAPS font.

Miscellaneous

See section @title, @subtitle, and @author,
see section Customized Highlighting,
see section Overfull "hboxes",
see section Footnotes,
see section @dmn{dimension}: Format a Dimension,
see section @raisesections and @lowersections,
see section @math: Inserting Mathematical Expressions.
see section @minus{}: Inserting a Minus Sign,
see section Paragraph Indenting,
see section Different Cross Reference Commands,
see section @title, @subtitle, and @author, and
see section How to Make Your Own Headings.

@author author

Typeset author's name.

@finalout

Produce cleaner printed output.

@footnotestyle end-or-separate

Specify footnote style.

@dmn{dimension}

Format a dimension.

@global@letnew-cmd=existing-cmd

Define a highlighting command for TeX. (TeX only.)

@lowersections

Reduce hierarchical level of sectioning commands.

@math{mathematical-expression}

Format a mathematical expression.

@minus{}

Generate a minus sign.

@paragraphindent asis-or-number

Specify paragraph indentation.

@raisesections

Raise hierarchical level of sectioning commands.

@ref{node-name, [entry], [topic-or-title], [info-file], [manual]}

Make a reference. In the printed manual, the reference does not start with the word `see'.

@title title

Typeset title in the alternative title page format.

@subtitle subtitle

Typeset subtitle in the alternative title page format.

@today{}

Insert the current date.

Go to the first, previous, next, last section, table of contents.