GNU Info
(texinfo)Tips
Tips and Hints
**************
Here are some tips for writing Texinfo documentation:
* Write in the present tense, not in the past or the future.
* Write actively! For example, write "We recommend that ..." rather
than "It is recommended that ...".
* Use 70 or 72 as your fill column. Longer lines are hard to read.
* Include a copyright notice and copying permissions.
Index, Index, Index!
....................
Write many index entries, in different ways. Readers like indices;
they are helpful and convenient.
Although it is easiest to write index entries as you write the body of
the text, some people prefer to write entries afterwards. In either
case, write an entry before the paragraph to which it applies. This
way, an index entry points to the first page of a paragraph that is
split across pages.
Here are more hints we have found valuable:
* Write each index entry differently, so each entry refers to a
different place in the document.
* Write index entries only where a topic is discussed significantly.
For example, it is not useful to index "debugging information" in
a chapter on reporting bugs. Someone who wants to know about
debugging information will certainly not find it in that chapter.
* Consistently capitalize the first word of every concept index
entry, or else consistently use lower case. Terse entries often
call for lower case; longer entries for capitalization. Whichever
case convention you use, please use one or the other consistently!
Mixing the two styles looks bad.
* Always capitalize or use upper case for those words in an index for
which this is proper, such as names of countries or acronyms.
Always use the appropriate case for case-sensitive names, such as
those in C or Lisp.
* Write the indexing commands that refer to a whole section
immediately after the section command, and write the indexing
commands that refer to a paragraph before that paragraph.
In the example that follows, a blank line comes after the index
entry for "Leaping":
@section The Dog and the Fox
@cindex Jumping, in general
@cindex Leaping
@cindex Dog, lazy, jumped over
@cindex Lazy dog jumped over
@cindex Fox, jumps over dog
@cindex Quick fox jumps over dog
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
(Note that the example shows entries for the same concept that are
written in different ways--`Lazy dog', and `Dog, lazy'--so readers
can look up the concept in different ways.)
Blank Lines
...........
* Insert a blank line between a sectioning command and the first
following sentence or paragraph, or between the indexing commands
associated with the sectioning command and the first following
sentence or paragraph, as shown in the tip on indexing.
Otherwise, a formatter may fold title and paragraph together.
* Always insert a blank line before an `@table' command and after an
`@end table' command; but never insert a blank line after an
`@table' command or before an `@end table' command.
For example,
Types of fox:
@table @samp
@item Quick
Jump over lazy dogs.
@item Brown
Also jump over lazy dogs.
@end table
@noindent
On the other hand, ...
Insert blank lines before and after `@itemize' ... `@end itemize'
and `@enumerate' ... `@end enumerate' in the same way.
Complete Phrases
................
Complete phrases are easier to read than ...
* Write entries in an itemized list as complete sentences; or at
least, as complete phrases. Incomplete expressions ... awkward
... like this.
* Write the prefatory sentence or phrase for a multi-item list or
table as a complete expression. Do not write "You can set:";
instead, write "You can set these variables:". The former
expression sounds cut off.
Editions, Dates and Versions
............................
Write the edition and version numbers and date in three places in
every manual:
1. In the first `@ifinfo' section, for people reading the Texinfo
file.
2. In the `@titlepage' section, for people reading the printed manual.
3. In the `Top' node, for people reading the Info file.
Also, it helps to write a note before the first `@ifinfo' section to
explain what you are doing.
For example:
@c ===> NOTE! <==
@c Specify the edition and version numbers and date
@c in *three* places:
@c 1. First ifinfo section 2. title page 3. top node
@c To find the locations, search for !!set
@ifinfo
@c !!set edition, date, version
This is Edition 4.03, January 1992,
of the @cite{GDB Manual} for GDB Version 4.3.
...
--or use `@set' and `@value' (Note: `@value' Example.).
Definition Commands
...................
Definition commands are `@deffn', `@defun', `@defmac', and the like,
and enable you to write descriptions in a uniform format.
* Write just one definition command for each entity you define with a
definition command. The automatic indexing feature creates an
index entry that leads the reader to the definition.
* Use `@table' ... `@end table' in an appendix that contains a
summary of functions, not `@deffn' or other definition commands.
Capitalization
..............
* Capitalize "Texinfo"; it is a name. Do not write the `x' or `i'
in upper case.
* Capitalize "Info"; it is a name.
* Write TeX using the `@TeX{}' command. Note the uppercase `T' and
`X'. This command causes the formatters to typeset the name
according to the wishes of Donald Knuth, who wrote TeX.
Spaces
......
Do not use spaces to format a Texinfo file, except inside of
`@example' ... `@end example' and similar commands.
For example, TeX fills the following:
@kbd{C-x v}
@kbd{M-x vc-next-action}
Perform the next logical operation
on the version-controlled file
corresponding to the current buffer.
so it looks like this:
`C-x v' `M-x vc-next-action' Perform the next logical operation on
the version-controlled file corresponding to the current buffer.
In this case, the text should be formatted with `@table', `@item', and
`@itemx', to create a table.
@code, @samp, @var, and `---'
.............................
* Use `@code' around Lisp symbols, including command names. For
example,
The main function is @code{vc-next-action}, ...
* Avoid putting letters such as `s' immediately after an `@code'.
Such letters look bad.
* Use `@var' around meta-variables. Do not write angle brackets
around them.
* Use three hyphens in a row, `---', to indicate a long dash. TeX
typesets these as a long dash and the Info formatters reduce three
hyphens to two.
Periods Outside of Quotes
.........................
Place periods and other punctuation marks _outside_ of quotations,
unless the punctuation is part of the quotation. This practice goes
against publishing conventions in the United States, but enables the
reader to distinguish between the contents of the quotation and the
whole passage.
For example, you should write the following sentence with the period
outside the end quotation marks:
Evidently, `au' is an abbreviation for ``author''.
since `au' does _not_ serve as an abbreviation for `author.' (with a
period following the word).
Introducing New Terms
.....................
* Introduce new terms so that a reader who does not know them can
understand them from context; or write a definition for the term.
For example, in the following, the terms "check in", "register" and
"delta" are all appearing for the first time; the example sentence
should be rewritten so they are understandable.
The major function assists you in checking in a file to your
version control system and registering successive sets of
changes to it as deltas.
* Use the `@dfn' command around a word being introduced, to indicate
that the reader should not expect to know the meaning already, and
should expect to learn the meaning from this passage.
@pxref
......
Absolutely never use `@pxref' except in the special context for which
it is designed: inside parentheses, with the closing parenthesis
following immediately after the closing brace. One formatter
automatically inserts closing punctuation and the other does not. This
means that the output looks right both in printed output and in an Info
file, but only when the command is used inside parentheses.
Invoking from a Shell
.....................
You can invoke programs such as Emacs, GCC, and `gawk' from a shell.
The documentation for each program should contain a section that
describes this. Unfortunately, if the node names and titles for these
sections are all different, they are difficult for users to find.
So, there is a convention to name such sections with a phrase
beginning with the word `Invoking', as in `Invoking Emacs'; this way,
users can find the section easily.
ANSI C Syntax
.............
When you use `@example' to describe a C function's calling
conventions, use the ANSI C syntax, like this:
void dld_init (char *@var{path});
And in the subsequent discussion, refer to the argument values by
writing the same argument names, again highlighted with `@var'.
Avoid the obsolete style that looks like this:
#include <dld.h>
dld_init (path)
char *path;
Also, it is best to avoid writing `#include' above the declaration
just to indicate that the function is declared in a header file. The
practice may give the misimpression that the `#include' belongs near
the declaration of the function. Either state explicitly which header
file holds the declaration or, better yet, name the header file used
for a group of functions at the beginning of the section that describes
the functions.
Bad Examples
............
Here are several examples of bad writing to avoid:
In this example, say, " ... you must `@dfn'{check in} the new
version." That flows better.
When you are done editing the file, you must perform a
`@dfn'{check in}.
In the following example, say, "... makes a unified interface such as
VC mode possible."
SCCS, RCS and other version-control systems all perform similar
functions in broadly similar ways (it is this resemblance which
makes a unified control mode like this possible).
And in this example, you should specify what `it' refers to:
If you are working with other people, it assists in coordinating
everyone's changes so they do not step on each other.
And Finally ...
...............
* Pronounce TeX as if the `X' were a Greek `chi', as the last sound
in the name `Bach'. But pronounce Texinfo as in `speck':
"teckinfo".
* Write notes for yourself at the very end of a Texinfo file after
the `@bye'. None of the formatters process text after the `@bye';
it is as if the text were within `@ignore' ... `@end ignore'.
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