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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.
@definfoenclose new-command, before, after,
Define a highlighting command for Info. (Info only.)
@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.
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