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Inside Macintosh: Apple Guide Complete / Part 4 - Scripting Guide Files

Chapter 10 - Guide Script Command Reference / Guide Script Command Descriptions

/ Defining Index Terms

<Index>

You can use the <Index> command to specify a phrase that appears in the left column (the index column) in the Full Access window when Index is the active list.

<Index> indexTerm [, visible] [, key]

indexTerm

A text string that specifies an index term for display in the list of index terms.

visible

A Boolean constant that indicates whether the index term is visible (TRUE) or invisible (FALSE). This parameter is optional. If you omit this parameter, Apple Guide uses TRUE as the default.

key

A text string that specifies a key that Apple Guide should use when sorting this index term among other index terms. This parameter is optional and should be supplied only if you also specify an <Index Sorting> command.

DESCRIPTION

Apple Guide displays, in the list of index terms, the phrase defined in the indexTerm parameter. When the user clicks the Index button, Apple Guide displays the index terms defined by <Index> commands. When the user selects a particular index term, Apple Guide displays the topics and any headers associated with the selected index term. You associate topics and headers with a particular index term by following an <Index> command by <Header> and <Topic> commands.

The visible parameter determines whether the index term is visible or invisible. Apple Guide displays visible index terms in the list of index terms. Apple Guide does not display invisible index terms in the list of index terms; but when a user uses the Look For facility to search for an index term, Apple Guide searches both visible and invisible index terms. Invisible index terms allow you to specify key phrases that you want the user to be able to search for but that you do not want included in the list of displayed index terms.

By default, Apple Guide displays index terms in alphabetical order regardless of the order in which they appear in your help source files. To specify that Apple Guide should display terms in the order they appear in your source files or to indicate that you are providing keys for each index term, use the <Index Sorting> command.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

An <Index> command must be followed by at least one <Header> or <Topic> command. You must define at least one index term if you use the Full Access window for your guide file.

EXAMPLES

#specify index term, then header and topics
<Index> "Page width"
   #specify header and topics for this index term
   <Header> "How do I"
      <Topic> "change the default page width?", \xAC
               "How do I change the default page width?"
      <Topic> "give each page a different page width?", \xAC
               "How do I give each page a different page width?"

#specify index term then header and topics
<Index> "Fonts"
   #specify header and topics for this index term
   <Header> "How do I"
      <Topic> "change the default font?", \xAC
               "How do I change the default font?"
      <Topic> "increase the size of a font?", \xAC
               "How do I increase the size of a font?"

#specify invisible index term then header and topics
<Index> "Setting page width", FALSE
   #specify header and topics for this invisible index term
   <Header> "How do I"
      <Topic> "change the default page width?", \xAC
               "How do I change the default page width?"
      <Topic> "give each page a different page width?", \xAC
               "How do I give each page a different page width?"

SEE ALSO

For information on the <Header> and <Topic> commands, see page 10-135 and page 10-137, respectively. For information on specifying index information for Mixin guide files, see the descriptions of the <Insert Index Header> and <Insert Index Topic> commands on page 10-195 and page 10-196, respectively. To provide more control over the sorting and sorting order of index terms, use the <Sorting> command (described next) and the <Index Sorting> command (described on page 10-132).