This is Info file makeinfo.info, produced by Makeinfo version 1.67 from
the input file makeinfo.texi.

START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* makeinfo: (makeinfo).          Making info files from texinfo files.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

INFO-DIR-SECTION Texinfo documentation system
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* makeinfo: (makeinfo).         Convert Texinfo source to Info or plain ASCII.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY

This file is an extract from the `Texinfo' manual.
It documents Makeinfo, a program that converts Texinfo files into Info
files.

Copyright (C) 1992, 93, 94, 95, 96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
permission notice identical to this one.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions,
except that this permission notice may be stated in a translation
approved by the Free Software Foundation.


File: makeinfo.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Formatting Control,  Up: (dir)

What is `makeinfo'?
*******************

`makeinfo' is a program for converting "Texinfo" files into "Info"
files.  Texinfo is a documentation system that uses a single source
file to produce both on-line information and printed output.

You can read the on-line information using Info; type `info' to learn
about Info.  *Note Texinfo: (Texinfo)Top, to learn about the Texinfo
documentation system.

* Menu:

* Formatting Control::          Controlling the width of lines, paragraph
                                indentation, and other similar formatting.

* Options::                     Command line options which control the
                                behaviour of Makeinfo.

* Pointer Validation::          How Makeinfo can help you to track node
                                references through complex Texinfo files.

* Index::                       Index of Concepts.


File: makeinfo.info,  Node: Formatting Control,  Next: Options,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

Controlling Paragraph Formats
=============================

Without any special options, `makeinfo' "fills" the paragraphs that it
outputs to an Info file.  Filling is the process of breaking and
connecting lines so that lines are the same length as or shorter than
the number specified as the fill column.  Lines are broken between
words.  With `makeinfo', you can control:

   * The width of each paragraph (the "fill-column").

   * The amount of indentation that the first line of each paragraph
     receives (the "paragraph-indentation").


File: makeinfo.info,  Node: Options,  Next: Pointer Validation,  Prev: Formatting Control,  Up: Top

Command Line Options
====================

The following command line options are available for `makeinfo'.

`-D VAR'
     Cause VAR to be defined.  This is equivalent to `@set VAR' in the
     Texinfo file.

`--error-limit LIMIT'
     Set the maximum number of errors that `makeinfo' will report
     before exiting (on the assumption that continuing would be
     useless).  The default number of errors that can be reported before
     `makeinfo' gives up is 100.

`--fill-column WIDTH'
     Specify the maximum number of columns in a line; this is the
     right-hand edge of a line.  Paragraphs that are filled will be
     filled to this width.  The default value for `fill-column' is 72.

`--footnote-style STYLE'
     Set the footnote style to STYLE, either `end' for the end node
     style or `separate' for the separate node style.  The value set by
     this option overrides the value set in a Texinfo file by an
     `@footnotestyle' command.  When the footnote style is `separate',
     `makeinfo' makes a new node containing the footnotes found in the
     current node.  When the footnote style is `end', `makeinfo' places
     the footnote references at the end of the current node.

`-I DIR'
     Add `dir' to the directory search list for finding files that are
     included using the `@include' command.  By default, `makeinfo'
     searches only the current directory.

`--no-headers'
     Do not include menus or node lines in the output.  This results in
     an ASCII file that you cannot read in Info since it does not
     contain the requisite nodes or menus; but you can print such a
     file in a single, typewriter-like font and produce acceptable
     output.

`--no-split'
     Suppress the splitting stage of `makeinfo'.  Normally, large
     output files (where the size is greater than 70k bytes) are split
     into smaller subfiles, each one approximately 50k bytes.  If you
     specify `--no-split', `makeinfo' will not split up the output file.

`--no-pointer-validate'
`--no-validate'
     Suppress the pointer-validation phase of `makeinfo'.  Normally,
     after a Texinfo file is processed, some consistency checks are
     made to ensure that cross references can be resolved, etc.  *Note
     Pointer Validation::.

`--no-warn'
     Suppress the output of warning messages.  This does *not* suppress
     the output of error messages, only warnings.  You might want this
     if the file you are creating has examples of Texinfo cross
     references within it, and the nodes that are referenced do not
     actually exist.

`--no-number-footnotes'
     Supress automatic footnote numbering.  By default, `makeinfo'
     numbers each footnote sequentially in a single node, resetting the
     current footnote number to 1 at the start of each node.

`--output FILE'
`-o FILE'
     Specify that the output should be directed to FILE and not to the
     file name specified in the `@setfilename' command found in the
     Texinfo source.  FILE can be the special token `-', which specifies
     standard output.

`--paragraph-indent INDENT'
     Set the paragraph indentation style to INDENT.  The value set by
     this option overrides the value set in a Texinfo file by an
     `@paragraphindent' command.  The value of INDENT is interpreted as
     follows:

        * If the value of INDENT is `asis', do not change the existing
          indentation at the starts of paragraphs.

        * If the value of INDENT is zero, delete any existing
          indentation.

        * If the value of INDENT is greater than zero, indent each
          paragraph by that number of spaces.

`--reference-limit LIMIT'
     Set the value of the number of references to a node that
     `makeinfo' will make without reporting a warning.  If a node has
     more than this number of references in it, `makeinfo' will make the
     references but also report a warning.

`-U VAR'
     Cause VAR to be undefined.  This is equivalent to `@clear VAR' in
     the Texinfo file.

`--verbose'
     Cause `makeinfo' to display messages saying what it is doing.
     Normally, `makeinfo' only outputs messages if there are errors or
     warnings.

`--version'
     Report the version number of this copy of `makeinfo'.

`--help'
     Show a summary of the commend line arguments to `makeinfo'.


File: makeinfo.info,  Node: Pointer Validation,  Next: Index,  Prev: Options,  Up: Top

Pointer Validation
==================

If you do not suppress pointer-validation (by using the
`--no-pointer-validation' option), `makeinfo' will check the validity
of the final Info file.  Mostly, this means ensuring that nodes you
have referenced really exist.  Here is a complete list of what is
checked:

  1. If a `Next', `Previous', or `Up' node reference is a reference to a
     node in the current file and is not an external reference such as
     to `(dir)', then the referenced node must exist.

  2. In every node, if the `Previous' node is different from the `Up'
     node, then the `Previous' node must also be pointed to by a `Next'
     node.

  3. Every node except the `Top' node must have an `Up' pointer.

  4. The node referenced by an `Up' pointer must contain a reference to
     the current node in some manner other than through a `Next'
     reference.  This includes menu entries and cross references.

  5. If the `Next' reference of a node is not the same as the `Next'
     reference of the `Up' reference, then the node referenced by the
     `Next' pointer must have a `Previous' pointer that points back to
     the current node.  This rule allows the last node in a section to
     point to the first node of the next chapter.


File: makeinfo.info,  Node: Index,  Prev: Pointer Validation,  Up: Top

Index
=====

* Menu:

* Pointer validation with makeinfo:      Pointer Validation.
* Validation of pointers:                Pointer Validation.



Tag Table:
Node: Top1243
Node: Formatting Control2202
Node: Options2837
Node: Pointer Validation7265
Node: Index8619

End Tag Table
