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Build INFO, the EMACS library.

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Lars Brinkhoff
2016-12-03 20:25:22 +01:00
committed by Eric Swenson
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This file documents the INFO program. -*-Text-*-
The H command of INFO goes to the node Help in this file.
Do NOT edit this file! It is produced by DOCOND from the file INFOD.

File: INFO Node: Top Up: (DIR) Next: Add
INFO is a program for reading documentation, which you are using now.
INFO is invoked as a separate program with :INFO<CR> from DDT. INFO
can be run inside an EMACS editor with MM INFO, or, in the default
enviroment, C-X I.
To learn how to use INFO, type the command "H". It will bring you
to a programmed instruction sequence.
* Menu:
* Printing:: How to use INFO on a printing terminal.
* Expert:: Advanced INFO commands: G, S, ^R, and 1 - 5.
* Arg:: Giving INFO an argument, as in :INFO EMACS KILLING
* Add:: Describes how to add new nodes to the hierarchy.
Also tells what nodes look like.
* Menus:: How to add to or create menus in info nodes.
* Footnotes:: How to add footnotes to info nodes.
* Tags:: How to make tag tables for INFO files.
* Checking:: How to check the consistency of an INFO file.
* Installing:: How to install a modified INFO file.

File: INFO Node: Help-Small-Screen Next: Help
Since your terminal has an unusually small number of lines on its
screen, it is necessary to give you special advice at the beginning,
or else you wouldn't be able to read this tutorial!
If you see the the text "--MORE--" appear near the lower right hand
corner of your screen, that means that there is more text to be read
than will fit. You can type a Space to see another screen's worth of
text. To move back to earlier screenfulls which you have passed by
with Spaces, use Backspaces (if there is no such key, try holding down
"Control" and typing "H").
Here are 40 lines of junk, so you can try Spaces and Backspaces and
see what they do. At the end are instructions of what you should do
next.
This is line 17
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If you have managed to get here, go back to the beginning with
Backspaces, and come back here again, then you understand Space and
Backspace. So now type an "N" - just an "N", no Return afterward -
to get to the normal start of the course.

File: INFO Node: Help-Printing Next: Help-Print-P
Please type "T". Just one character; no CR after it.
You are talking to a program INFO, used for reading documentation.
INFO documentation files are structured into units called "Nodes".
A node usually contains information on a particular topic at a
particular level of detail, and names of other related nodes. The
purpose of the INFO program is to help you move from one node to
another.
This node contains the beginning of the course on how to use INFO.
This is a form of programmed instruction in which the text will tell
you how to use INFO commands to continue reading the text. ">>" in
the left margin will be used to mark directions which should be
followed immediately.
The "T" command which you typed told INFO to type the entire contents
of the node, which is what it is now doing. Because you are using a
printing terminal (or so the system believes), when you first move to
a node INFO will print only the first four lines, as it did. To see
the rest, you must type "T". The intention is that from those four
lines you will get an idea of whether you want to see all the rest.
The top line of a node is its "Header". This node's header, which
said "File: INFO Node: Help-Printing Next: Help-Print-P" in case
it's off your screen now) says that it is the node named Help-Printing
in the file "INFO". It says that the Next node after this one is the
node called "Help-Print-P". An advanced INFO command lets you go to
any node whose name you know.
Besides a "Next", a node can have a "Previous" or an "Up".
You can tell that this node doesn't have either of those, because
there is none visible in the header.
The line that follows that Header is called the Title. This node's
title is peculiar in that it gives the directions "Please type 'T'",
but most nodes' titles just say what the node is about.
Now it's time to move from this node to the Next one, which is
Help-Printing-Space. To do that, type "N" for Next. INFO will look
in the header to find which node is next after this one and then go
there.
>> Type "N". After the header and title are printed, type "T" again.

Node: Help-Print-P, Previous: Help-Printing, Next: Help-Print-Space
The "P" Command.
The "P" command moves to the Previous node. This node has a
Previous, as is listed in the header; it is Help-Printing, which you
came from with Next. Next and Previous usually run in opposite
directions like this but not always; whatever it says in the header
line is the truth.
When you try the "P" command, it will print the header and title
which you already saw, which will say "Please type T". But you don't
have to type "T" again. Just type an "N" to come back here and
another "N" to move on.
>> Now type "P" for Previous. When you get there, type "N" to come
back here and another "N" to move on to this node's Next node.
After each "P" and "N" you should think about the header and title
that are printed to make sure you understand what is happening. When
you get to node Help-Print-Space, which will be new to you, you should
follow the directions in the title line.

Node: Help-Print-Space, Previous: Help-Print-P, Next: Help-Pr-Quit
>> Please type a Space instead of a "T".
Typing a space prints ten more lines. Space is useful if you think
a node might be interesting but you aren't sure. After the ten
lines, you can keep typing spaces and get ten more lines each. The
first time you read this node, do it by typing a Space each time
printing stops. When you get fewer than 10 lines from one Space, you
have reached the end of the node.
If after typing one or more Spaces you decide you want to see the
whole node, "T" will print the rest, from where the Spaces left off.
Space might also be useful for you if "T" makes text scroll off the
top of your screen before you can read it all. In that case, you
might prefer to use Space all the time, and never "T".
In order to make this node long enough for Space to be different
from "T", it's necessary to tell you here about a related command,
"B", which means to move to the Beginning of the node you are in.
After a "B", the next Space or "T" command will start from the
beginning of the node again.
>> Now type a "B" and then another Space. Then type a "B" and a "T".
Experiment with these commands until you are sure what sequences of
them will do. Then type an "N" to move on in the course.

Node: Help-Pr-Quit, Previous: Help-Print-Space, Next: Help-Pr-M
How to stop a "T" from typing if you lose interest.
If you issue a "T" command and then find that the node is long and
you have lost interest, you need not wait for it to stop. You can
instead type ^G (Control-G). The terminal's bell should ring,
printing will stop more or less immediately, and you can then issue
other commands. If you change your mind again you can type another
"T", or Spaces, and printing will resume from a little before where it
stopped.
>> This node isn't long enough to practice on, and the previous one
is. So type "P" to go there and "T", then type Control-G when you
feel like it. If the bell doesn't ring and printing doesn't stop,
you typed the wrong character, so keep trying. If necessary, type "B"
and "T" to get more chance to practice. When done, type two "N"'s to
come back and move on.

Node: Help-Pr-M, Previous: Help-Pr-Quit, Next: Help-Pr-L
Menus, Subnodes and the "M" command.
With only the "N" and "P" commands for moving between nodes, nodes
are restricted to a linear sequence. Menus allow a branching
structure. A menu is a list of other nodes you can move to. It is
actually just part of the text of the node formatted specially so that
INFO can interpret it. The beginning of a menu is always identified
by a line which starts with "* Menu:". A node contains a menu if and
only if it has a line in it which starts that way. The only menu you
can use at any moment is the one in the node you are in. To use a
menu in any other node, you must move to that node first.
After the start of the menu, each line that starts with a "*"
identifies one subtopic. The line will usually contain a brief name
for the subtopic (followed by a ":"), the name of the node that talks
about that subtopic, and optionally some further description of the
subtopic. Lines in the menu that don't start with a "*" have no
special meaning - they are only for the human reader's benefit and do
not define additional subtopics. Here is an example:
* Foo: FOO's Node This tells about FOO
The subtopic name is Foo, and the node describing it is "FOO's Node".
The rest of the line is just for the reader's information.
When you use a menu to go to another node (in a way that will be
described soon), what you specify is the subtopic name, the first
thing in the menu line. INFO uses it to find the menu line, extracts
the node name from it, and goes to that node. The reason that there
is both a subtopic name and a node name is that the node name must be
meaningful to the computer and may therefore have to be ugly looking.
The subtopic name can be chosen just to be convenient for the user to
specify. Often the node name is convenient for the user to specify
and so both it and the subtopic name are the same. There is an
abbreviation for this:
* Foo:: This tells about FOO
This means that the subtopic name and node name are the same; they are
both "Foo".
The command to go to one of the subnodes is "M" - but DON'T DO IT
YET! Before you use "M", you must understand the difference between
commands and arguments. So far, you have learned several commands
that do not need arguments. When you type one, INFO processes it and
is instantly ready for another command. The "M" command is different:
it is incomplete without the NAME OF THE SUBTOPIC. Once you have
typed "M", INFO tries to read the name - an argument.
Only when you have completed the argument will the "M" command take
effect and INFO be ready for another command. Until then, you have
the ability to change your mind. To complete the argument and make
the command finish, you type a CR (Carriage-Return). To change your
mind, type a Control-G (the same thing that makes a "T" stop). While
typing the argument, you can use Rubout to cancel a single character,
which will be echoed back at you. If you rub out the entire argument
the next Rubout will rub out the "M" and you will be back at command
level. This much is shared by "M" with all the other INFO commands
that read arguments.
Two features peculiar to the "M" command allow you to ask what
alternatives there are for you to type. Right after typing the "M",
before typing any of the argument, if you type a "?" it will print a
list of all of the subtopic names - all of the things that are
meaningful arguments to "M" for the menu in this node. If you type a
Space, it will print just one subtopic name, and you can keep typing
Spaces to see more of them. After either a "?" or a Space, you are
STILL inside the "M" command and should still either type an argument
or quit with Control-G. These "?" and Space features work only right
after "M" is typed. Even something which was rubbed out will be
enough to prevent them from working, unfortunately.
The argument to the "M" command is the name of a subtopic in the
menu, or an abbreviation for a subtopic. If you use an abbreviation
that could match more than one subtopic, the first subtopic that
matches will be used, so be a little careful. Some menus will put the
shortest possible abbreviation for each subtopic in capital letters to
make it clear what will work. Be sure not to put any spaces at the
end of the argument, and put in only a single space where there is a
space in the subtopic as it appears in the menu.
Here is a menu to give you a chance to practice.
* Menu:
* Foo: Help-Pr-FOO A node you can visit for fun
* Bar: Help-Pr-FOO Strange! two ways to get to the same place.
* Help-Pr-FOO:: And yet another!
You can go to the node Help-Pr-FOO by typing "MFoo" and a CR,
or "MBar" and a CR, or "MHelp-Pr-FOO" and a CR.
>> Type "M", then "?" to see how that lists the alternatives. Then
type "Bar" and four Rubouts. This will rub all the way out of the
"M", so type another "M", and quit with Control-G. Finally, type an
"M", "Bar", and a CR and you will go to Help-Pr-FOO.

Node: Help-Pr-FOO, Up: Help-Pr-M
Congratulations on learning how to use "M".
This node is the first one you have seen that has an Up (look at the
header). It also has no Next or Previous, unlike the others. The Up
is none other than Help-Pr-M, which is the node that contains the menu
that you got here through. This is the usual convention; menus point
"down" and each place you can get to through the menu points back Up.
Previous, on the other hand, is usually used to mean "go backwards but
stay at the same level". Often the subnodes in one menu will be
linked among themselves with Next and Previous.
But again, there are exceptions, and you should look at the header to
be sure what "N", "P" and "U" ought to do.
>> Now type "U" to go back Up to Help-Pr-M. Then "N" to move on.

Node: Help-Pr-L, Previous: Help-Pr-M, Next: Help-Pr-Footnotes
Retracing Steps with the "L" Command.
If you have been moving around to different nodes and wish to
retrace your steps, the "L" command ("L" for "Last") will do that, one
node at a time. If you have been following directions, an "L" command
now will get you back to Help-Pr-M. Another L command would undo the U
and get you back to Help-Pr-FOO. Another L would undo the M and get you
back to Help-Pr-M.
Note the difference between L and P: L moves to where YOU last
were, whereas P always moves to the node which the Header says
is the "Previous" node (from this node, to Help-M).
The place to start looking for any topic, if you know nothing else,
is the directory node of INFO, which is the one you saw the header and
title of when you started INFO. This node has a menu which leads
(directly, or indirectly through other menus), to all the nodes that
exist. You can go there ar any time to start looking for a topic by
typing "D" for Directory.
>> Try typing three L's, pausing in between to see what each L does.
You should end up at Help-Pr-M. The header will show you then that
you can use "N" to come back to here, Help-Pr-L Then type a "D" to
go to the directory and come back here with "L". Then move on with
"N". You know enough to look around at the directory now, but please
resist the temptation to do so until the end of the course (which is
soon).

Node: Help-Pr-Footnotes, Previous: Help-Pr-L, Next: Help-Pr-Q
Footnotes and Cross-References
Sometimes, in INFO documentation, you will see a footnote-pointer.
A footnote pointer performs a similar function to a menu subtopic,
except that menus are used to describe the fundamental structure of
the documentation, while footnotes are used for cross-references.
Footnote pointers look like this: *Note ftnt: Help-Ft. This is a
real, live footnote pointer which is named "Ftnt" and points at the
node named "Help-Ft". You can use the footnote to go to node
"Help-Ft" by issuing the "F" command. It takes an argument, like "M",
and you should give the footnote name, in this case "Ftnt". As with
"M", you can use "?" to get a list of the things you are allowed to
use as arguments - the names of all the footnotes in the current node.
>> Type "F" and "?" to see how that looks, then type "Ftnt" and CR
to go to the node of the footnote. Read it and come back with "L",
then move on with "N".

Node: Help-Pr-Q, Previous: Help-Pr-Footnotes
To get out of Info, back to either DDT (if you did :INFO from DDT)
or to EMACS (if you did MM Info from EMACS), type "Q" for "Quit".
This is the end of the course on using INFO. There are some other
commands that are not essential or meant for experienced users; they
are useful, and you can find them by looking in the directory for
documentation on INFO. Finding them will be a good exercise in using
INFO in the usual manner.
>> Go to the directory with "D", type "MInfo" and Return to get to the
node about INFO and see what is available.

File: INFO Node: Help Next: Help-P
You are talking to a program INFO, for reading documentation.
Right now you are looking at one "Node" of information.
A node contains text describing a specific topic at a specific
level of detail. This node's topic is "how to use INFO".
The top line of a node is its "Header". This node's header (look at
it now) says that it is the node named "Help" in the file "INFO".
It says that the Next node after this one is the node called "Help-P".
An advanced INFO command lets you go to any node whose name you know.
Besides a "Next", a node can have a "Previous" or an "Up".
But this node doesn't have either of those, as you can see.
Now it's time to move on to the Next node, named "Help-P".
>> Type "N" to move there.

File: INFO Node: Help-P Next: Help-^L Previous: Help
This node is called "Help-P". The "Previous" node, as you see, is
"Help", which is the one you just came from using the "N" command.
Another "N" command now would take you to the Next node, "Help-^L".
>> But don't do that yet. First, try the "P" command, which takes
you to the Previous node. When you get there, you can do an "N"
again to return here.
This all probably seems insultingly simple so far, but DON'T be
led into skimming. Things will get more complicated soon. Also,
don't try a new command until you are told it's time to. Otherwise,
you may make INFO skip past an important warning that was coming up.
">>" in the margin means it is really time to try a command.
>> Now do an "N" to get to the node "Help-^L" and learn more.

File: INFO Node: Help-^L Next: Help-M Previous: Help-P
Space, Backspace, B and ^L commands.
This node's header tells you that you are now at node "Help-^L", and
that "P" would get you back to "Help-P". The line starting "Space,"
is a "Title", saying what the node is about (most nodes have one).
This is a big node and it doesn't all fit on your display screen.
You can tell that there is more that isn't visible because of the
"--MORE--" that appears on a line near the bottom of the screen.
The Space, Backspace and B commands exist to allow you to "move
around" in a node that doesn't all fit at once.
Space moves forward, to show what was below the bottom of the screen.
Backspace moves backward, to show what was above the top of the screen
(there isn't anything above the top until you have typed some spaces).
>> Now try typing a Space (afterward, type a Backspace to return here).
When you type the space, the two lines that were at the bottom of the
screen appear at the top, followed by more lines. Backspace takes the
two lines from the top and moves them to the bottom, USUALLY, but if
there are not a full screen's worth of lines above them they may not
make it all the way to the bottom.
If you type a Space when there is no more to see, it will ring the
bell and otherwise do nothing. The same goes for a Backspace when
the Header of the node is visible.
If your screen is ever garbaged, you can tell INFO to print it out
again by typing a ^L (Control-L, that is - hold down "Control" and
type an "L").
>> Type a ^L now.
To move back to the beginning of the node you are on, you can type
a lot of Backspaces. You can also type simply "B" for beginning.
>> Try that now. (I have put in enough verbiage to make sure you are
not on the first screenful now). Then come back, with Spaces.
You have just learned a considerable number of commands. If you
want to use one but have trouble remembering which, you should type
a "?" which will print out a brief list of commands. When you are
finished looking at the list, type a Space to make it go away and
make the node come back.
>> Type a "?" now. After it finishes, type a Space.
From now on, you will encounter large nodes without warning, and
will be expected to know how to use Space and Backspace to move
around in them without being told. Since not all terminals have
the same size screen, it would be impossible to warn you anyway.
>> Now type "N" to see the description of the "M" command.

File: INFO Node: Help-M Next: Help-Adv Previous: Help-^L
Menus and the M command
With only the "N" and "P" commands for moving between nodes, nodes
are restricted to a linear sequence. Menus allow a branching
structure. A menu is a list of other nodes you can move to. It is
actually just part of the text of the node formatted specially so that
INFO can interpret it. The beginning of a menu is always identified
by a line which starts with "* Menu:". A node contains a menu if and
only if it has a line in it which starts that way. The only menu you
can use at any moment is the one in the node you are in. To use a
menu in any other node, you must move to that node first.
After the start of the menu, each line that starts with a "*"
identifies one subtopic. The line will usually contain a brief name
for the subtopic (followed by a ":"), the name of the node that talks
about that subtopic, and optionally some further description of the
subtopic. Lines in the menu that don't start with a "*" have no
special meaning - they are only for the human reader's benefit and do
not define additional subtopics. Here is an example:
* Foo: FOO's Node This tells about FOO
The subtopic name is Foo, and the node describing it is "FOO's Node".
The rest of the line is just for the reader's information.
When you use a menu to go to another node (in a way that will be
described soon), what you specify is the subtopic name, the first
thing in the menu line. INFO uses it to find the menu line, extracts
the node name from it, and goes to that node. The reason that there
is both a subtopic name and a node name is that the node name must be
meaningful to the computer and may therefore have to be ugly looking.
The subtopic name can be chosen just to be convenient for the user to
specify. Often the node name is convenient for the user to specify
and so both it and the subtopic name are the same. There is an
abbreviation for this:
* Foo:: This tells about FOO
This means that the subtopic name and node name are the same; they are
both "Foo".
>> Now use Spaces to find the menu in this node, then come back to
the front with a "B". As you see, a menu is actually visible
in its node. If you can't find a menu in a node by looking at it,
then the node doesn't have a menu. The only menu you can use is the
one (if any) in the current node. To use a menu in another node,
you must first get to that node somehow.
The command to go to one of the subnodes is "M" - but DON'T DO IT
YET! Before you use "M", you must understand the difference between
commands and arguments. So far, you have learned several commands
that do not need arguments. When you type one, INFO processes it and
is instantly ready for another command. The "M" command is different:
it is incomplete without the NAME OF THE SUBTOPIC. Once you have
typed "M", INFO tries to read the name.
Now look for the text "INFO documentation reader" near the bottom of
the screen. As long as that text is there, INFO is awaiting a
command. When that line says something else, INFO is trying to read
the ARGUMENT to a command. At such times, commands won't work,
because INFO will try to use them as the argument. You must either
type the argument and finish the command you started, or type
Control-G to cancel the command. When you have done one of those
things, the line will change back to "INFO documentation reader".
The command to go to a subnode via a menu is "M". When you type an
"M", the top of the menu will appear on the screen if it wasn't
already visible. If the menu doesn't all fit on the screen, you can use
Space and Backspace as usual to move around in it. When you have
decided which subtopic to look at, type the subtopic's name, ended
by a CR (Carriage-Return). You can abbreviate the topic name. If
the abbreviation is not unique, the first matching topic is chosen.
Some menus will put the shortest possible abbreviation for each topic
name in capital letters, so you can see how much you need to type.
You should not put any spaces at the end, or inside of the item name,
except for one space where a space appears in the item in the menu.
>> Now type just an "M" and see what happens:
Here is a menu to give you a chance to practice.
* Menu: The menu starts here. Type a space if you need to.
This menu givs you three ways of going to one place, Help-FOO.
* Foo: Help-FOO A node you can visit for fun
* Bar: Help-FOO Strange! two ways to get to the same place.
* Help-FOO:: And yet another!
Now you are "inside" an "M" command. Commands can't be used now;
the next thing you will type must be the name of a subtopic. Notice
how "INFO documentation reader" has changed to "INFO, awaiting Menu
item" to tell you what you should type next (find this on the screen).
>> Type a question-mark and see what you get.
You can change your mind about doing the "M" by typing a Rubout.
>> Try that now; notice the "awaiting Menu item" change back
>> Then type another "M".
>> Now type "Foo", the item name. Don't type CR yet.
While you are typing the item name, you can use the Rubout
character to cancel one character at a time if you make a mistake.
>> Type one to cancel the last "O". You could type another "O" to
replace it. You don't have to, since "FO" is a valid abbreviation.
>> Now you are ready to go. Type a CR.
After visiting Help-FOO, you should return here.
>> Type "N" to see more commands.

File: INFO Node: Help-FOO Up: Help-M
The U command
Congratulations! This is the node Help-FOO. Unlike the other nodes
you have seen, this one has an "Up". It is "Help-M", the node you
just came from via the "M" command. That is the usual convention - a
node's subnodes have "Up"'s pointing back at it. Menus move Down in
the tree, and Up moves Up. Previous, on the other hand, is usually
used to "stay on the same level but go backwards".
You can go back to the node Help-M by typing the command
"U" for "Up". That will put you at the FRONT of the node - to get
back to where you were reading you will have to type some Spaces.
>> Now type "U" to move back up to Help-M.

File: INFO Node: Help-Adv Next: Help-Q Previous: Help-M
Some advanced INFO commands
The course is almost over, so please stick with it to the end.
If you have been moving around to different nodes and wish to
retrace your steps, the "L" command ("L" for "Last") will do that, one
node at a time. If you have been following directions, an "L" command
now will get you back to Help-M. Another L command would undo the U
and get you back to Help-FOO. Another L would undo the M and get you
back to Help-M.
>> Try typing three L's, pausing in between to see what each L does.
Then follow directions again and you will end up back here.
Note the difference between L and P: L moves to where YOU last
were, whereas P always moves to the node which the Header says
is the "Previous" node (from this node, to Help-M).
The "D" command gets you instantly to the Directory node.
This node, which is the first one you saw when you entered INFO,
has a menu which leads (directly, or indirectly through other menus),
to all the nodes that exist.
>> Try doing a "D", then do an L to return here (yes, DO return).
Sometimes, in INFO documentation, you will see a footnote-pointer.
Footnote pointers look like this: *Note ftnt: Help-Ft. That is a
real, live footnote pointer which is named "Ftnt" and points at the
node named "Help-Ft".
If you wish to look at a footnote, you must use the "F" command.
The "F" must be followed by the footnote name (in this case, "Ftnt").
You can use Rubout and ^L to edit the footnote name, and if you change
your mind about looking at any footnote you can use a lot of Rubouts
to cancel the command.
>> Type "F", followed by "Ftnt", and a CR.
To get a list of all the footnotes in the current node, you can
type "?" after an "F". The "F" continues to await a footnote name
even after printing the list, so if you don't actually want to visit
a footnote you should type a Rubout to cancel the "F".
>> Type "F?" to get a list of the footnotes in this node. Then
type a Rubout and see how the "F" gives up.
>> Now type "N" to see the last node of the course.

File: INFO Node: Help-Ft
This is the node reached by the footnote "Ftnt".
While this node is specifically intended to be a footnote,
many footnotes are simply cross-references to other places in the
structure of nodes. So you can't expect the footnote to have
a Next, Previous or Up pointing back to where you came from.
In general, the "L" command is the only way to get back there.
>> Type "L" to return to where the footnote was.

File: INFO Node: Help-Q Previous: Help-Adv Up: Top
To get out of Info, back to either DDT (if you did :INFO from DDT)
or to EMACS (if you did MM Info from EMACS), type "Q" for "Quit".
This is the end of the course on using INFO. There are some other
commands that are not essential or meant for experienced users; they
are useful, and you can find them by looking in the directory for
documentation on INFO. Finding them will be a good exercise in using
INFO in the usual manner.
>> Go to the directory with "D", type "MInfo" and Return to get to the
node about INFO and see what is available.

File: INFO Node: Add Up: Top Next: Menus
To add a new topic to the list in the directory, you must
1) create a node, in some file, to document that topic.
2) put that topic in the menu in the directory. *Note Menu: Menus.
3) install it on all five machines. *Note Installing: Installing.
The new node can live in an existing documentation file, or in a new
one. It must have a ^_ before it (invisible to the user; this node
has one but you can't see it), and it ends with either a ^_, a ^L, or
the end of file. Note: If you put in a ^L to end a new node, be sure
that there is a ^_ after it to start the next one, since ^L can't
START a node. Also, a nicer way to make a node boundary be a page
boundary as well is to put a ^L RIGHT AFTER the ^_.
The ^_ starting a node must be followed by a CRLF or a ^L CRLF,
after which comes the node's header line. The header line must give
the node's name (by which INFO will find it), and state the names of
the Next, Previous, and Up nodes (if there are any). As you can see,
this node's Up node is the node Top, which points at all the
documentation for INFO. The Next node is "Menus". There is no
Previous node.
The keywords "Node", "Previous", "Up" and "Next", may appear in any
order, anywhere in the header line, but the recommended order is the
one in this sentence. Each keyword must be followed by a colon,
spaces and tabs, and then the appropriate name. The name may be
terminated with a Tab, a comma, or a CRLF. A space does not end it -
node names may contain spaces. The case of letters in the names is
insignificant.
A node name has two forms. A node in the current file is named by
what appears after the "Node: " in that node's first line. For
example, this node's name is "ADD". A node in another file is named
by "(filename)node-within-file", as in "(INFO)ADD" for this node. The
default names for files are DSK:INFO;... >. Parts of the filename
which are the same as the default should be omitted for clarity;
usually, just the first name of the file suffices. The name
"(filename)Top" can be abbreviated to just "(filename)". By
convention, the name "Top" is used for the "highest" node in any
single file - the node whose "Up" points out of the file. The
Directory node is "(DIR)". The Top node of a document file listed in
the Directory should have an "Up: (DIR)" in it.
The node name "*" is special - it refers to the entire file. Thus,
G* will show you the whole current file. The use of the node * is to
make it possible to make old-fashioned, unstructured files into nodes
of the tree. .INFO.;FOO ORDER can be made into a subnode by putting
"(.INFO.;FOO ORDER)*" into a menu!
The "Node:" name, in which a node states its own name, must not
contain a filename, since INFO when searching for a node does not
expect one to be there. The Next, Previous and Up names may contain
them. In this node, since the Up node is in the same file, it was not
necessary to use one.
Note that the nodes in this file have a File name in the header
line. The File names are ignored by INFO, but they help the user
keep track of where he is (after all, just "Top" isn't much help).

File: INFO, Node: Menus, Previous: Add, Up: Top, Next: Footnotes
How to Create Menus:
Any node in the INFO hierarchy may have a MENU - a list of subnodes.
The M command searches the current node's menu for the topic which it
reads from the TTY.
A menu begins with a line starting with "* Menu:". The rest of the
line is a comment. After the starting line, every line that begins
with a "* " lists a single topic. The name of the topic - the arg
that the user must give to the M command to select this topic -
comes right after the star and space, and is followed by
a colon, spaces and tabs, and the name of the node which discusses
that topic. The node name, like node names following Next,
Previous and Up, must be terminated with a tab, comma, or CRLF.
If the node name and topic name are the same, than rather than
giving the name twice, the abbreviation "* <name>::" may be used
(and should be used, whenever possible, as it reduces the visual
clutter in the menu).
It is considerate to choose the topic names so that
they differ from each other very near the beginning - this allows
the user to type short abbreviations. In a long menu, it is a good
idea to capitalize the beginning of each item name which is the
minimum acceptable abbreviation for it (a long menu is more than 5 or
so entries).
The node's listed in a node's menu are called its "subnodes", and
it is their "father". They should each have an "Up:" pointing at
the father. It is often useful to arrange all or most of the
subnodes in a sequence of Next's/Previous's so that someone who
wants to see them all need not keep revisiting the Menu.
The INFO Directory is simply the menu of the node "(DIR)TOP" - that
is, node Top in file INFO;DIR >. You can put new entries in that menu
just like any other menu. The INFO Directory is NOT the same as the
file directory called INFO. It happens that many of INFO's files live
on that file directory, but they don't have to; and files on that
directory are not automatically listed in the INFO Directory node.
Also, although the INFO node graph is claimed to be a "Hierarchy",
in fact it can be ANY directed graph. Shared structures and
pointer cycles are perfectly possible, and can be used if they are
appropriate to the meaning to be expressed. There is no need
for all the nodes in a file to form a connected structure. In fact,
this file has two connected components. You are in one of them,
which is under the node Top; the other contains the node Help which
the "H" command goes to. In fact, since there is no
garbage collector, nothing terrible happens if a substructure
is not pointed to, but such a substructure will be rather useless
since nobody will ever find out that it exists.

File: INFO, Node: Footnotes, Previous: Menus, Up: Top, Next: Tags
Creating Footnotes:
A footnote can be placed anywhere in the text, unlike a menu item
which must go at the front of a line. A footnote looks like a menu
item except that it has "*note" instead of "*". In addition, the
footnote's node name can be terminated by a ".", as well as by a
",", Tab, or CR. It CANNOT be terminated by a ")", because ")"'s
are so often part of node names. If you wish to enclose a footnote
in parentheses, terminate it with a period first. Here are two
examples of footnote pointers:
*Note details: commands. (see *note 3: Full Proof.)
They are just examples. The places they "lead to" don't really exist!

File: INFO, Node: Tags, Previous: Footnotes, Up: Top, Next: Checking
Tag Tables for INFO Files:
You can speed up the access to nodes of a large INFO file by giving
it a tag table. Unlike the tag table for a program, the tag table for
an INFO file lives inside the file itself and will automatically be
used whenever INFO reads in the file. For information on how to
construct and update the tag table, see *Note Tags: (TAGS)INFO.

File: INFO, Node: Checking, Previous: Tags, Up: Top, Next: Installing
Checking an INFO File:
When creating an INFO file, it is easy to forget the name of a node
when you are making a pointer to it from another node. If you put in
the wrong name for a node, this will not be detected until someone
tries to go through the pointer using INFO. Verification of the INFO
file is an automatic process which checks all pointers to nodes and
reports any pointers which are invalid. Every Next, Previous, and Up
is checked, as is every menu item and every footnode. In addition,
any Next which doesn't have a Previous pointing back is reported.
Only pointers within the file are checked, because checking pointers
to other files would be terribly slow. But those are usually few.
To check an INFO file, do M-X RunINFOCheck INFO File<cr> with the
INFO file visited in EMACS, or do X Check INFO File<cr> while looking
at a node in the file with INFO.

File: INFO, Node: Installing, Up: Top, Previous: Checking
How to Install a New INFO Directory on All Machines:
There are five ITS machines (AI, MC, MX, ML, and MD) and each one has
its own copy of the directory file INFO;DIR >. These files should all be
identical and have the same version number. Whenever the directory is
changed on one machine it should be changed on all machines at the same
time. This is done by editing the directory on one machine and then
copying the file to the other machines.
The reason for this is that it is much easier to edit the directory once
and copy it than to edit five different directories. In order for us to
continue to be able to edit only once, we must make sure that the five
directories remain the same, which means EVERYONE must install his changes
on all machines.
The easiest way to copy the file to all the other machines is to do
:INSTAL INFO;DIR >
The :INSTAL program will ask for confirmation, and then copy the file
from the machine you are on to all other machines. If all goes well,
you are done. If it loses (say, if a machine is down) then you must
repeat the process later -- but not much later!
Another implication of this policy is that all the other
documentation files ought to exist on all machines (since the
directory will point to them anyway).
Most other files on INFO; should be maintained identical on all
machines just like INFO;DIR >. If you are solely responsible for
maintaining an INFO file, you can keep different versions on different
machines if you like, but advertise that fact widely; otherwise
someone else may edit the file on one machine and copy it around.
If you work on an INFO file about general parts of the system, then it
should certainly be maintained identical on all machines.

File: INFO Node: Printing Up: Top
Using INFO on a printing terminal.
Most of INFO's special value is lost on printing terminals,
but it can still help direct you to the documentation you are
interested in.
When you arrive at a node, the header and title lines will be
typed out automatically to orient you. To see any more of the
node, you must ask explicitly.
The staple of printing terminal INFO is the T command.
T prints out the entire node - very simple.
As an alternative, the Space command on a printing terminal
prints out ten more lines - the ones after the last ones you saw.
The B command still works; it will make Spaces start printing
from the beginning again. Backspace will move back 10 lines,
not printing them. B and Backspace are most useful on "Glass
teletypes", which are stupid displays combining the worst features
of displays and printing terminals.
The ^L command (redisplay screen) will type out the node's header
and title lines once again. It does not affect the sequence of
lines printed by Spaces.
If your only interest in a node is to use its Menu, you need
not type anything out if you know the name of the topic to specify.
If you don't, then once you are into the M command you can have the
Menu typed out for you, one item at a time, by typing Spaces.
When you have seen enough, you can give the Menu item name.
Alternatively, you can type a "?", which will provide you with
a list of just the names of all the items in the menu. Both "?"
and space will no longer work once you have typed the first
character of the item name.

File: INFO Node: Expert Up: Top
Some Advanced INFO Commands ("G", "S", "1" - "5", and "^R").
If you know a node's name, you can go there by typing
"G", the name, and a CR. Thus, "GTop<CR>" would go to the node
called Top in this file (its directory node). "GExpert<CR>"
would come back.
Unlike M, G does not allow the use of abbreviations, and
does not let you give even the Space, Backspace and ^L commands
while you are typing the argument in.
To go to a node in another file, you can include the filename in the
node name by putting it at the front, in parentheses. Thus,
"G(DIR)Top<CR>" would go to the INFO Directory node, which is node Top
in the file DIR (which is short for DSK:INFO;DIR >).
The node name "*" specifies the whole file. So you can look at all
of the current file by typing "G*<CR>" or all of any other file
with "G(<file>)<CR>".
The "S" command allows you to search a whole file for a string. It
will switch to the next node if and when that is necessary. You type
"S" followed by the string to search for, terminated by a CR. To
search for the same string again, just "S" followed by a CR will do.
The file's nodes will be scanned in the order they are in in the file,
which has no necessary relationship to the order that they may be in
in the tree structure of menus and next's. But normally the two
orders will not be far different. In any case, you can always do a
"B" to find out what node you have reached, if the header isn't
visible (this can happen, because "S" puts your cursor at the
occurrence of the string, not at the beginning of the node).
The "X" command is the same as the EMACS command Meta-X. It lets you
type in the name of an EMACS MM command and its arguments, and
executes them. Command name completion is provided.
If you grudge the system each character of type-in it requires,
you might like to use the commands "1", "2", "3", "4", and "5".
They are short for the "M" command together with an argument.
"1" goes through the first item in the current node's Menu;
"2" goes through the second item, etc. Note that numbers
larger than 5 are not allowed. If the item you want is that
far down, you are better off using an abbreviation for its
name than counting.
The INFO command "" enters a recursive editing level for you to edit
the text of the current node. To get back to INFO, you must give a
command to exit. This command is C-M-C unless your init file
redefines it. If you have changed the text of the node, then when you
visit a node in a different file INFO will offer to save this file.
This is because INFO just uses C-X C-V to access files. You can also
save the file explicitly by using the C-X C-S command or equivalent
while you are still inside the recursive edit.

File: INFO Node: ARG Up: Top
When INFO is invoked with an argument, as in :INFO INFO ARG, or as in
M-X INFOINFO ARG from EMACS, the words of the argument are taken as
menu items in a chain of menus, leading to the node you would like to
see. :INFO INFO ARG would get to this node.