Conference vaxuum::document_ft

705.0. "index format question" by DECWET::HUNT (Liz Hunt) Thu Jul 23 1987 15:30

   I have a question about how indexes are formatted.  No, this is 
   not a report of problems creating an index... it processed and
   printed beautifully!  (phew)

   Here's a part of an index I created yesterday (BL8, soft.spec, postscript):

           bottom of one pg                top of next page
   vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv || vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
         
              .                        Shift key (EVEplus) (cont'd.)
              .                            See PF1 key
              .                        
   -------------------------           -------------------------
              P                                     T
   -------------------------           -------------------------
   PF1 key (EVEplus) . 4-2             Text editor...
   Programming
       editing support . 1-3                        .
                                                    .
   -------------------------                        .
              S
   -------------------------   
   Shift key (EVEplus)


   It seems to me that the index entry "Shift key" was treated in kind
   of an odd fashion.  I would prefer to have the S heading shifted to
   the next column (and in this case, the next page).
   
   I've had primary entries split across columns in this way more than once.
   Sometimes the columns happen to be on different pages, sometimes they are 
   on the same page. 
   
   Is this the expected behaviour?  Is there some way I can use 
   <final_cleanup> or some such to force these entries to not be split
   this way?

    
    We haven't seen that behavior too frequently, but it appears we'll
    need to do one of the following (as per your request):
    
    1. Fix the DESIGN files so that the breaks are handled better.
    2. Provide a way to do final clean-up on an index output (and
       presumably TOC) file.
    
    Meanwhile, if you do want to do hand clean-up on the index file,
    I can tell you offline how to do it for now. (It's ugly, and I
    want to keep this NOTES file clean.
    
    -pa
    

    Re: .1
    
    Would it be possible to do both solutions 1. and 2.?  Smarter design
    files are always preferred, but chances are they may not always catch 
    every strange break, or meet every user's needs.
    
    Perhaps I'm just wanting a security blanket, but from a production
    standpoint, I'd feel much more comfortable if there was a way to
    get into these files and do some final cleanup.
    
    Thanks for your responsiveness Patti, as always.
    
    -- Craig 

    Thanks for the reply, Patti.
    
    The document for which the index was formatted strangely was an
    informal document, so I'm going to leave the index just as it is.
    
    If I run across this problem again, though, in a more official
    document, I'll take you up on your offer of assistance with hand
    cleanup.