[Scribus] Index

[John R. Culleton]

On Sunday 22 July 2007, Nicholas Hasser wrote:
>  > Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2007 12:04:32 +0200 (CEST)
>  > From: "silvia.funghi at tiscali.it" <silvia.funghi at tiscali.it>
>  > Subject: [Scribus] Index
>  > To: scribus at nashi.altmuehlnet.de
>  > Message-ID: <33209923.1185098672867.JavaMail.root at ps23>
>  > Content-Type: text/plain;charset="UTF-8"
>  >
>  > Hi,
>  > I've made a book with scribus 1.3.3.8 for windows, and now I
>  > have to create the index.
>  > I 've used different paragraph styles for titles, and I think
>  > using these styles I can create the index automatically, but I
>  > don't find the exact procedure.
>  > Someone has same solution?
>  >
>  > Best
>  > Silvia
>
> Index or Table of Contents? Instructions for a ToC are in the wiki
> (http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/Creating_a_Table_of_Contents).
>
> Nick

In the book business index means back of book index.  When it comes to 
indexing, bibliography, footnotes etc. Scribus comes up short 
compared to more book-oriented products . However one can always use 
an external product to create the index and add that in later on. 
That is what professional indexers do.  Commercial products such as 
Cindex, Macrex and Sky Index are suitable.  

It is also possible to make up an input file using an editor for TeX's 
makeindex program. You need to create a file called e.g.,  
mybook.idx, run it through makeindex with a suitable control (.ist) 
file as described in the makeindex manual. and then flow the 
resulting mybook. ind  file into Scribus.   Perhaps I should cobble 
up a Tcl/TK program to ease the input process. 

Typical line items for the makeindex raw file (mybook.idx) would look 
something like this:

\indexentry{life expectancy}{8}
\indexentry{reinsurer}{8}
\indexentry{reinsurance}{8}
\indexentry{reinsurer}{8}
\indexentry{life expectancy}{8}
\indexentry{mortality!predictors}{8}

etc.

These entries are extracted from an actual file for an index I did for 
a customer.  The makeindex program will take these entries, sort them 
by entry name, summarize where necessary (e.g., "reinsurer" above) 
and produce a proper index  ready to flow into the scribus document, 
complete with letter headings etc.  Subentries under major entries 
look like the last item shown above. 

For alphabets such as Czech etc. the alternative program Xindy may be 
more suitable. It is a tougher product to work with however.  

Or you can always make up  3 x 5 card records  and sort them by hand 
as in centuries past...

-- 
John Culleton
Able Indexers and Typesetters




_________________________________________________________________
Need personalized email and website? Look no further. It's easy
with Doteasy $0 Web Hosting! Learn more at www.doteasy.com