Re: Info enhancements

["Robert J. Chassell" <bob@rattlesnake.com>]

   > I must not have been clear.  The format I meant is:
   >
   >      * MENU-ENTRY-NAME: NODE-NAME.   LINE_NUMBER. DESCRIPTION

and Juri Linkov <juri@jurta.org>:

   I think that line numbers in index menus can distract users.

Yes, they do.  I found them very distracting when they followed the
description and figured I would be much less bothered by seeing them
in front of the description, like this:

* abs:                          147.  Basic Arithmetic.       
* abs (vectors):                18.   Vector and Matrix Arithmetic.  
* abssqr:                       157.  Basic Arithmetic.       
* accum:                        20.   Reducing.               
* acute:                        55.   TeX Language Mode.      
* add:                          90.   Specifying Operators.   
* afixp:                        21.   Nesting and Fixed Points.  

(Adapted from calc-2.02f-patch-1/calc.info-26 -- those are actual line
numbers.  Basicially, the descriptions are lined up, and I can ignore
the line numbers easily.  In Dave Gillespie's format the line numbers
come after the description.  With short descriptions they, too, are
lined up.  That is fine, except that many descriptions are not short,
so the method breaks down.)

You go on to say

   Even if newer versions of Info readers could hide them, they still
   will be shown by older versions.

Yes.

   But what do you think about recording the locations of index entries
   in the tag table?  

The problem is, I think your fear:

   I hope this will not break older Info readers, ...

If the suggestion does not break older Info readers, then I am all
for it.  But I think it will break them.  Karl, what do you think?

-- 
    Robert J. Chassell                         Rattlesnake Enterprises
    http://www.rattlesnake.com                  GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8
    http://www.teak.cc                             bob@rattlesnake.com