Re: local info files and top info directory

[Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>]

> From: Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net>
> Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:58:08 +0800
> 
> I use a lot of development versions of emacs packages (gnus, org, magit,
> auctex, emms, etc), and keep them all under ~/.emacs.d. I've also got
> ~/.emacs.d/info, where I symlink those packages' info files, then I add
> it to the info directories like so:
> 
> (add-to-list 'Info-default-directory-list "~/.emacs.d/info")
> 
> This works, except that when I run `info' and it composes the main Info
> directory, the info files of some of the packages (gnus, org) show up in
> the directory listing, while others (magit, auctex, emms) don't.
> 
> I'm able to reach all of the symlinked info files via
> `info-display-manual', so I know it's not a problem with the files
> themselves, or the info reader. I've looked at the info files and, with
> my limited understanding of info, can't see why one would make a
> directory entry and another wouldn't.

In your ~/.emacs.d/info directory, there should be a file named `dir'
or `DIR'.  Its contents, and only its contents, are added to the main
Info directory when Emacs composes it.  Emacs does not look at the
info files themselves, just in the DIR files it finds in every
directory that is in Info-default-directory-list.

> I'm suspecting the `make' process: for all these packages I generally do
> configure/make, but no "make install", and then add the lisp dirs, if
> any, to my load path. My best guess is that something in the make
> process adds a listing to the directory, and for some of the packages
> that happens on "make", and for others on "make install". Should the
> `install-info' command line command come into play at all?

Yes, you should run install-info on every info file you add to your
~/.emacs.d/info directory (only the main info files count; e.g., if
you have foo.info, foo.info-1, and foo.info-2, then only run
install-info on foo.info).