Automating Index Preparation
Abstract
This paper shows how the indexing process can be automated in a way which is largely independent of a specific typesetting system and independent of the format being used. Specifically, we describe a framework for placing index commands in the document and a general purpose index processor which transforms a raw index into an alphabetized version. These concepts have been implemented as apart of an extensive authoring environment. This includes a suite of Lisp programs for the index placing facility and a C program for the index processor. The resulting system has been successfully used in producing indexes for a book and a number of technical manuals. We focus on issues under both language-based and direct manipulation paradigms. In a language-based system, the user specifies the document with interspersed commands which is then passed to a formatter and the output is obtained. In a direct manipulation environment sometimes referred to as a WYSIWYG(what-you-see-is-what-you-get) system the user manipulates the document output appearance directly by invoking built-in commands available through menus and buttons. There is no such concept as the document specification language in direct manipulation systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 23, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA179327
Entities
People
- Michael Harrison
- Pehong Chen
Organizations
- University of California, Berkeley