This topic explains the production of indexes and TOCs (Table of Contents) and the advantages that an automated approach offers.
Using 3B2 it is possible to generate a professional index or TOC of your document in considerably less time than it would take using conventional, manual methods. This is because many of the processes can be automated using 3B2, for example, you can easily update the index every time your document changes.
The selection of index terms is very important for successfully locating information. Part of this indexing process must be done manually, by choosing the appropriate terms for each document by hand. However, when these terms have been determined, 3B2 makes it possible to automate many of the other processes involved in creating an index, such as finding each occurrence of a term and referencing it from the index. If you have structured data (such as SGML/XML) and the index terms are defined by the structure, then the process of creating an index or table of contents can be automated. Often, producing a table of contents is not as complex as an index and can therefore often be entirely automated.
Using 3B2 for the automatic construction of indexes and contents provides many advantages including:
It is possible to create a table of contents from element content in the main text stream designated in a TOC control stream generated via a dialogue box. The table of contents will be a text stream and can therefore be used in your document like any other text element.
Indexes can be generated from showstring references placed into the stream or built into your specific mark-up elements using, for example, the value of an attribute or content of an element as the text to index.
As well as having advanced sorting options to alter the standard western alphabetical ordering, it is also possible to generate an updated index text stream automatically each time your document is updated and across multiple documents.
SGML/XML is particularly suited to producing automatic indexes and TOCs. 3B2 can automatically build a TOC or Index (including advanced sorting options) from references within the main data stream or showstrings automatically creating these references from within the element tags of your template for SGML/XML.
Manual indexing can be tedious, time consuming and increase the possibility of errors. As a result the automation of many parts of this process is often preferable and offers many benefits such as accuracy, speed and consistency as well as avoiding labour intensive processes. These advantages combine to make automatic indexing very cost effective.
Technical information on TOC/index generation is available to users in the technical documentation available from documentation.3b2.com
See also