Preparing an index

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Preparing an index

Before TextMaker can create an index, you must specify the terms that should appear in it. To do so, you add them to the document's keyword list.

Adding terms to the keyword list

To add a term to the keyword list, proceed as follows:

1.Select the term that should appear in the index. This can be a complete word, a part of a word or a phrase.
2.Choose the ribbon command References | group Index | Add entry index_add_entry_icon.
3.From the dropdown menu, select Add selection.
TextMaker now only remembers the currently selected position of the term. If you want to include all occurrences of the term in the keyword list, select Add all occurrences from the dropdown menu (see also below).
Optional: If you want to change the keyword when adding the selected term so that it subsequently appears in the index as a substitute for the term with a different wording, select More from the dropdown menu. Enter the desired keyword in the dialog box. You can also enable the option Add all occurrences here in the dialog box (see below).

You have now added the selected term to the list of keywords. TextMaker not only records the term itself in this list but also the position in the text where it occurred. When the index is subsequently created, this term will appear in it, and the number of the page on which the term was selected as a keyword will appear to the right of the term.

In order for the index to fulfill its purpose, it is thus important to carefully select the location where you include a term in the keyword list. For example, the word "print" often appears in a word processing manual. However, it makes sense to include it in the keyword list only in the section dedicated specifically to the topic of "printing".

Including keywords multiple times

By the way, the same term can be added to the keyword list multiple times. Such a term appears only once in the index, but several page numbers are indicated after it.

Note: The case of keywords is ignored. When the keywords "Print" and "print" are added, they appear summarized in the keyword index under "Print".

Adding all occurrences of a term

In some cases, it makes sense to create an index entry that refers to all passages of text where a term appears. Of course, you could select every single occurrence of the keyword and add it to the list as described above. However, TextMaker can relieve you of this task.

When adding a keyword with the ribbon command References | group Index | Add index, select the option Add all occurrences. TextMaker will then search the entire text for the specified term when it creates the index, and it will include the page numbers of alloccurrences.