1$Id: INTRODUCTION,v 1.3 2004/04/11 17:56:45 karl Exp $ 2Getting started with Texinfo. 3 4 Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 5 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 6 7 Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, 8 are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright 9 notice and this notice are preserved. 10 11 12 13Getting Started with Texinfo 14============================ 15 16"Texinfo" is a documentation system that uses a single source file to 17produce both on-line information and printed output. Using Texinfo, 18you can create a printed document with the normal features of a book, 19including chapters, sections, cross references, and indices. From the 20same Texinfo source file, you can create a menu-driven, on-line Info 21file with nodes, menus, cross references, and indices. 22 23The name of the Texinfo source documentation file is `texinfo.txi'. 24You can produce both on-line information and printed output from this 25source file. The documentation describes Texinfo in detail, including 26how to write Texinfo files, how to format them for both hard copy and 27Info, and how to install Info files. 28 29To get started, you need to create either a printed manual or an 30on-line Info file from the `texinfo.txi' file. You do not need to 31create both, although you will probably want both eventually. 32 33To learn how to use Info, read the info documentation. You can do this in 34one of two ways: using the standalone `info' program, or using Info mode in 35GNU Emacs. 36 37 * If you want to use the `info' program, run 38 39 info -f info-stnd 40 41 * If you want to use Emacs, start up emacs and type `C-h i' [M-x info]. 42 Follow the instructions to learn how to use Info. 43 44After learning how to use Info, you can read the Texinfo documentation. 45Using the standalone `info', type the following at the shell prompt: 46 47 info -f texinfo 48 49To use read this manual in Emacs, you first need to edit the Info-directory 50menu (the file `dir' in the system info directory) to contain the 51appropriate node. To learn how to do this, see node: Add in the Info 52documentation. 53 54The Texinfo documentation describes Texinfo in detail; among other things, 55it tells how to install Info files in the usual manner. (See node: Install 56an Info File.) 57 58The `info-stnd.info' file describes the standalone Info reader in detail. To 59read this file, type 60 61 $ info -f info-stnd 62 63 64To create a printed manual 65========================== 66 67You need: 68 69 * The `tex' program, which typesets the manual using TeX. 70 * The `texinfo.tex' definition file that tells TeX how to typeset 71 a Texinfo file. 72 * The `texindex' program, which sorts the unsorted index files 73 created by TeX. 74 * A printing program such as `lp' or `lpr', 75 * A printer. 76 77This Texinfo distribution package contains `texinfo.tex', the C source 78for `texindex', and the handy shell script `texi2dvi'. The `tex' 79program is not part of this distribution, but is available separately. 80(See `How to Obtain TeX' in the Texinfo documentation.) 81 82 * Install `tex'. (`texindex' is installed automagically by 83 `make install' in this distribution.) 84 85 * Move the `texinfo.tex' file to an appropriate directory; the current 86 directory will do. (`/usr/local/lib/tex/inputs' might be a good place. 87 See ``Preparing to Use TeX'' in the Texinfo manual, for more 88 information.) 89 90After following those instructions, type the following to make the .dvi 91files: 92 93 $ (cd doc; make dvi) 94 95You can then print the resulting .dvi files with the `lpr' or `lp' 96commands, or maybe `dvips'. 97 98For example, the command to print the texinfo.dvi file might be: 99 100 $ lpr -d texinfo.dvi 101 102The name of the printing command depends on the system; `lpr -d' is 103common, and is illustrated here. You may use a different name for the 104printing command. 105 106Please report bugs to bug-texinfo@gnu.org. 107 108Happy formatting. 109