info-stnd: Index Commands
7 Index Commands
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GNU Info has commands to search through the indices of an Info file,
which helps you find areas within an Info file which discuss a
particular topic.
'i' ('index-search')
Look up a string in the indices for this Info file, and select a
node to which the found index entry points.
'I' ('virtual-index')
Look up a string in the indices for this Info file, and show all
the matches in a new virtual node, synthesized on the fly.
',' ('next-index-match')
Move to the node containing the next matching index item from the
last 'i' command.
'M-x index-apropos'
Grovel the indices of all the known Info files on your system for a
string, and build a menu of the possible matches.
The most efficient means of finding something quickly in a manual is
the 'i' command ('index-search'). This command prompts for a string,
and then looks for that string in all the indices of the current Info
manual. If it finds a matching index entry, it displays the node to
which that entry refers and prints the full text of the entry in the
echo area. You can press ',' ('next-index-match') to find more matches.
A good Info manual has all of its important concepts indexed, so the 'i'
command lets you use a manual as a reference.
If you don't know what manual documents something, try the 'M-x
index-apropos' command. It prompts for a string and then looks up that
string in all the indices of all the Info documents installed on your
system. It can also be invoked from the command line; see ⇒
--apropos.