> A linear file for a large manual can be very large. I doubt if it
> would be efficient to search such a large file for relevant issues.
Yes, performance may be an issue sometimes, but I find it useful.
>> That's true, I use it a lot as well. However creating a good index
>> requires a lot of resources, and I expect most documents to not have a
>> good index.
>
> At least as far as GNU documentation is concerned, the indices are
> quite good, some of them are excellent. I suggest to try them.
Yes, I use it a lot. However not all texinfo docs have a good index: when
an author can't devote much time to the docs, the index is definitely
the last thing being refined.
>> Maybe the feature I miss is a way to look at a whole document at once.
>
> This feature already exists: type "info --subnodes FOO | less" to see
> the entire manual for FOO as a single linear document.
I think that's what I looked for.
> Try M-s (Info-search); it searches for a REGEXP. I use it all the
> time as a major navigation tool. I would be curious what you think of
> it.
Looks good. It looks like it searches the whole file, but I can't find
the way to repeat the search. Well, I'll study more. I didn't want
to waste your time asking for information that is available elesewhere
anyways.
Well, I must also add a disclaimer: I didn't want to bore anyone with
these issues, but I've been told that maintainers were interested in
man support.
Thanks for your patience, though. I learnt a lot. And, as usual, the
tools are more powerful than one imagined before reading the docs --
texinfo and associated material already was is in my list of things to
learn, and still is.
/alessandro
