#### 14.8.4 Configuring index references

For cross references from index entries to topics, you can choose between displaying links as stacked topic titles and displaying them as a series of references (usually page numbers) in the same paragraph as the index entry.

If your project includes more than one index, you can override the settings described here with equivalent settings specific to each index; see §14.9 Configuring variant booklist components.

To specify how to display index references:

    [Index]
    ; UseCompactForm = Yes (default; icons for HTML, page numbers for
    ; RTF), or No (topic titles, one per line, for either HTML or RTF)
    UseCompactForm = Yes
    ; FullIndexRanges = Yes (default for RTF) or No (default for HTML)
    FullIndexRanges = No

When UseCompactForm=Yes, all references from an index entry are added to the end of the index-entry paragraph:

    text of index entry  5, 12, 21-26, 40, ...

This is the default presentation for RTF output. For HTML output, the page numbers are replaced by the symbol ✺, and only the start member of a start/end <indexterm> pair is included (unless you set FullIndexRanges=Yes). To use a different symbol, override the Unicode value in cross-reference format [IndexIconXref]; see §8.7 Defining cross-reference output formats.

When FullIndexRanges=Yes, both members of a start/end <indexterm> pair are included in the index; this is the default for RTF output when UseCompactForm=Yes.

When FullIndexRanges=No, only the start member is included in the index, this is the default for HTML output when UseCompactForm=Yes.

When UseCompactForm=No, each reference shows the full text of the topic title to which the index entry refers, and multiple references from each index entry are stacked under the entry. Only the start member of any start/end <indexterm> pair is included:

    text of index entry
    topic1 title
    topic2 title
    ...

To specify separators for multiple references, in the language configuration file referenced by your project:

    [IndexText]
    ; IndexRefStartSep = separator between entry and first reference
    IndexRefStartSep =
    ; IndexRefSep = separator between multiple references
    IndexRefSep = ,
    ; IndexRangeSep = separator between references in a range
    IndexRangeSep = -

These are the default values:

- a space between the entry and its first reference
- a comma and a space between successive references
- a dash between start and end references in a range.

For RTF output only, when UseCompactForm=Yes, you can include a leader between each index entry and the first page number for that entry:

    [Index]
    ; UseIndexLeader = No (default) or Yes, include a tab with a leader.
    UseIndexLeader = Yes

The default leader is a row of dots. To use a different leader, you must override the value of property tabs in format [IndexBase]; see §7.4.6 Modifying DITA2Go default output formats.

Previous Topic: 14.8.3 Configuring see and see-also index entries

Next Topic: 14.8.5 Including heading letters in the index

Parent Topic: 14.8 Producing an index

Sibling Topics:

14.8.1 Specifying output formats for the index

14.8.2 Overriding formats for index entries and references

14.8.3 Configuring see and see-also index entries

14.8.5 Including heading letters in the index

14.8.6 Configuring index features for HTML output