GNU Texinfo 4.2: F.3 Using texinfo-show-structure

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## F.3 Using `texinfo-show-structure`

It is not always easy to keep track of the nodes, chapters, sections, and subsections of a Texinfo file. This is especially true if you are revising or adding to a Texinfo file that someone else has written.

In GNU Emacs, in Texinfo mode, the `texinfo-show-structure` command lists all the lines that begin with the @-commands that specify the structure: `@chapter`, `@section`, `@appendix`, and so on. With an argument (`C-u` as prefix argument, if interactive), the command also shows the `@node` lines. The `texinfo-show-structure` command is bound to `C-c C-s` in Texinfo mode, by default.

The lines are displayed in a buffer called the ‘`*Occur*`’ buffer, indented by hierarchical level. For example, here is a part of what was produced by running `texinfo-show-structure` on this manual:

     Lines matching "^@\\(chapter \\|sect\\|subs\\|subh\\|
     unnum\\|major\\|chapheading \\|heading \\|appendix\\)"
     in buffer texinfo.texi.
     …
     4177:@chapter Nodes
     4198:    @heading Two Paths
     4231:    @section Node and Menu Illustration
     4337:    @section The @code{@@node} Command
     4393:        @subheading Choosing Node and Pointer Names
     4417:        @subsection How to Write an @code{@@node} Line
     4469:        @subsection @code{@@node} Line Tips
     …

This says that lines 4337, 4393, and 4417 of ‘`texinfo.texi`’ begin with the `@section`, `@subheading`, and `@subsection` commands respectively. If you move your cursor into the ‘`*Occur*`’ window, you can position the cursor over one of the lines and use the `C-c C-c` command (`occur-mode-goto-occurrence`), to jump to the corresponding spot in the Texinfo file. See (emacs)Other Repeating Search section ‘Using Occur’ in The GNU Emacs Manual, for more information about `occur-mode-goto-occurrence`.

The first line in the ‘`*Occur*`’ window describes the regular expression specified by texinfo-heading-pattern. This regular expression is the pattern that `texinfo-show-structure` looks for. See (emacs)Regexps section ‘Using Regular Expressions’ in The GNU Emacs Manual, for more information.

When you invoke the `texinfo-show-structure` command, Emacs will display the structure of the whole buffer. If you want to see the structure of just a part of the buffer, of one chapter, for example, use the `C-x n n` (`narrow-to-region`) command to mark the region. (See (emacs)Narrowing section ‘Narrowing’ in The GNU Emacs Manual.) This is how the example used above was generated. (To see the whole buffer again, use `C-x n w` (`widen`).)

If you call `texinfo-show-structure` with a prefix argument by typing `C-u C-c C-s`, it will list lines beginning with `@node` as well as the lines beginning with the @-sign commands for `@chapter`, `@section`, and the like.

You can remind yourself of the structure of a Texinfo file by looking at the list in the ‘`*Occur*`’ window; and if you have mis-named a node or left out a section, you can correct the mistake.

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