3 Beginning a Texinfo File

Certain pieces of information must be provided at the beginning of a Texinfo file, such as the name for the output file(s), the title of the document, and the Top node. A table of contents is also generally produced here.

This chapter expands on the minimal complete Texinfo source file previously given (see section Six Parts of a Texinfo File). It describes the numerous commands for handling the traditional frontmatter items in Texinfo.

Straight text outside of any command before the Top node should be avoided. Such text is treated differently in the different output formats: at the time of writing, it is visible in TeX and HTML, by default not shown in Info readers, and so on.

3.1 Sample Texinfo File Beginning		A sample beginning for a Texinfo file.
3.2 Texinfo File Header		The first lines.
3.3 Document Permissions		Ensuring your manual is free.
3.4 Title and Copyright Pages		Creating the title and copyright pages.
3.5 Generating a Table of Contents		How to create a table of contents.
3.6 The ‘Top’ Node and Master Menu		Creating the ‘Top’ node and master menu.
3.7 Global Document Commands		Affecting formatting throughout.

This document was generated on October 2, 2013 using texi2html 5.0.