Windows 8 (x64): Create Index doesn't work
 

I got a new computer and tried to use the Create Index option with no predefined entries, but it doesn't seem to work with Sigil 0.7.2. It generates an Index .html page with no entries in it. (I also tested earlier versions with the same result.)

Can someone else who has a 64 Bit Windows 8 machine please test the following for me:

1. Open a small epub (or generate a dummy epub with a couple of Lorem Ipsum paragraphs).
   
2. Select Index > Create Index from the Tools menu. Sigils should generate an index of all words in the .epub file and add ids to each paragraph.

Why should it do that? I find it rather logical that you first predefine some entries. An index never contains all words in a document. Actually, I am glad that it does not do that.

To make life easier for people generating indexes. :)
It's always easier and faster to delete 70% of the undesired entries than adding 30% of the desired entries manually.

BTW, your reply would have been more helpful had you actually tested this feature with your OS instead of questioning its usefulness.

I don't agree. First of all it would make no sense since I have the same setup. Second, the result you describe is totally what I would expect. So, if I would test the index feature, the outcome is as expected. First mark the words, then create the index. It works the same as for all Word processors I know and it makes a lot of sense.

What gave you the idea it would work like you wanted? In that case it would not make sense to have the requirement to mark words in the first place.

The horror of having id's for all paragraphs...

Yet, it could be different from what you expect. (I specifically asked others to test this feature to exclude possible problems with my machine/OS.)

Sigil is not a word processor and might behave differently. However, you won't actually find out what Sigil does unless you test this feature.

Because that's the way Create Index worked on my 32 Bit XP machine up to version 0.7.2.

I didn't design this feature and I don't know whether creating an index for all words in the epub if no index entries were pre-defined is a feature or an unintended bug.

(Hopefully, Meme will give some feedback on this.)

However, if the same software build behaves differently on two different machines/operating systems there is a distinct possibility that there's a bug in Sigil, unless it shouldn't have behaved as it did on x32 Windows machines in the past in the first place.

I fully agree. I never intended to say that Sigil was a wordprocessor. I just marked that a similar function in wordprocessors worked like that.

Create Index will only create entries for words that are listed in the Index table or are marked for indexing in the HTML files. If the list is blank (and there are no words marked) then no words will be added to the index. And if you leave words in the list from one book to the next, you might index the wrong words.

However, if you want to index all the words in the EPUB just right-click on the Index list and select Autofill. This will load the list with every unique word found in the book ready for indexing.

Thanks for the clarification. I just tried Autofill and it worked as designed. I erroneously believed that Create Index would work without defining index entries, because I forgot that Sigl will keep index entries in the Index Editor even when a new book is opened. I.e. it only worked on my x32 system because the Index Editor still had some entries in it from a previous book.

Doits:

No...that's not how "create Index" works on word processors, or other page-layout, index-creation programs, as far as I can recollect. I think you are thinking--if I may be so bold--of a concordance, which is a completely different thing. It's immensely helpful for index creation, but, as far back as I recall, whether Word, Wordperfect, etc., create index only creates an index for those entries already indicated by manual marking to annotate them for inclusion in the to-be-built Index. Is a concordance what you were thinking about?

Just like making a TOC in Word--you use the header classes, or use bookmarks; but either way, it doesn't generate a TOC by guessing; the relevant entries are marked first, and the toc is generated second.

Does that help at all?

Hitch

I do indeed use the Index feature primarily as a concordance for foreign language books, however, I wasn't confused about the index feature as such, because I'm actually quite familiar with the index options that the leading word processors offer. (In a former life I often had to "debug" incorrectly formatted index entries in translated FrameMaker MIF files.. :eek:)
What I erroneously assumed was that selecting Create Index without pre-defined index entries would automatically execute the Autofill step, which is not the case.

I'm afraid, I'm beyond help, but I do appreciate your considerate post. After all, you're still my favorite "ebook psychic." :D

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yes, my psychic powers terrify my staff. (Actually...I think that's just my crotchetiness pre-coffee that terrifies them, but, hey, the effect is good in any event.)

Framemaker? My brother, you have my sincerest sympathies. ;-)

H

Quite right. "Oderint dum metuant" as Caligula used to say.

:D

Robert Graves has a lot to answer for. ;-)

Hitch

woah! I claim innocence with regard to Robert V.R. Graves! LOL!

Thank heavens. I knew somebody here would get the joke, but I was starting to think I really was older than dirt. Of course, I may be one of the only folks who actually read the accursed things! ;-)

Hitch