Occasionally non-alphabetical indices

Simons Mith · 11-13-2026, 03:38 PM

the following index code fragment seems to be alphabetical by xhtml file name, which is not what I really want in the index itself:

Code:

 <a href="chapter01.xhtml#sigil_index_id_39">1</a></div></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">cover
 <a href="chapter04.xhtml#sigil_index_id_18">1</a>, <a href="chapter13.xhtml#sigil_index_id_51">2</a><div class="sgc-index-entry">portable
 <a href="chapter05.xhtml#sigil_index_id_24">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">structures
 <a href="chapter07.xhtml#sigil_index_id_9">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">examples
 <a href="chapter13.xhtml#sigil_index_id_52">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">destroying
 <a href="chapter13.xhtml#sigil_index_id_53">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">distances to cover
 <a href="chapter13.xhtml#sigil_index_id_54">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">generating
 <a href="chapter13.xhtml#sigil_index_id_55">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">what to include

appears as:

Code:

    NPCs 1
cover 1, 2
    portable 1
    structures 1
    examples 1
    destroying 1
    distances to cover 1
    generating 1
    what to include 1
critter types

But then a bit latter on, this part of the index seems to work fine:

Code:

 <a href="chapter18.xhtml#sigil_index_id_32">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">time of day
 <a href="chapter18.xhtml#sigil_index_id_30">1</a></div></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">damage
 <div class="sgc-index-entry">critical hits
 <a href="chapter06.xhtml#sigil_index_id_37">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">Death Star
 <a href="chapter06.xhtml#sigil_index_id_38">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">downgrading
 <a href="chapter04.xhtml#sigil_index_id_39">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">entanglement
 <a href="chapter07.xhtml#sigil_index_id_1">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">falling
 <a href="chapter13.xhtml#sigil_index_id_59">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">heroic sacrifices
 <a href="chapter07.xhtml#sigil_index_id_4">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">ignore pips
 <a href="chapter07.xhtml#sigil_index_id_3">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">ionization
 <a href="chapter07.xhtml#sigil_index_id_11">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">keeping track
 <a href="chapter04.xhtml#sigil_index_id_38">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">knockback
 <a href="chapter07.xhtml#sigil_index_id_2">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">structural
 <a href="chapter07.xhtml#sigil_index_id_10">1</a></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">upgrading
 <a href="chapter04.xhtml#sigil_index_id_40">1</a></div></div><div class="sgc-index-entry">damage limits

which appears as:

Code:

    time of day 1
damage
    critical hits 1
    Death Star 1
    downgrading 1
    entanglement 1
    falling 1
    heroic sacrifices 1
    ignore pips 1
    ionization 1
    keeping track 1
    knockback 1
    structural 1
    upgrading 1
damage limits
    brute force 1

TBH I don't even understand what sort criteria it could be using to behave like this.

Simons Mith · 11-13-2026, 03:45 PM

looking at it now it's posted, I do notice that 'cover' has a couple of hyperlinks associated with it, and that section goes wrong. 'damage', currently, does not. When I cleared the links from 'cover', and added a couple to 'damage', the problem moved.

KevinH · 11-13-2026, 05:01 PM

The Sigil Index Editor should allow you to sort by any column header before the save. Look for an triangle with its point down in the column headers row. Click on how you want things sorted.

Simons Mith · 11-13-2026, 05:29 PM

The Index Editor UI is completely empty at this point.
(Edit: Actually, it would be immensely helpful if individual entries were collated in the index editor as well.)

KevinH · 11-13-2026, 06:28 PM

Have you marked the terms for the index and generated it?

Simons Mith · 11-13-2026, 06:59 PM

Yes, generated and regenerated a few times while experimenting. All terms have been added manually so far. The Index Editor isn't proving very useful in this book because many of the terms to index are very mundane, and I only want to index the places where a term is defined, rather than everywhere the word happens to show up.

KevinH · 11-13-2026, 08:42 PM

To identify an index file, the epub uses guide or nav semantics to indicate which file is the index. If you mouse over and hover your cursor over the generated index file in BookBrowser does the resulting tooltip indicate that file has the Index semantic set?

I do not understand how the Index Editor is totally empty? I will play around with Indexes tomorrow to try to see if I can see what you are seeing.

Simons Mith · 11-13-2026, 08:56 PM

I've just been highlighting words of interest in the HTML files and pressing Ctrl-Shift-X, which brings up the Mark For Index pop-up window, and then I edit the desired index entry in that and click OK. Are my manual entries supposed to appear in the Index Editor?? They don't.

I'm on Linux - Sigil 2.8.5 - haven't upgraded yet

The Index file is the autogenerated Sigil one - its tooltip says

"OPS/xhtml/Index.xhtml (Index)"

It's also correctly auto-added itself to the OPS/package.opf file

DiapDealer · Yesterday, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simons Mith

which brings up the Mark For Index pop-up window, and then I edit the desired index entry in that and click OK. Are my manual entries supposed to appear in the Index Editor?? They don't.

They won't appear in the index editor until you actually generate (or regenerate) the index from the marked entries. Merely marking them does not add them to the index. The index editor will only show entries since the last generation.

Simons Mith · Yesterday, 08:13 AM

Ah, that's not what I'm seeing. Marking them manually does not add them to the index editor (which is expected), but nor do they appear in the Index Editor after I click 'Generate a new index', even though the newly-updated index.xhtml file is correct and complete. Nor do they appear in the Index Editor after saving and reloading the epub file.

The Index Editor window remains empty unless I create 'Text to Include' entries, which do persist, but I'm not using them (so far) because they're not helpful for this document. The two types of indexed entry are completely separate, and only appear together in the Index.xhtml file whenever I generate a new one.

DiapDealer · Yesterday, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simons Mith

Ah, that's not what I'm seeing. Marking them manually does not add them to the index editor (which is expected)

You'll need to amend your expectations on that.

But we'll certainly look into why no entries ever seem to show up in the index editor dialog for you even after (re)generating the index from the marked entries.

DiapDealer · Yesterday, 09:07 AM

Apologies. You may need to wait on someone more versed in how the index features are supposed to behave. After a quick check on Windows, I see that only indices that were specifically added to the Index Editor (via the Tool->Index menu, or the Index Editor dialog itself) actually show up in the Index Editor dialog. Those entries that are manually marked (and subsequently generated with Create Index) never show up in the Index Editor dialog. The index seems to be generated from both the manually tagged entries and those that are added via the Index Editor.

A "ne'er the twain shall meet" for editing sort of thing.

EDIT: Ahhhh... Right-clicking in the Index Editor tree area and select "Autofill" from the context menu will pull in all of the manually tagged entries, (but without any link targets). Generating the index after that only seems to create the entries that were manually created.

Again, someone else more versed will likely have to give advice as to the particulars of what you're trying to accomplish.

Simons Mith · Yesterday, 10:32 AM

I didn't know about autofill, but I've just tried it, and it pulls in every word in the entire document. (Words at the end of a sentence are counted both with and without a full stop, so there's a lot of dupes.) This tool still does not pull in manual index entries. I can tell, because many of my manual entries are multi-word.

If you want a word list, this is a fine tool - except that when I let it try to generate an index based on the 25,000 words it had found, Sigil couldn't handle it. Locked the entire system, actually

DiapDealer · Yesterday, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simons Mith

except that when I let it try to generate an index based on the 25,000 words it had found, Sigil couldn't handle it. Locked the entire system, actually

Are you certain you waited long enough? In my experience, Sigil very rarely locks up entirely when it can't handle something. It will crash if it can't handle something.

Simons Mith · Yesterday, 10:51 AM

Entire computer locked. Mouse stopped responding. If I could have switched to another application I'd have let Sigil churn away, but its progress indicator had stopped moving at 45% and I wasn't willing to wait what could well have been a couple of hours.

25,000 unique words, 350,000ish word count would have been a chonky index, just for the sake of trying something out.

11-13-2026, 05:29 PM	#4
Simons Mith Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2020 Device: none	The Index Editor UI is completely empty at this point. (Edit: Actually, it would be immensely helpful if individual entries were collated in the index editor as well.) Last edited by Simons Mith; 11-13-2026 at 05:32 PM.

11-13-2026, 06:59 PM	#6
Simons Mith Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2020 Device: none	Yes, generated and regenerated a few times while experimenting. All terms have been added manually so far. The Index Editor isn't proving very useful in this book because many of the terms to index are very mundane, and I only want to index the places where a term is defined, rather than everywhere the word happens to show up. Last edited by Simons Mith; 11-13-2026 at 07:00 PM. Reason: reword to better answer question

Yesterday, 09:07 AM	#12
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 29,943 Karma: 212736643 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Apologies. You may need to wait on someone more versed in how the index features are supposed to behave. After a quick check on Windows, I see that only indices that were specifically added to the Index Editor (via the Tool->Index menu, or the Index Editor dialog itself) actually show up in the Index Editor dialog. Those entries that are manually marked (and subsequently generated with Create Index) never show up in the Index Editor dialog. The index seems to be generated from both the manually tagged entries and those that are added via the Index Editor. A "ne'er the twain shall meet" for editing sort of thing. EDIT: Ahhhh... Right-clicking in the Index Editor tree area and select "Autofill" from the context menu will pull in all of the manually tagged entries, (but without any link targets). Generating the index after that only seems to create the entries that were manually created. Again, someone else more versed will likely have to give advice as to the particulars of what you're trying to accomplish. Last edited by DiapDealer; Yesterday at 09:25 AM.

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11-13-2026, 03:45 PM	#2
Simons Mith Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2020 Device: none	looking at it now it's posted, I do notice that 'cover' has a couple of hyperlinks associated with it, and that section goes wrong. 'damage', currently, does not. When I cleared the links from 'cover', and added a couple to 'damage', the problem moved.

11-13-2026, 05:01 PM	#3
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 10,222 Karma: 7640012 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	The Sigil Index Editor should allow you to sort by any column header before the save. Look for an triangle with its point down in the column headers row. Click on how you want things sorted.

11-13-2026, 06:28 PM	#5
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 10,222 Karma: 7640012 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Have you marked the terms for the index and generated it?

11-13-2026, 08:42 PM	#7
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 10,222 Karma: 7640012 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	To identify an index file, the epub uses guide or nav semantics to indicate which file is the index. If you mouse over and hover your cursor over the generated index file in BookBrowser does the resulting tooltip indicate that file has the Index semantic set? I do not understand how the Index Editor is totally empty? I will play around with Indexes tomorrow to try to see if I can see what you are seeing.

11-13-2026, 08:56 PM	#8
Simons Mith Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2020 Device: none	I've just been highlighting words of interest in the HTML files and pressing Ctrl-Shift-X, which brings up the Mark For Index pop-up window, and then I edit the desired index entry in that and click OK. Are my manual entries supposed to appear in the Index Editor?? They don't. I'm on Linux - Sigil 2.8.5 - haven't upgraded yet The Index file is the autogenerated Sigil one - its tooltip says "OPS/xhtml/Index.xhtml (Index)" It's also correctly auto-added itself to the OPS/package.opf file

Yesterday, 08:13 AM	#10
Simons Mith Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2020 Device: none	Ah, that's not what I'm seeing. Marking them manually does not add them to the index editor (which is expected), but nor do they appear in the Index Editor after I click 'Generate a new index', even though the newly-updated index.xhtml file is correct and complete. Nor do they appear in the Index Editor after saving and reloading the epub file. The Index Editor window remains empty unless I create 'Text to Include' entries, which do persist, but I'm not using them (so far) because they're not helpful for this document. The two types of indexed entry are completely separate, and only appear together in the Index.xhtml file whenever I generate a new one.

Yesterday, 10:32 AM	#13
Simons Mith Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2020 Device: none	I didn't know about autofill, but I've just tried it, and it pulls in every word in the entire document. (Words at the end of a sentence are counted both with and without a full stop, so there's a lot of dupes.) This tool still does not pull in manual index entries. I can tell, because many of my manual entries are multi-word. If you want a word list, this is a fine tool - except that when I let it try to generate an index based on the 25,000 words it had found, Sigil couldn't handle it. Locked the entire system, actually

Yesterday, 10:51 AM	#15
Simons Mith Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2020 Device: none	Entire computer locked. Mouse stopped responding. If I could have switched to another application I'd have let Sigil churn away, but its progress indicator had stopped moving at 45% and I wasn't willing to wait what could well have been a couple of hours. 25,000 unique words, 350,000ish word count would have been a chonky index, just for the sake of trying something out.