CINDEX™ Tips and Tricks – Checking Page References*
by Frances S. Lennie, Indexing Research, Rochester, NY 14620
585-413-1819 • [email protected]
To help ensure accuracy, and thus the credibility of your indexing, here are some
tuseful techniques you can employ. The carpenter’s axiom of “measure twice, cut
once” comes to mind here. There is no substitute for entering page numbers
correctly at the time you create your entry, but we are all fallible – interruptions,
disruptions, and inattention can play havoc in our orderly world – and errors do
creep in as we are typing our entries.
And let’s the honest, no-one wants, or likes, to check each entry against the text
during the final editing process. It is both time-consuming and mind-numbingly
boring. However, there is a technique you can use to make it less so – skimming the
index in page-number order – in which any abnormally high numbers float to the
end of the index, along with the cross-references, and entries with no page numbers
attached float to the top.
To make this even more palatable and useful first EXPAND the index so that each page
number or page-range per record. This option is found on the TOOLS MENU.
To place the index in a page-order sort click on the 1-9 icon on the toolbar at the top
of the index:
Remember that “grayed out “icons reflect the current state of the index. In the
example above the index is displaying all records, is formatted in indented style, and
is in an alphabetic sort. Also remember that you can customize the toolbar content
and order at VIEW MENU/CUSTOMIZE TOOLBAR…
So far, so good, but the real secret is then to right-justify the numbers so that they
are distinctly separate from the entry text. To do this you need to check the RIGHT
JUSTIFY box at VIEW MENU/PAGE REFERENCES
The index will display with the page numbers at the right-hand margin (see next
page). In a subject index, you will be surprised at how “gaps” in the numbers leap
out at you. And often the subject content of an entry may also appear out of context.
Not foolproof, but gives you, the indexer, some reassurance that mistakes have been
caught and rectified.
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* Adapted form an article first published in SIdelights, April 2017
Of course, preventing mistakes in the first place is the best practice and here are
some ways in which you can facilitate that:
(1) As you are keying your entries, take a few seconds to review your entries
that display in the space above your current record entry window. Did you
forget to alter the page number when you turned the page? Did you miskey a
page-range?
(2) Enable settings to warn you if you have failed to provide a page number or
have entered an invalid number (see also (4) below) at CINDEX
MENU/PREFERENCES in the Mac version of the program, and at EDIT
MENU/PREFERENCES in the PC version. Notice that “Track New Entries” is
unchecked, so that you can see the entries as you enter them in their order of
entry rather than in their placement in the index. I sometimes switch this
option on when I’m editing, but never while I’m entering material – that’s just
the way I work.
(3) CARRY LOCATOR FORWARD (in dialogue box above) will populate the page field of
a new record with the page number in the “last-touched” (i.e. entered or
edited) record. Not foolproof, especially if you are jumping around in the text
or index, but it does save considerable keyboarding. If you need to increase
or decrease a number or range without entering the page field simply use
Cntrl ] or Cntrl [ respectively. Press as many times as needed.
(4) Other allies in your quest for perfect page numbers can be found at DOCUMENT
MENU/REFERENCE SYNTAX:
Here you can set the maximum allowable value of a page number and Cindex
will warn you (as mentioned in (2) above) if you exceed it. Normally, this
value reflects the final page of the text, but you can reset it incrementally as
you begin each new chapter. You can also indicate the span of the largest
acceptable page range and Cindex will again warn you if you exceed it.
(5) Lastly, you may sometimes find it useful to display the index in the order of
entries as you made them: use the toggle option at VIEW MENU/SORTED to
change it to VIEW MENU/UNSORTED and for greater clarity ask Cindex to display
the record numbers (VIEW/SHOW NUMBERS). However, remember that record
numbers only display in draft view, so if wish to right-justify the numbers,
you will need to be in FULL FORMAT view.
This view is particularly useful if you work in strictly linear fashion from page 1
thru the end of the book. If you adopt a two-step approach, i.e. picking up the
structure of a chapter first and then returning to the start to flesh out the detail,
you will not find this view useful for checking page numbers, but great for
reviewing your thought process!
In conclusion, none of the techniques described above will guarantee a
perfectly numbered index, but can go a long way toward achieving it. If we
consider indexing to be at the intersection of artistic endeavor and technical
precision perhaps it is safe to adopt a “perfection-in-imperfection” stance – but
let’s hope neither author, editor nor reader discover that one error in a 10,000
entry index!