Re: [help-texinfo] Overfull vbox in Concept Index leads to a blank page in the middle of the index

[Gavin Smith]

On 14 June 2016 at 22:02, Robert Weiner <address@hidden> wrote:
> I am finishing a Texinfo manual and getting this one error where an overfull
> vbox in TeX causes a blank page in the Concept Index.  I don't see anything
> wrong with any of the index entries but the problem always occurs at the
> same spot in the index.
>
> Could someone have a look at the .log file and suggest how to fix this so I
> can get this published?
> Thanks so much.  The .pdf is in there too and the blank page is around page
> 118.  I welcome any other formatting feedback as I am only of medium skill
> with Texinfo.

The other things I noticed from skimming through the manual:

* Page 34 - there is a line of "=" at the top of the page, because the
output was too long and has been split across pages. Unfortunately, I
can't suggest a good fix for this. Deleting the last line should do
it, but then the output wouldn't be strictly correct. You could
surround the output with @group and @end group, but that would lead to
a lot of whitespace if the output was all moved to a different page.
* The screenshots were ugly.  I expect this depends on the PDF reader
used, as well: it's probably due to image scaling of the screenshots.
The *.png and *.gif files included looked fine, but the *.ps
screenshots didn't.
* Page 15 - a wide space in the text "and Texinfo  entries". Looking
at the source code I saw " remote pathnames and Texinfo @file{}
entries." Chances are you intended to output the text "@file{}", which
you'd do with "@code{@@address@hidden@}}".
* Page 15 - man -k is in Roman type - would look better in fixed-width
type, like @samp{man -k}.
* Looking at the source code I saw many uses of the @refill command.
This command doesn't do anything, and you could safely remove it.
(This Texinfo source must be pretty ancient.)
* Page 20 - possibly missing closing brace in {C-h h b p}
* Throughout - @var used to mark up variables. That's not really what
it's for: it's more for marking up function parameters. Consider using
@code instead.
* Page 42 - probably some command needed for the "klinks" like @code
or @samp: it looks like it is wrong for the word "EXAMPLE" to be
hyphenated.
* Page 54 - no good reason to use @strong for extension characters
* Page 58 glossary - Glossary entry headings are in bold, but
cross-references are in fixed width, which is inconsistent. (Granted,
the Texinfo format doesn't appear to support this kind of glossary
very well.) I suggest either using bold for the cross-references as
well, or putting them in quotes, like "See `Smart Key'."