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Updating index with new text

Guest
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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Hello,

I have generated an index for an indesign book with chapter documents. The book will still need some edits. I have created references with the "Add All" feature which shows all instances of the word(s), in all documents, in the index. After adding a paragraph of new text, when I generate a new index, it does not include "All" instances of the word in the book; it ignores the new text.

How can I update the index to include new text? What am I missing?

So far I am unable to find the answer to this question. It cannot be true that this is not a possibility.. otherwise the text would have to be PERFECT before generating an index..

Thank you.

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Expert , Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

Unfortunately, that's a limitation of the Add All command in InDesign. It's adding all occurrences of the selected text present in the document or book at that time. As you add more content, you will need to go ahead and index that yourself because if you choose Add All again, InDesign adds index markers to all text that matches the selected text—regardless of whether the text has been indexed—so you will end up with multiple entries that you then have to edit. Alternatively, you can wait until

...

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Community Expert ,
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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Unfortunately, that's a limitation of the Add All command in InDesign. It's adding all occurrences of the selected text present in the document or book at that time. As you add more content, you will need to go ahead and index that yourself because if you choose Add All again, InDesign adds index markers to all text that matches the selected text—regardless of whether the text has been indexed—so you will end up with multiple entries that you then have to edit. Alternatively, you can wait until the content is finalized before using it in the first place.

I know this isn't the answer you were hoping for, but you can always put in a feature request here: Wishform - Adobe InDesign​.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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While Barb's answer correct, I don't think it's a worthwhile addition to add it the way she proposes.

"Add all" is not a "live function", it's a single one-time 'find' instead. It is equivalent to the Find/Change Text function: it'll find and change only once, not all the time.

Imagine you are adding index markers for a name index, and you find a certain "Doctor Who" in your list. You press "Add All" to add all "Who"s, only to find out that most of these are duds. Currently, you'd simply remove the wrong whose, either by deleting the entry in the index panel, or the physical marker where you come across it. But with a "live" Add All that would not be possible anymore!

> ... otherwise the text would have to be PERFECT before generating an index...

Ideally, it should! (Where "ideally" = "cause the least amount of work).

What use is a partially correct index? Not only plain text edits may invalidate it, but even moving a single figure to a next page invalidates the entries on the affected pages. Very few things bother me more than receiving text edits -- sometimes pretty major ones that cause whole chapters of text to re-flow -- right after I generated an index. In practice, I always have to throw it away and start a-new.

Also, remember that indexing is a profession. Just as there are editors that need to check facts, spelling, and grammar of text, there are also professional indexers. A flat generated index is not as useful and rich in content as a professionally reviewed and edited one. InDesign can generate a helpful lookup list, but an indexer will look for context (to avoid "mere mentions"; an example is "I'm a doctor, not a carpenter!" with a reference to "carpenter"), cross-links, and see and see also references.

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Guest
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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I understand that indexing is a profession. Nowhere did I say anything to

the contrary, nor did I ask for anything complicated to be done, or imply

that indexing itself should be simple, or even mention cross-references or

anything besides a basic index of topics and page numbers. I guess you

assumed that I'm doing something very complicated and want a lazy quick fix

for a rich, helpful index? In fact I only need something very simple, which

is why my question was simple.

I also understand that "Add All" is a one-time funciton; I am suggesting

that this function should be able to be repeated with the generating of a

new index. To me, this is pretty basic, and I assumed I had missed some

magical button somewhere. Guess Adobe just hasn't bothered to add this

feature after at least 10 years of people complaining about it on this

forum.

I'm not sure why you are talking about adding or deleting improper entries

from "Add All" - this has nothing to do with my question.

"What use is a partially correct index?"

Where did I say anything about a partially correct index being useful? You

thought I wanted to leave it partially incorrect? Again, I don't understand

where you are coming from.. obviously I would like my index to be correct,

that is kind of the point of my question..

I am simply saying that even to make a very simple index for a book, the

entire book apparently has to be perfect and finished before indexing work

can begin. Since indexing is a very tedious process, it would be nice to

have the bulk of it done as I go and perfect it later, instead of leaving

everything to the end. Maybe your work is perfect and you never make last

minute edits.

There are other programs which can make a simple index from a list of

topics (which is all I am asking indesign to do, really). I think I will

explore one of those options since the Adobe community has not been helpful.

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LEGEND ,
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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« Πα βω και χαριστιωνι ταν γαν κινησω πασαν » (Archimedes, Jedi)

If you have a list of topics, simple to create an index from it!

(^/)

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Guest
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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Please explain? Can this be done without referencing each word? Can it be updated as the document is edited?

Thank you

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LEGEND ,
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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For that, you need a list of topics and … a script!

1/ The script will index all the topics of the list. In 1 click!

2/ The script will do it for all the topics of the list not already indexed.

3/ The index will be automatically updated by the script.

That's all! The difficulty is to choose with what finger you'll click! 

Personally, as a Jedi, I just watch the computer screen to get this result!

(^/)

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Guest
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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yes of course.

I am new to scripts! I assumed that would be the case. Can you give me a suggestion? Thank you!

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LEGEND ,
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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1/ Learn Javascript and write such a script!

2/ Make researches and pray for finding such an existing script!

3/ Wait for someone enough cool to give you a link for such a script or write for free such a script!

4/ Pay someone for writing a specific script for you!

(^/)

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Guest
Jun 06, 2017 Jun 06, 2017

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1/ Be kind to people you don't know!

2/ Be helpful on forums!

3/ If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all!

I think nothing productive will come from this conversation. Thanks for leading me on and not actually helping me with my legitimate question.

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LEGEND ,
Jun 06, 2017 Jun 06, 2017

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You posted a question [this thread] and I gave you an answer that I think is relevant enough.

Unlike the others, I clearly told you that a solution exists!

At the moment, I don't know If such a script exists in the public domain ... And if Jongware, one of the most talented scripters I know doesn't talk about it, it is that he has probably the same opinion !!

So if you want such a script, someone will have to write it! ... maybe for free, maybe not!

(^/) 

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Guest
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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Thank you, Barb. Your answer is of course not what I was hoping for, but thank you for clairfying.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 05, 2017 Jun 05, 2017

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I know, and I'm sorry.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 06, 2017 Jun 06, 2017

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>because if you choose Add All again, InDesign adds index markers to all text that matches the selected text—regardless of whether the text has been indexed—so you will end up with multiple entries that you then have to edit.

It's not a problem to add multiple index markers at the same word/phrase. InDesign always creates one single page reference per page, it suppresses all duplicates. You might not want to overload the document with spurious index markers, but all that redundancy isn't really a problem.

If all the index markers were added with the 'Add All' feature, then you can simply delete all index markers and use 'Add All' again.

Peter

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