MakeIndex, Nomenclature, Glossaries and Acronyms ⇒ apply arbitrary command to index term?

[Meta002]

This is what I want in the ".ind" file generated by MakeIndex:

Code: Select all

\begin{theindex}
  \item \TBFN{α}, 35
  \indexspace
  \item \TBFN{β}, 6
  \indexspace
etc.
\end{theindex}

I need to do this because the unicode alpha and beta characters I'm using aren't in the font used to generate the index. I understand how to use \index[ } to apply an arbitrary command to the page number; I need a similar facility for the index term. Is this possible, or do I have to keep patching the ".ind" file by hand?

[Johannes_B]

Never really had to deal with indices, maybe that is why i don't understand the problem. What has the font to do with generating the index?


The code that generates the index file would be of much much more help here, i.e. a minimal working example.

[Meta002]

My description of the problem was poor. What I meant to say was that when \printindex typesets the information in the ".ind" file, the font used (the normal font) doesn't contain the two desired characters. This forces me to "patch" the ".ind" file and specify the correct font with my command \TBFN{ }. The patched ".ind" works perfectly, it's just a bit inelegant to have to do the patching. It's something I could forget before sending the PDF to the printer, which would be embarrassing.

[cgnieder]

it is not at all clear how you generate the index. However, the usual way of adding formatting to index entry is the \index{sort@entry}. So for a bold word: \index{word@\textbf{word}}. This could be automated by defining semantic macros which create the index entry “on the fly”.

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\documentclass{scrartcl}
\usepackage{imakeidx}
\makeindex
\begin{document}

A\index{A@\textit{A}} $x^2$\index{x**2@$x^2$} word\index{word}

\printindex

\end{document}

[Meta002]

In my case:

Code: Select all

\index{α@\TBFN{α}}
\index{β@\TBFN{β}}

Here is the output on the Index page:
α, 35
β, 6

Thanks for the tip! One less thing to forget!