[tex-eplain] optional arguments

[John Culleton]

On Saturday 28 March 2009 11:21:27 pm Oleg Katsitadze wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 04:56:54PM +0000, Adam Fenn wrote:
> > It is wrong (I think) because of this part of the macro
> >
> > \edef\temp{\the\arch at name, {\noexpand\it architect,
> > \the\arch at loc}}% \expandafter\sidx\expandafter{\temp}%
> >
> > which makeindex orders entries under {\it architect. If
> > you remove the command to put the word architects in
> > italics the index is typeset correctly.
>
> Removing "{\it" doesn't change anything for me.  I see
> what you mean, but makeindex actually works correctly. 
> Consider this:
>
>     architects
>       Smith, John, London, 1
>       Smith, London, 1
>
> Now, without the markup, you should see that the sorting
> is correct -- J sorts before L.  What you want is a
> two-key sorting (author name as the first key, location
> as the second), and makeindex doesn't support that. 

It seems to me that you can force a sort any way you want 
to. For example:
\sidx{Smith J at Smith, John, London}
\sidx{Smith A at Smith, London}

Or am I missing something?



-- 
John Culleton
Able Indexers and Typesetters
http://wexfordpress.com