Writer Guide

• 1st key – An index key is an index entry that has no associated
page number and has several subentries that do have page
numbers. Keys are useful ways of grouping related topics. (See
“Example of using an index key” on page 392.)
• 2nd Key – You can have a three-level index, where some of the
first-level keys have level-2 entries that are also keys (without
page numbers). This degree of index complexity is not often
necessary.
• Main entry – When the same term is indexed on several pages,
often one of those pages has more important or detailed
information on that topic, so it is the main entry. To make the
page number for the main, or most important, entry stand out,
select this option and then define the character style for the page
number of a main index entry to be bold, for example.
• Apply to all similar texts – Select this option if you want Writer to
automatically identify and mark any other word or phrase that
matches the current selection. The Match case and Whole
words only options become available if this option is selected.
Example of using an index key
An index key is a primary entry under which subentries are grouped.
For example, you might want to create a grouping similar to this:
OpenOffice.org
Writer...5
Calc....10
Impress15
In this example, OpenOffice.org is the 1st key . The subentries (with the
page numbers showing) are the indexed entries. To insert an index
entry for the topic Writer , on the Insert Index Entry dialog box (Figure
338 on page 390), type Writer in the Entry box and OpenOffice.org
in the 1st key box.
Customizing the appearance of an index
The Insert Index/Table dialog box (Figure 340) has five pages. Any or
all of them can be used to customize the appearance of an index.
• Use the Index/Table page to set the attributes of the index.
• Use the Entries and Styles pages to format the entries in the index.
• Use the Columns tab to put the index into more than one column.
• Use the Background tab to add color or a graphic to the
background of the index.
392 OpenOffice.org 3 Writer Guide