makeinfo - Man Page

translate Texinfo documents

Synopsis

makeinfo [OPTION]... TEXINFO-FILE...

Description

Translate Texinfo source documentation to various other formats, by default Info files suitable for reading online with Emacs or standalone GNU Info.

This program is commonly installed as both `makeinfo' and `texi2any'; the behavior is identical, and does not depend on the installed name.

General options

--document-language=STR locale to use in translating Texinfo keywords

for the output document (default C)

--error-limit=NUM

quit after NUM errors (default 100)

--force

preserve output even if errors

--help

display this help and exit

--no-validate

suppress node cross-reference validation

--no-warn

suppress warnings (but not errors)

--conf-dir=DIR

search also for initialization files in DIR

--init-file=FILE

load FILE to modify the default behavior

-c,  --set-customization-variable VAR=VAL

set customization variable VAR to value VAL

--trace-includes

print names of included files

-v,  --verbose

explain what is being done

--version

display version information and exit

Output format selection (default is to produce Info)

--docbook

output Docbook XML

--html

output HTML

--epub3

output EPUB 3

--latex

output LaTeX

--plaintext

output plain text rather than Info

--xml

output Texinfo XML

--dvi,  --dvipdf,  --ps,  --pdf

call texi2dvi to generate given output, after checking validity of TEXINFO-FILE

General output options

-E,  --macro-expand=FILE

output macro-expanded source to FILE, ignoring any @setfilename

--no-headers

suppress node separators, Node: lines, and menus from Info output (thus producing plain text) or from HTML (thus producing shorter output). Also, if producing Info, write to standard output by default.

--no-split

suppress any splitting of the output; generate only one output file

--[no-]number-sections

output chapter and sectioning numbers; default is on

--[no-]number-footnotes

number footnotes sequentially; default is on

-o,  --output=DEST

output to DEST. With split output, create DEST as a directory and put the output files there. With non-split output, if DEST is already a directory or ends with a /, put the output file there. Otherwise, DEST names the output file.

--disable-encoding

do not output accented and special characters in Info and plain text output based on document encoding

--enable-encoding

override --disable-encoding (default)

Options for Info and plain text

--fill-column=NUM

break Info lines at NUM columns (default 72)

--footnote-style=STYLE

output footnotes in Info according to STYLE: `separate' to put them in their own node; `end' to put them at the end of the node, in which they are defined (this is the default)

--paragraph-indent=VAL

indent Info paragraphs by VAL spaces (default 3). If VAL is `none', do not indent; if VAL is `asis', preserve existing indentation.

--split-size=NUM

split Info files at size NUM (default 300000)

Options for HTML

--css-include=FILE

include FILE in HTML <style> output; read stdin if FILE is -

--css-ref=URL

generate CSS reference to URL

--internal-links=FILE

produce list of internal links in FILE

--split=SPLIT

split at SPLIT, where SPLIT may be `chapter', `section' or `node'

--transliterate-file-names

use file names in ASCII transliteration

--node-files

produce redirection files for nodes and anchors; default is set only if split

Options for DVI/PS/PDF

--Xopt=OPT

pass OPT to texi2dvi; can be repeated

Input file options

-D VAR

define the variable VAR, as with @set

-D 'VAR VAL'

define VAR to VAL (one shell argument)

-I DIR

append DIR to the @include search path

-P DIR

prepend DIR to the @include search path

-U VAR

undefine the variable VAR, as with @clear

Conditional processing in input

--ifdocbook

process @ifdocbook and @docbook

--ifhtml

process @ifhtml and @html

--ifinfo

process @ifinfo

--iflatex

process @iflatex and @latex

--ifplaintext

process @ifplaintext

--iftex

process @iftex and @tex

--ifxml

process @ifxml and @xml

By default, an --ifFORMAT setting is on only when the output format is FORMAT; for example, --ifhtml is on when outputting HTML. Also, when --ifFORMAT is on, @ifnotFORMAT text is not processed.

Each --ifFORMAT option may be prefixed with `--no-' to negate it; for example, --no-ifhtml means not to process @ifhtml or @html text, and to process @ifnothtml text.

Examples

makeinfo foo.texi

write Info

makeinfo --html foo.texi

write HTML

makeinfo --xml foo.texi

write Texinfo XML

makeinfo --docbook foo.texi

write Docbook XML

makeinfo --plaintext foo.texi

write plain text to standard output

makeinfo --pdf foo.texi

write PDF using texi2dvi

makeinfo --html --no-headers foo.texi

write html without node lines, menus

makeinfo --number-sections foo.texi

write Info with numbered sections

makeinfo --no-split foo.texi

write one Info file however big

Reporting Bugs

Email bug reports to bug-texinfo@gnu.org, general questions and discussion to help-texinfo@gnu.org.
Texinfo home page: https://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/

See Also

The full documentation for texi2any is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the info and texi2any programs are properly installed at your site, the command

info texi2any

should give you access to the complete manual.

Referenced By

db2x_texixml(1), info(5), latex2man(1), texinfo(5).

The man page texi2any(1) is an alias of makeinfo(1).

March 2026 GNU texinfo 7.3