Multiple Indexes

[Paul Seymour]

I am producing a conference program that has the names and details of all the conference attendees. I need to index these attendees both by name and by company in 2 separate indexes. Is it possible to have 2 different indexes which index the same page range?

[Fred_Goldman@adobeforums.com]

Sure, just do them one at a time. Do one index and generate it, then do another and generate the second. Just keep in mind to update page numbers you have to regenerate the index, so after you make the second you won't be able to update the first.

[Paul Seymour]

Thanks for the tip.

Unfortunately, I will have to generate my indexes more than once, such is the nature of this project. But I've discovered another way.

I add both Attendee Names and Company Names to the index. Then I generate an index containing both, and go through and manually delete one type or the other.

[Fred_Goldman@adobeforums.com]

You realize though, that every time you regenerate the index you will have to go through it manually deleting one or the other, right?

[Paul Seymour]

Yes, I realize that, and I've already had to do it twice. However, that still takes less time than going through the document each time and re-adding each index element.

[Celia_D@adobeforums.com]

The 'sort as' tag might help in your case. Just index all attendee names with the same number or symbol in the sort as field. The result—one index with two separate lists. All you would need to do is add the index alphas for the attendee list created under 'Symbols' (a lot easier and faster I'm sure than deleting selected entries).

[Paul Seymour]

That sounds like what I was looking for: one index with entries tagged separately, so that I can spit out two separate indexes.

However, I need a bit more orientation. I combed through InDesign Help, but found no mention of "sort as". And perhaps you mean "Sort By".

When I create or edit an index entry, I see a window with Topic Levels on the left, and Sort By on the right. What does "Sort By" mean and how does it work?

Or perhaps I'm completely misunderstanding, and there is some other method you're referring to. Let me know.

[Dave_Saunders@adobeforums.com]

Sort By is intended to be used to give instructions on how to sort an index item relative to its neighbors. For example, you might have an entry under: "Forum Responders" that consists of "Dave Saunders" but you might want that entry to be sorted under "Saunders".

I don't see this as a mechanism for creating multiple indexes.

Rather, start at the top. Have only two main sections in your index:

Attendees

Companies

Now index every attendee twice, under each category.

It will be a single index according to InDesign, but it will be easy for you to make it look like two separate ones.

Dave

[Paul Seymour]

Okay, it sounds like we're getting close.

Ho do I create multiple sections/categories in an index? The index palette has nothing regarding this.

[Dave_Saunders@adobeforums.com]

Just make those two entries the top level and make everything else second level or lower. Ah, if you want alpha subheads, that's a bit awkward. I suppose you could have 26 second level entries consisting only of A, B, etc., and then have the real information at the third level.

Don't forget that the level are only for organization. You can format them however you wish by assigning paragraph styles to the levels of the index.

Dave

[Paul Seymour]

I see! Now that makes sense.

However, it sounds like I should've set this up like this from the beginning. Since this project goes to the printer today (hopefully without generating any more indexes), I'll leave this technique until next time. Thanks so much for the tip!

[Celia_D@adobeforums.com]

Sorry, I meant "sort by". The method I suggested is for single entry indexes, like this...

BODY TEXT:
(page 12) John Smith from Green Acres Ltd
(page 27) Anna Lee from South Line Ltd

INDEX 1 (attendee names):
A
Anna Lee, 27
J
John Smith, 12

INDEX 2 (company names):
G
Green Acres Ltd, 12
S
South Line Ltd, 27

Create a new index reference for "Anna Lee" and add a number or symbol (say, 1 or *) in the sort by field. Repeat for all attendee names only. Index all company names as usual (without sort by tags). Generate the index. You will see this:

INDEX
Symbols
Anna Lee, 27
John Smith, 12

G
Green Acres Ltd, 12
S
South Line Ltd, 27

So, as mentioned in my previous post, you will have to insert the index alphas for the first section yourself. If this is not how you wanted to present your indexes, then apologies for the confusion.