Additional author information

Question

Is it possible to add additional information like date of birth and death to an author index which is generated by MakeIndex? When possible, how can I do this?

Answer 1

Here is a simplified example of what I once did. Compile with the option -shell-escape to get the index generated automatically. And read up on xparse and imakeidx so you can modify these examples so they suit your own needs.

\documentclass[openany, 12pt]{memoir}

\usepackage[paperwidth=3.5in, textwidth=3in, paperheight=5.5in, textheight=4.5in, noheadfoot]{geometry}

\usepackage{xparse}
\usepackage[latin, english]{babel}   

\usepackage[splitindex]{imakeidx}%
\makeindex[% noautomatic, % <-- uncomment to prevent automatic index generation
name=indexmain, title={Index}, intoc, columns=2]%

% to get a footnote indexed correctly
\newcommand{\fnote}[2]{#2\textsuperscript{#1}}% for 3^39 in index

% basic xparse tests:
% \IfBooleanTF {#1} tests whether the first argument is present; if it is, it does the first 'command' (i.e., the one with the \fnote command); otherwise, it does the second

% writes to index; not to main text
\DeclareDocumentCommand {\authindex} {s m}
  {\IfBooleanTF {#1}%
   {\index[indexmain]{#2|fnote{\thefootnote}}}%
   {\index[indexmain]{#2}}%
  }%

% example of a complicated name: test first for an optional argument, then for whether there is an asterisk

\NewDocumentCommand {\augustine} {s o}
  {\IfNoValueTF {#2}%
    {\IfBooleanTF {#1}% -- with no optional argument
     {\index[indexmain]{Augustine, Saint|fnote{\thefootnote}}}%
     {\index[indexmain]{Augustine, Saint}}%
    }%
    {\IfBooleanTF {#1}% -- with optional argument
      {\index[indexmain]{Augustine, Saint!#2|fnote{\thefootnote}}}%
      {\index[indexmain]{Augustine, Saint!#2}}%
    }%
  }%
  \newcommand\Augustine{Augustine\augustine}% <--- watch how * works here


% example of a word that needs \emph in the index
\NewDocumentCommand {\dominium} {s o}
   {\IfBooleanTF {#1}%
    {\foreignlanguage{latin}{\emph{dominium}}}% * == no index & no opt.arg.
    {\IfNoValueTF {#2}%
     {\foreignlanguage{latin}{\emph{dominium}}%   no optional arg.
       \index[indexmain]{dominium@\string\emph{dominium}}}%
     {\foreignlanguage{latin}{\emph{dominium}}%   optional arg. given
       \index[indexmain]{dominium@\string\emph{dominium}!#2}}%
    }%
  }

\parskip  10pt
\parindent 0pt

\begin{document}\pagestyle{empty}

PAGE ONE:

I want to talk about Smith\authindex{Smith, John}, and
\Augustine[basic thoughts about], and what they
thought about \dominium.

\newpage
PAGE TWO:

But sometimes it needs to be in a footnote.%
\footnote{\Augustine*[dates] lived in the late fourth- and early fifth
  centuries.}

\newpage
PAGE THREE:

You have to be careful about how arguments for indices get
expanded. Compare: \dominium[humanum@\string\emph{humanum}] versus
% Comment out this one to see that it is consistent with the other
% two.  In short, the \string is important when the (sub-)\index
% command is wrapped in another command (e.g., \dominium).
\dominium[humanum@\emph{humanum}] \ldots 

\newpage%
PAGE FOUR:

\ldots{} especially if you do `manual' indexing commands:
\emph{dominium}\index[indexmain]{dominium@\emph{dominium}!humanum@\emph{humanum}}.
(You can see the differences in the \texttt{.ind} file.)

Here's another thing about \Augustine{} and \dominium.%
\footnote{\Augustine* in a footnote.}
% as you can see, the '*' is caught by the \augustine.

One more footnote.%
\footnote{John\authindex*{Smith, John} in another footnote.} %

\printindex[indexmain]
\end{document}

This is a very basic and workmanlike way to do all of this. Had I had more time the first time around, I might've tried to streamline the whole process --- and I've no doubt that others would be more clever in how they did/do it. However, this --- along with a few other commands --- worked for me when I had lots of non-English terminology to index and complex name demands (regnal names, titles, etc.).

Answer 2

Here's an alternative that uses glossaries:

% arara: pdflatex
% arara: makeglossaries
% arara: pdflatex
\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[nomain,index]{glossaries}
\usepackage{glossary-mcols}

\makeglossaries

\glsaddkey{forename}
 {}% default value
 {\entryforename}% no-link command to access the value
 {\Entryforename}% initial capital version
 {\glsforename}% linking command
 {\Glsforename}% initial capital version
 {\GLSforename}% all caps version

\glsaddkey{surname}
 {}% default value
 {\entrysurname}% no-link command to access the value
 {\Entrysurname}% initial capital version
 {\glssurname}% linking command
 {\Glssurname}% initial capital version
 {\GLSsurname}% all caps version

\glsaddkey{dateofbirth}
 {}% default value
 {\entrydateofbirth}% no-link command to access the value
 {\Entrydateofbirth}% initial capital version
 {\glsdateofbirth}% linking command
 {\Glsdateofbirth}% initial capital version
 {\GLSdateofbirth}% all caps version

\glsaddkey{dateofdeath}
 {}% default value
 {\entrydateofdeath}% no-link command to access the value
 {\Entrydateofdeath}% initial capital version
 {\glsdateofdeath}% linking command
 {\Glsdateofdeath}% initial capital version
 {\GLSdateofdeath}% all caps version

% syntax: \newperson[options]{label}{forename}{surname}{date of birth}{date
% of death}
\newcommand{\newperson}[6][]{%
  \newterm
  [
    name={#4, #3},%
    sort={#4, #3},%
    text={#3 #4},%
    forename={#3},%
    surname={#4},%
    dateofbirth={#5},%
    dateofdeath={#6},%
    #1%
  ]{#2}%
}

\newglossarystyle{people}%
{%
  \setglossarystyle{mcolindexgroup}%
  \renewcommand*{\glossentry}[2]{%
     \item\glsentryitem{##1}\glstarget{##1}{\glossentryname{##1}}%
     \ifglshasfield{dateofbirth}{##1}%
     {%
        \space (\entrydateofbirth{##1}--%
        \ifglshasfield{dateofdeath}{##1}{\entrydateofdeath{##1}}{})%
     }%
     {% 
       \ifglshasfield{dateofdeath}{##1}{\space (d.~\entrydateofdeath{##1})}{}%
     }%
     ,\space ##2%
  }%
  \renewcommand{\subglossentry}[3]{%
    \ifcase##1\relax
      % level 0
      \item
    \or
      % level 1
      \subitem
      \glssubentryitem{##2}%
    \else
      % all other levels
      \subsubitem
    \fi
    \glstarget{##2}{\glossentryname{##2}}%
    ,\space ##3%
  }%
}

\newperson{lewiscarroll}{Lewis}{Carroll}{1832}{1898}

\newterm[name={Alice's Adventures},parent=lewiscarroll]{alice}

\newperson{charlesdickens}{Charles}{Dickens}{1812}{1870}

\newterm[name={\emph{Bleak House}},parent=charlesdickens]{bleakhouse}

% non-people related terms:
\newterm{aardvark}
\newterm{zebra}
\newterm{jabberwocky}
\newterm[plural=mice]{mouse}

\begin{document}

\gls{charlesdickens} was born in \glsdateofbirth{charlesdickens}
and died in \glsdateofdeath{charlesdickens}. One of his many novels
was \gls{bleakhouse}.

\gls{lewiscarroll} was born in \glsdateofbirth{lewiscarroll} and
died in \glsdateofdeath{lewiscarroll}. His most stories include 
the adventures of a girl called \glsdisp{alice}{Alice}. He invented
the \gls{jabberwocky} but didn't invent \glspl{aardvark},
\glspl{mouse} or \glspl{zebra}.

\printglossary[type=index,style=people]

\end{document}

This produces: