# firstindexletter

`firstindexletter` is a LaTeX package for visually emphasizing the first entry
of each index letter group by enlarging its initial letter.

The package is intended primarily for indexes generated with `xindy`/`texindy`,
where the generated `.ind` file contains `\lettergroup{...}` information. It
works at LaTeX macro level: instead of modifying the generated `.ind` file, it
hooks into the `theindex` environment and formats the first entry of each
effective letter group.

The package provides configurable initial size, font family and color, and a
simple three-level optical kerning mechanism for selected initial-letter pairs.
It also supports Hungarian multi-character initials such as `Cs`, `Gy`, `Ly`,
`Ny`, `Sz`, `Ty` and `Zs`, with configurable handling of `Dz` and `Dzs`.

## Files

The distribution contains:

- `firstindexletter.sty` — the package file;
- `firstindexletter-doc.tex` — English documentation source;
- `firstindexletter-doc.pdf` — English documentation;
- `firstindexletter-doc-hu.tex` — Hungarian documentation source;
- `firstindexletter-doc-hu.pdf` — Hungarian documentation;
- `README.md` — this file;
- `LICENSE` — license information;
- `CHANGELOG.md` — release history.

## Basic usage

```latex
\usepackage{firstindexletter}
\FirstIndexLetterEnable
```

A typical index declaration with `imakeidx` and `texindy` is:

```latex
\makeindex[
  name=places,
  title=Place names,
  columns=3,
  noautomatic,
  program=texindy,
  options=-L english -C utf8
]
```

For Hungarian sorting, use suitable Hungarian `texindy` settings, for example:

```latex
\makeindex[
  name=places,
  title=Place names,
  columns=3,
  noautomatic,
  program=texindy,
  options=-L hungarian -M hungarian-utf8
]
```

To enable separate effective handling of `Dz` and `Dzs` groups when the
generated index contains suitable `\lettergroup` entries:

```latex
\FirstIndexLetterSeparateDz
\FirstIndexLetterSeparateDzs
```

## Building the documentation

For the English manual:

```sh
pdflatex firstindexletter-doc.tex
texindy -L english -C utf8 places.idx
pdflatex firstindexletter-doc.tex
pdflatex firstindexletter-doc.tex
```

For the Hungarian manual, use the corresponding `.tex` file and Hungarian
`texindy` settings used in that document.

## Requirements

The package requires LaTeX2e and loads:

- `imakeidx` with the `xindy` option;
- `xcolor`.

The documentation additionally uses standard packages such as `hyperref`,
`listings`, `multicol`, `geometry`, `url`, `ifpdf` and `graphicx`.

## License

This work may be distributed and/or modified under the conditions of the
LaTeX Project Public License, either version 1.3c of this license or, at your
option, any later version.

This work has the LPPL maintenance status `maintained`.

The Current Maintainer of this work is Zsolt Bihari.

## Author

Zsolt Bihari  
<info@tengerikajak.net>