A node is a region of text that begins at a @node
command, and continues until the next @node
command.
To specify a node, write a @node
command at the beginning of
a line, and follow it with the name of the node.
Info readers display one node at a time, and provide commands for the
user to move to related nodes. The HTML output can be similarly navigated.
Nodes are used as the targets of cross-references. Cross-references,
such as the one at the end of this sentence, are made with @xref
and related commands; see Cross-references. Cross-references can
be sprinkled throughout the text. Other @-commands may also
be the target of cross-references (see @anchor
: Defining Arbitrary Cross-reference Targets, see Floats).
Normally, you put a node command immediately before each chapter
structuring command—for example, an @section
or
@subsection
line. (See Chapter Structuring.)
You should do this even if you do not intend to format the file for Info.
This is because printed output uses both @node
names and
chapter-structuring names in the output for cross-references. The only
time you are likely to use the chapter structuring commands without also
using nodes is if you are writing a document that contains no cross
references and will only be printed, not transformed into Info, HTML, or
other formats.