otherindexes -- how I read this

I am going to take a run at this one without benefit of a working
example.  The following expansions indicate how I read this 
documentation page.

    MHonArc Resource List
     _________________________________________________________________
   
                                 OTHERINDEXES
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Syntax

   Envariable
          
If you define this in the environment where mhonarc runs, then
mhonarc will process rcfile1...rcfileN as resource
(stuff-to-generate descriptor) files to be implemented.  The note
below points out that each of these has to tell mhonarc to write
out different-named files, or the output generated under control
of the different .rc files will be writing all over one another's
output.
   
          M2H_OTHERINDEXES=rcfile1:rcfile2:...:rcfileN
          
   Element
          
The second way to identify the personality scripts for the auxiliary
indices is via the following construct inserted in an .rc file that
mhonarc will come across somewhere in the tree.  Best keep it to 
the first (global) section of the root .rc file, don't you think?
   
          <OTHERINDEXES>
          rcfile1:rcfile2:...
          rcfilei:...:rcfileN
          </OTHERINDEXES>
          
   Command-line Option
          
And yet a third way to tell mhonarc about auxiliary .rc files.
   
          -otherindexes rcfile1:rcfile2:...:rcfileN
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Description

   OTHERINDEXES defines a list of resource files that define other index
   pages to generate when creating, or updating, an archive. When setting
   the OTHERINDEXES resource, the filenames are separated by colons (or
   semicolons under MSDOS/Windows). Line-breaks can be used to separate
   filenames if setting OTHERINDEXES via the OTHERINDEXES element.
   
Here's the plot.  So you want both a date and an author index?  Let's 
say the date index takes precedence in the .rc file hierarchy, for purposes
of concreteness (means nothing to the web visitor).  So the root .rc
file will say <MAIN> and <SORT> and <THREAD> and <OTHERINDEXES>. 

In the file named in the OTHERINDEXES clause, it will say <MAIN>
and <AUTHSORT>.  Every index is viewed by mhonarc as either some
variant on a main index or some variant on a thread index.  In
one auxiliary .rc file you can actually generate one each of a
MAIN-variant and a THREAD-variant.  But if the third and fourth
indices that you want are constructed as variants of index-type
MAIN, you need _two_ .rc files listed in the OTHERINDEXES clause
because each .rc file can only define one format associated with
a MAIN index and one format associated with a THREAD index.

   CAUTION
          It is very important that each resource file specified defines
          the MAIN or THREAD resource to determine the type of index to
          create. Also, the IDXFNAME or TIDXFNAME resource (and IDXPREFIX
          or TIDXPREFIX resource if MULTIPG is active) must be defined to
          prevent overwriting of the default index pages.
          
   MHonArc will only store the name of the resource files listed in the
   database. Therefore, for any subsequent updates of the archive, the
   extra index resource files must exist inorder to generate the extra
   index pages.
   
   NOTE
          Since MHonArc will look in the archive location for resource
          files specified with relative pathnames, you can keep the other
          index resource files in the same location as the archive, and
          just specify the filenames for the OTHERINDEXES element in the
          main resource file.
          
   When create resource files for extra indexes, make sure to explicitly
   set all resources desired since some resource settings may no longer
   be set to the defaults due to database settings, or from a previously
   read resource file. Ie. MHonArc does not reset to the default settings
   when reading in the other resource files.
     _________________________________________________________________
   
Examples

   Since MHonArc only creates two indexes by default (the main/date index
   and the thread index), you can use OTHERINDEXES to define other index
   formats for navigating your archive. A possible setting for
   OTHERINDEXES may look like this:
   
<OtherIndexes>
reversedateidx.rc
subjectidx.rc
</OtherIndexes>
     _________________________________________________________________
   
What we need here in the way of an example is a set of files, 
the primary .rc file citing the auxiliary and the auxiliary generating
an author, subject etc. index.


--
Al Gilman