5.2 Structuring Command Types

The chapter structuring commands fall into four groups or series, each of which contains structuring commands corresponding to the hierarchical levels of chapters, sections, subsections, and subsubsections.

The four groups are the @chapter series, the @unnumbered series, the @appendix series, and the @heading series.

Each command produces titles that have a different appearance on the printed page or Info file; only some of the commands produce titles that are listed in the table of contents of a printed book or manual.

• The @chapter and @appendix series of commands produce numbered or lettered entries both in the body of a printed work and in its table of contents.
• The @unnumbered series of commands produce unnumbered entries both in the body of a printed work and in its table of contents. The @top command, which has a special use, is a member of this series (see section @top). An @unnumbered section should be associated with a node and be a normal part of the document structure.
• The @heading series of commands produce simple unnumbered headings that do not appear in a table of contents, are not associated with nodes, and cannot be cross-referenced. The heading commands never start a new page.
• The @majorheading command is similar to @chapheading, except that it generates a larger vertical whitespace before the heading.
• When an @setchapternewpage command says to do so, the @chapter, @unnumbered, and @appendix commands start new pages in the printed manual; the @heading commands do not.

Here are the four groups of chapter structuring commands: