[XeTeX] The memoir \makeindex command and Fontspec

[Malcolm Ross]

> On 3 Jul 2006, at 1:47 pm, Malcolm Ross wrote:
>
>> I have been trying to create multiple indexes in a Memoir class
>> document I am writing. The Memoir class has its own built-in index-
>> creation mechanisms. The default index (flora.idx for my document
>> flora.tex) is created by placing the command \makeindex in the
>> document preamble. A second index can be created with, for example,
>> \makeindex[plants], creating an index file plants.idx. And so on.
>>
>> This, at least, is what the manual says. But \makeindex[plants]
>> generates:
>>
>> !LaTeX Error: Missing \begin{document}
>>
>> Initially I thought I was making some obvious mistake, despite my
>> reading of the manual. However, I have experimented and it seems that
>> this command works fine if Fontspec is not called. I am loath to
>> abandon Fontspec. Life would be much harder without it. Can anyone
>> suggest a workaround? Or an I making an obvious mistake?
>
> I don't know why you're having problems with it; I tried a trivial
> example and it seems to run fine, generating two (rather
> uninteresting) .idx files:
>
> So I suspect some more complex interaction of packages in your case;
> can you try simplifying, and post a small but complete example that
> demonstrates the problem?
>
> JK

This is just a report for the record. My thanks to Jonathan for his  
trivial example and for pointing out that my finding couldn't be  
correct. I don't understand the rôle of Fontspec in this, but there  
is indeed a complex interaction of packages. I inserted the packages  
I use one by one into a Jonathan's example, and the culprit turned  
out to be natbib (other biblio packages don't cause this problem).  
The solution, however, appears straightforward. If \makeindex[second]  
is placed before \usepackage{natbib}, it works. If it is placed after  
\usepackage{natbib}, it doesn't.

Malcolm