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0.2.2.2. How to use `\section<n>'

The presumption is that every file in a literate document will begin its sectioning with a `\section' (equivalently, `\section1') and further sectioning will reflect a reasonable hierarchical structure within the file. You usually know this when you are typing in a particular file.

What you often do not know is how the file fits into the larger document, and it is most annoying (as happens sometimes with LaTeX) to have to rename all `\chapter's to `\section's, or some such. The information on how things go together is usually in a "root file," which sticks things together with `\input', `\downsection' and `\upsection'; this example is typical:

The `\upsection's and `\downsection's determine what actual LaTeX/Texinfo sectioning command is generated for a particular `\section<n>' command. Unfortunately, the desired LaTeX/Texinfo sectioning command for the top section in your hierarchy depends on the kind of document you are producing. For example, should it be a `\part' or a `\chapter'? The solution here is to let you choose, with the `\rootsectiontype{\foo}' command. It says that `\section1's at the "top level" should be typeset as LaTeX/Texinfo `\foo''s. The defaults based on the `\documentstyle' should usually be adequate: For a report, a useful variant might be `\rootsectiontype{\part}'.