Description length limit with glossaries

Question

Some of my glossarie entries have a rather long description. After a certain number of carracters they stop being displayed by the printglossaries command. Here is an exemple producing this problem :

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[shortcuts]{glossaries}

\makeglossaries

\newglossaryentry{short}{name={short},
description={a short entry}}

\newglossaryentry{long}{name={long},
description={
a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry
}}

\begin{document}
This one works : \gls{short}.
This one does not : \gls{long}

\printglossaries

\end{document}

How can I sidestep this issue?

Answer 1

In the glossary log file you will see

!! Input index error (file = gl55.glo, line = 2):
   -- First argument too long (max 1024).

Fortunately TeX is a macro processor so it is easy to have short texts standing in for long ones:

\newglossaryentry{long}{name={long},
description={\longdesc}}

\def\longdesc{a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry}

Answer 2

I would like to present more automatic solution to this problem:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[shortcuts]{glossaries}
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\makeatletter 
%define new glossary entry key, description with no size limit
\define@key{glossentry}{description}{\def\@glo@ldesc{#1}}

%overwrite standard description key with new long description
%it also makes description key not mandatory when long description is defined
\renewcommand{\@newglossaryentryprehook}{
\def\@glo@ldesc{}
\def\@glo@desc{\@glo@ldesc}
}
\renewcommand{\@newglossaryentryposthook}{
%save the content of new ldesc variable and prevent it from expanding. Its important if we want to use fancy latex commands description
\protected@csxdef{glo@\@glo@label @ldesc}{\expandonce{\@glo@ldesc}}
%overide description field for this glossary entry. By using csexpandonce and csuse we prevent expansion and take into account that \@glo@label may have white spacess in it.
\protected@csxdef{glo@\@glo@label @desc}{\csexpandonce{csuse{glo@\@glo@label @ldesc}}}
%because \@newglossaryentryprehook is invoked after \do@glo@storeentry in glossaries.sty we need to save it all again ;(
\do@glo@storeentry{\@glo@label}
}
\makeatother

\makeglossaries

\newglossaryentry{short}{name={short},
description={a short entry}}

\newglossaryentry{long}{name={long},
description={
a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a long entry a
long entry a long entry
}}

\begin{document}
This one works : \gls{short}.
This one does not : \gls{long}

\printglossaries

\end{document}