Using counters within \index{...} with {index} package NOT {makeidx} package

Question

Using counters within \index{...} gives solutions to the problem of using counters within the \index command when using \usepackage{makeidx}, as in

    \index{index entry \arabic{counter}}

In this case, \arabic{counter} is written verbatim

    "index entry \arabic{counter}"

to the .idx file rather than being first expanded to something like

    "index entry 1".

Solutions given include defining a new macro \Index or use an \mbox{}. These solutions work great when using the makeidx package.

However, neither solution works when using the index package rather than the makeidx package. Here is a simple example that was adapted from the above link:

\documentclass{article}
%\usepackage{makeidx}% using this, "\arabic{section}" expands to 1, 2, 3,...
\usepackage{index}% using this, "\arabic{section}" does not expand
\makeindex
\newcommand*{\Index}[1]{\index{#1}}
\begin{document}
\section{First  Section} \Index{first  \arabic{section}}
\section{Second Section} \Index{second \arabic{section}}
\section{Third  Section} \Index{third  \arabic{section}}
\section{Fourth Section} \mbox{\index{fourth \arabic{section}}}
\section{Fifth  Section} \mbox{\index{fifth  \arabic{section}}}
\section{Sixth  Section} \mbox{\index{sixth  \arabic{section}}}
\printindex
\end{document}

When using \usepackage{makeidx}, the .idx file contains what one might want (expanded counter values):

    \indexentry{first 1}{1}
    \indexentry{second 2}{1}
    \indexentry{third 3}{1}
    \indexentry{fourth 4}{1}
    \indexentry{fifth 5}{1}
    \indexentry{sixth 6}{1}

However, when using \usepackage{index}, the .idx file contains what one may not want (verbatim strings/unexpanded counter values):

    \indexentry {first \arabic {section}}{1}
    \indexentry {second \arabic {section}}{1}
    \indexentry {third \arabic {section}}{1}
    \indexentry {fourth \arabic {section}}{1}
    \indexentry {fifth \arabic {section}}{1}
    \indexentry {sixth \arabic {section}}{1}

I want to use the index package for multi-index support. Does anyone have a solution that can be used with the index package?

Many many thanks in advance,

Dan

Answer 1

The (very old) package index overrules the additions in latex.ltx about \protected@write to the index file, so \arabic{section} in an index entry is not expanded first and written then to the .idx.

The very sophisticated package imakeidx supersedes index and allows for multiple indexes, if shell-escape (\write18) is enabled, makeindex or texindy is run automatically.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{imakeidx}
\makeindex

\begin{document}
\section{First  Section} \index{first \textbf{Hello} \arabic{section}}
\section{Second Section} \index{second \arabic{section}}
\section{Third  Section} \index{third  \arabic{section}}
\section{Fourth Section} \index{fourth \arabic{section}}
\section{Fifth  Section} \index{fifth  \arabic{section}}
\section{Sixth  Section} \index{sixth  \arabic{section}}
\printindex
\end{document}