In the inventory panel there are icons attached to the that appear to be pages with a minus number in red. Repairing the weapon does not seem to affect this. There are other icons that are not clear to me. Is there any where that explains all the icons in the game.

The items with the red minus (followed by a number) only show you that the item in question is lower in specs/quality then the item of the same sort you have equipped.

So if your current sword has something like 60-70, any sword in your inventory that has lower specs will carry these red numbers and minus sign.
Repairing won't change that - sell this stuff or dissemble the junk :).

You are talking about 2 different things - one is indeed the difference between the selected and equiped item - the other one witch I belive the author is talking about - appears red with a hammer icon, as it would be reduced damage from a dammaged weapon ..but repairing doesn't fix this.

Repairing - items that are marked as defunct normally can be repaired as long as you have any repairing tools in your inventory.
If not - bug.