LOOKBIB(1)                                                          LOOKBIB(1)



NAME
       indxbib, lookbib - build inverted index for a bibliography, find refer‐
       ences in a bibliography

SYNOPSIS
       indxbib database  ...
       lookbib [ -n ] database

DESCRIPTION
       _I_n_d_x_b_i_b makes an inverted index to the named _d_a_t_a_b_a_s_e_s (or  files)  for
       use by _l_o_o_k_b_i_b(1) and _r_e_f_e_r(1).  These files contain bibliographic ref‐
       erences (or other kinds of information) separated by blank lines.

       A bibliographic reference is a set of  lines,  constituting  fields  of
       bibliographic  information.  Each field starts on a line beginning with
       a ‘‘%’’, followed by a key-letter, then a blank, and finally  the  con‐
       tents  of  the  field,  which may continue until the next line starting
       with ‘‘%’’.

       _I_n_d_x_b_i_b  is  a  shell  script  that   calls   /usr/lib/refer/mkey   and
       /usr/lib/refer/inv.   The  first  program,  _m_k_e_y_,  truncates words to 6
       characters, and maps upper case to lower case.  It also discards  words
       shorter  than  3  characters,  words  among the 100 most common English
       words, and numbers (dates) < 1900 or > 2000.  These parameters  can  be
       changed;  see  page  4  of the _R_e_f_e_r document by Mike Lesk.  The second
       program, _i_n_v_, creates an entry file (.ia), a posting file (.ib), and  a
       tag file (.ic), all in the working directory.

       _L_o_o_k_b_i_b  uses an inverted index made by _i_n_d_x_b_i_b to find sets of biblio‐
       graphic references.  It reads keywords typed after the ‘‘>’’ prompt  on
       the  terminal, and retrieves records containing all these keywords.  If
       nothing matches, nothing is returned except another ‘‘>’’ prompt.

       _L_o_o_k_b_i_b will ask if you need instructions, and will  print  some  brief
       information  if  you reply ‘‘y’’.  The ‘‘-n’’ flag turns off the prompt
       for instructions.

       It is possible to search multiple databases, as long  as  they  have  a
       common  index  made  by _i_n_d_x_b_i_b_.  In that case, only the first argument
       given to _i_n_d_x_b_i_b is specified to _l_o_o_k_b_i_b_.

       If _l_o_o_k_b_i_b does not find the index files (the .i[abc] files), it  looks
       for  a  reference  file with the same name as the argument, without the
       suffixes.  It creates a file with a ’.ig’ suffix, suitable for use with
       _f_g_r_e_p_.   It  then uses this fgrep file to find references.  This method
       is simpler to use, but the .ig file is slower to use than  the  .i[abc]
       files, and does not allow the use of multiple reference files.

FILES
       _x.ia,  _x.ib,  _x.ic,  where _x is the first argument, or if these are not
       present, then _x.ig, _x

SEE ALSO
       refer(1), addbib(1), sortbib(1), roffbib(1), lookbib(1)

BUGS
       Probably all dates should be indexed, since many disciplines  refer  to
       literature written in the 1800s or earlier.



4.2 Berkeley Distribution       April 29, 1985                      LOOKBIB(1)