LOOKBIB(1) BSD Reference Manual LOOKBIB(1)
indxbib, lookbib - build inverted index for a bibliography, find refer-
ences in a bibliography
indxbib database ...
lookbib [-n] database
Indxbib builds an inverted index to the named databases (or files), which
can then be used by lookbib and refer(1). The files are assumed to be
refer style bibliographic databases (see addbib(1)).
Indxbib is a shell script which calls mkey and inv. The first program,
mkey, 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 a Refer document by Mike Lesk
(See the SEE ALSO section below). The second program, inv, creates an en-
try file (file.ia), a posting file (file.ib), and a tag file (file.ic),
all in the working directory.
Lookbib uses an inverted index made by indxbib 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.
Lookbib will ask if you need instructions, and will print some brief in-
formation if you reply "y". The -n flag turns off the prompt for instruc-
tions.
It is possible to search multiple databases, as long as they have a com-
mon index made by indxbib. In that case, only the first argument given to
indxbib is specified to lookbib.
If lookbib does not find the index files (the file.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 fgrep(1). It then uses this fgrep file to find references. This
method is simpler to use, but the fileig is slower to use than the
file.i[abc] files, and does not allow the use of multiple reference
files.
*.ia Entry file.
*.ib Posting file.
*.ic Tag file.
*.ig Ascii file created if index files not found.
/usr/bin/mkey Make keys program.
/usr/bin/inv Hash and invert program.
refer(1), addbib(1), sortbib(1), roffbib(1), lookbib(1)
More than one blank line in between citations can wreak havoc.
Probably all dates should be indexed, since many disciplines refer to
literature written in the 1800s or earlier.
A lookbib command appeared in Version 32V AT&T UNIX.
4.2 Berkeley Distribution September 4, 2020 1