path: root/index.html

<table class="head" style="width: 100%;">
  <tr>
    <td class="head-ltitle">rf(1)</td>
    <td class="head-vol" style="text-align: center;">General Commands Manual</td>
    <td class="head-rtitle" style="text-align: right;">rf(1)</td>
  </tr>
</table>
<div class="manual-text">
<section class="Sh">
<h2 class="Sh" id="NAME"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#NAME">NAME</a></h2>
<code class="Nm">rf</code> &#x2014;
<div class="Nd">alternative reference system for (t)roff</div>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h2 class="Sh" id="SYNOPSIS"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></h2>
<table class="Nm">
  <tr>
    <td><code class="Nm">rf</code></td>
    <td><var class="Ar">file</var></td>
  </tr>
</table>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h2 class="Sh" id="DESCIPTION"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#DESCIPTION">DESCIPTION</a></h2>
<code class="Nm">rf</code> is a reference system for troff and other roff
  derivatives. It differs from <a class="Xr">refer(1)</a>, the traditional troff
  reference system, in a couple important ways:
<ol class="Bl-enum">
  <li>References are not stored in a separate file. They are defined via macros
      at the end of the troff document itself.
    <p class="Pp">This means that you can move, copy and share your troff
        document without needing to worry about an additional reference file.
        Furthermore, you never run the risk of accidentally losing the
        references attached to a document.</p>
  </li>
  <li><code class="Nm">rf</code> is around 150 lines of Perl. If you find a bug
      or an (in your opinion) undesirable behavior in
      <code class="Nm">rf</code>, you can easily patch it.</li>
  <li>Finally, <code class="Nm">rf</code> is much more simple and offers much
      more basic functionality than <a class="Xr">refer(1)</a>. This means that
      you can learn all of it in five minutes.</li>
</ol>
<p class="Pp">The performance of <code class="Nm">rf</code> primarily depends on
    the number of entries in the reference list at the end of the document. On
    my HP Compaq dc5700 from 2007, the relationship between number of entries in
    the reference list and total execution time is roughly the following:</p>
<table class="Bl-column Bd-indent">
  <tr>
    <td><i class="Em">Entries&#x00A0;&#x00A0;&#x00A0;&#x00A0;</i></td>
    <td><i class="Em">Time</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>3</td>
    <td>0.03s</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>50</td>
    <td>0.09s</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>107</td>
    <td>0.15s</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>182</td>
    <td>0.24s</td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p class="Pp">I would deem it rare to have more than a couple of hundred unique
    references in a troff document.</p>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h2 class="Sh" id="USAGE"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#USAGE">USAGE</a></h2>
<code class="Nm">rf</code> is controlled by several macros, all consisting of
  one uppercase and one lowercase letter, beginning with either an
  &#x2018;F&#x2019; or an &#x2018;R&#x2019;. Macros beginning with
  &#x2018;R&#x2019; control the two primary &#x201C;units&#x201D; of
  <code class="Nm">rf</code>:
<ol class="Bl-enum">
  <li><i class="Em">entries</i> in the reference list, and</li>
  <li><i class="Em">inline references</i> to these entries.</li>
</ol>
<p class="Pp">Macros beginning with &#x2018;F&#x2019;, in turn, control the
    appearance of these two units.</p>
<section class="Ss">
<h3 class="Ss" id="Format_macros"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#Format_macros">Format
  macros</a></h3>
You can control the appearance of your references as they are displayed in-line
  as well as in the final reference list by using the format macros.
<dl class="Bl-tag">
  <dt><b class="Sy">Fe</b></dt>
  <dd>Defines the format for reference list entries.
    <p class="Pp">Default: %a (%y). {\fI%t\fR}. {\*Q%q\*U}. %n, %d. %c: %p.
        {Available: %w.}</p>
  </dd>
  <dt><b class="Sy">Ff</b></dt>
  <dd>Defines the format for &#x201C;full&#x201D; inline references, which by
      default contain both author and year.
    <p class="Pp">Default: (%A %y)</p>
  </dd>
  <dt><b class="Sy">Fx</b></dt>
  <dd>Defines the format for &#x201C;alternate&#x201D; inline references, which
      by default contain only the year.
    <p class="Pp">Default: (%y)</p>
  </dd>
</dl>
<p class="Pp">For a description of the format syntax, see
    <a class="Sx" href="#FORMAT_SYNTAX">FORMAT SYNTAX</a>.</p>
</section>
<section class="Ss">
<h3 class="Ss" id="Entry_definition_macros"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#Entry_definition_macros">Entry
  definition macros</a></h3>
In the reference list, each entry is defined by a <b class="Sy">contiguous</b>
  block of lines containing definition macros, describing various
  <i class="Em">fields</i> belonging to the reference, such as author and year.
  The definition of one reference is separated from that of another by any other
  lines, <b class="Sy">including</b> text lines and empty lines.
<dl class="Bl-tag">
  <dt><b class="Sy">Ra</b></dt>
  <dd>Adds to the list of <i class="Em">authors</i> of the current reference.
    <p class="Pp">Format: Surname(s), Forename(s)</p>
  </dd>
  <dt><b class="Sy">Rc</b></dt>
  <dd>Defines the <i class="Em">city</i> of publication.</dd>
  <dt><b class="Sy">Rd</b></dt>
  <dd>Defines the (detailed) <i class="Em">date</i> of publication, not as a
      substitute for <b class="Sy">Ry</b>, but as a further specification. For
      example, the day and month a newspaper article was published.</dd>
  <dt><b class="Sy">Rn</b></dt>
  <dd>Defines the <i class="Em">newspaper</i> in which an article was
    published.</dd>
  <dt><b class="Sy">Rp</b></dt>
  <dd>Defines the <i class="Em">publisher</i> of a book.</dd>
  <dt><b class="Sy">Rq</b></dt>
  <dd>Defines the (quoted) <i class="Em">title</i> of an article.</dd>
  <dt><b class="Sy">Rt</b></dt>
  <dd>Defines the <i class="Em">title</i> of a book.</dd>
  <dt><b class="Sy">Rw</b></dt>
  <dd>Defines the (web) <i class="Em">address</i> of an online resource.</dd>
  <dt><b class="Sy">Ry</b></dt>
  <dd>Defines the <i class="Em">year</i> of publication.</dd>
</dl>
<p class="Pp">In the final output, <code class="Nm">rf</code> prints a formatted
    version of each reference entry in place of its definition.
    <code class="Nm">rf</code> does not change the order of reference entries.
    This means that you can arrange your references freely.</p>
</section>
<section class="Ss">
<h3 class="Ss" id="Inline_reference_macros"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#Inline_reference_macros">Inline
  reference macros</a></h3>
To insert an inline reference to an entry in the reference list, you can use one
  of two macros:
<dl class="Bl-tag">
  <dt><b class="Sy">Rf</b></dt>
  <dd>Inserts a &#x201C;full&#x201D; inline reference, which usually contains
      both author and year.</dd>
  <dt><b class="Sy">Rx</b></dt>
  <dd>Inserts an &#x201C;alternate&#x201D; inline reference, which usually
      contains only the year.</dd>
</dl>
<p class="Pp">What reference to refer to is specified by the rest of the line.
    Each word of it is matched against the author, year and title of all
    references to find a match. If only a weak match is found, a warning is
    printed on standard error.</p>
<p class="Pp">To include some punctuation character immediately after the inline
    reference, add a space before it:</p>
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent">
<pre>
.Rf Johnson 92 .
</pre>
</div>
<p class="Pp">To wrap the inline reference in parentheses, use the following
    syntax:</p>
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent">
<pre>
.Rf Johnson 92 ) (
</pre>
</div>
<p class="Pp">Additionally, any instance of <code class="Li">''</code> is
    replaced with the last word on the preceding line. This allows the following
    shortcut:</p>
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent">
<pre>
According to Johnson
.Rx '' 92 ,
there has been a gradual change in attitudes towards ...
</pre>
</div>
</section>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h2 class="Sh" id="FORMAT_SYNTAX"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#FORMAT_SYNTAX">FORMAT
  SYNTAX</a></h2>
<section class="Ss">
<h3 class="Ss" id="Interpolation"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#Interpolation">Interpolation</a></h3>
In a format definition, use a percent (%) sigil followed by a single letter to
  interpolate any given field of the reference. The letter following the percent
  sign corresponds to the second letter of the reference list macros described
  above. For example:
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent">
<pre>
.Ff (%A, %y)      \&quot; (Author, Year)
</pre>
</div>
<p class="Pp">By wrapping an interpolation in braces, you can specify a prefix
    and/or suffix that should be included only if the interpolation is
    successful. For example:</p>
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent">
<pre>
.Ff (%A{, %y}).   \&quot; Here, ', ' is removed if there is no year.
</pre>
</div>
<p class="Pp">To interpolate only the <b class="Sy">surnames</b> of the authors,
    you can use the special <i class="Em">%A</i> syntax, with an uppercase
    instead of lowercase &#x2018;a&#x2019;.</p>
</section>
<section class="Ss">
<h3 class="Ss" id="Special_backslash_behavior"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#Special_backslash_behavior">Special
  backslash behavior</a></h3>
<ol class="Bl-enum">
  <li>A backslash at the end of a format line acts as a line continuation
      marker. The newline after the backslash is preserved.</li>
  <li>For format macros describing inline references, a backslash immediately
      following the macro name will cause the reference be joined to the
      preceding line.</li>
</ol>
<p class="Pp">Anywhere else in the line, backslashes are preserved
  literally.</p>
<p class="Pp">By using backslashes, you can implement footnote-based references.
    For example, using the ms macro package:</p>
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent">
<pre>
.Fx\ \**\
.FS\
%a, {\fI%t\fR}, {\*Q%q\*U}, %y.\
.FE
</pre>
</div>
</section>
<section class="Ss">
<h3 class="Ss" id="Automatic_cleanup"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#Automatic_cleanup">Automatic
  cleanup</a></h3>
You usually don't need to worry about excessive spaces and stray punctuation
  marks. <code class="Nm">rf</code> removes common punctuation immediately
  preceding and following an unsuccessful interpolation. Excessive spaces are
  also removed, unless they follow a period, marking the end of a sentence.
</section>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h2 class="Sh" id="EXAMPLE"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#EXAMPLE">EXAMPLE</a></h2>
Below is an example of an ms-based troff document using
  <code class="Nm">rf</code> references.
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent">
<pre>
.de noop
..
.blm noop

.SH
Previous work

.LP
Davidson
.Rx '' 1991
has performed a study [...]

.PP
[...] which leads to a higher total cholesterol level
.Rf Smith 2007 .

.SH
Literature

.XP
.Ra Davidson, H.
.Ry 1991
.Rt Seminal Work
.Rc Athens
.Rp Logos

.XP
.Ra Smith, P.
.Ry 2007
.Rt Modern Society
.Rc Athens
.Rp Logos
</pre>
</div>
<p class="Pp">When given the above file, <code class="Nm">rf</code> will output
    the following source code:</p>
<div class="Bd Pp Bd-indent">
<pre>
.de noop
..
.blm noop

.SH
Previous work


.LP
Davidson
(1991)
has performed a study [...]

.PP
[...] which leads to a higher total cholesterol level
(Smith 2007).

.SH
Literature

.XP
Davidson, H. (1991).  \fISeminal Work\fR.  Athens: Logos.

.XP
Smith, P. (2007).  \fIModern Society\fR.  Athens: Logos.
</pre>
</div>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h2 class="Sh" id="AUTHORS"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></h2>
<code class="Nm">rf</code> was written by John Ankarstr&#x00F6;m
  &lt;<a class="Mt" href="mailto:john">john</a>
  <a class="Mt" href="mailto:(at)">(at)</a>
  <a class="Mt" href="mailto:ankarstrom.se">ankarstrom.se</a>&gt;.
</section>
</div>
<table class="foot" style="width: 100%;">
  <tr>
    <td class="foot-date">November 11, 2020</td>
    <td class="foot-os" style="text-align: right;">Linux 5.4.72-0-lts</td>
  </tr>
</table>