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<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">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> —
<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
in the troff document itself, usually at the end.
<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</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
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
‘F’ (format macros) or an ‘R’ (inline reference
and reference list macros). These are listed below in alphabetical order.
<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>
<dl class="Bl-tag">
<dt><b class="Sy">Ff</b></dt>
<dd>Defines the format for “full” inline references, which
usually contain both author and year.
<p class="Pp">Default: (%a %y)</p>
</dd>
<dt><b class="Sy">Fl</b></dt>
<dd>Defines the format for the reference list, which is usually located at the
end of the document.
<p class="Pp">Default: %a (%y). {\fI%t\fR}. {\*Q%q\*U}. %n, %d. %c: %p.
{Available: %w.}</p>
</dd>
<dt><b class="Sy">Fx</b></dt>
<dd>Defines the format for “alternate” inline references, which
usually 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="Inline_reference_macros"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#Inline_reference_macros">Inline
reference macros</a></h3>
<dl class="Bl-tag">
<dt><b class="Sy">Rf</b></dt>
<dd>Inserts a “full” inline reference, which usually contains
both author and year.</dd>
<dt><b class="Sy">Rx</b></dt>
<dd>Inserts an “alternate” 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.
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 class="Ss">
<h3 class="Ss" id="Reference_list_macros"><a class="permalink" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" href="#Reference_list_macros">Reference
list macros</a></h3>
<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.
Additionally, <b class="Sy">Ra</b> marks the beginning of a new 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. 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">Of these macros, <b class="Sy">Ra</b> and <b class="Sy">Ry</b> are
the most important.</p>
</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>
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) \" (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}). \" Here, ', ' is removed if there is no year.
</pre>
</div>
<p class="Pp">Note that all fields are inserted literally, except
<i class="Em">%a</i>, from which the forenames of the authors are
removed.</p>
<p class="Pp">Finally, you usually don't need to worry about excessive spaces
and stray punctuation marks, as <code class="Nm">rf</code> removes many of
these these automatically.</p>
</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 Ankarström
<<a class="Mt" href="mailto:john">john</a>
<a class="Mt" href="mailto:(on)">(on)</a>
<a class="Mt" href="mailto:ankarstrom.se">ankarstrom.se</a>>.
</section>
</div>
<table class="foot">
<tr>
<td class="foot-date">November 11, 2020</td>
<td class="foot-os">Linux 5.4.72-0-lts</td>
</tr>
</table>
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