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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" 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
      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&#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; (format macros) or an &#x2018;R&#x2019; (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 &#x201C;full&#x201D; 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 &#x201C;alternate&#x201D; 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 &#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.
    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">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>
<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)      \&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">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">Note also that you can use troff requests and other macros in your
    format by starting with a dot. This will expand to a valid request/macro in
    the output of <code class="Nm">rf</code>.</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="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 London
.Rp Another Press

.XP
.Ra Smith, P.
.Ry 2007
.Rt Modern Society
.Rc New York
.Rp Some Press
</pre>
</div>
<p class="Pp">When given the above file, <code class="Nm">rf</code> will output
    the following 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. London: Another Press.

.XP
Smith, P. (2007). \fIModern Society\fR. New York: Some Press.
</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>