lookbib(1)              (BSD Compatibility Package)              lookbib(1)


   NAME
         lookbib - find references in a bibliographic database

   SYNOPSIS
         /usr/ucb/lookbib database

   DESCRIPTION
         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
         contents of the field, which may continue until the next line
         starting with `%'.  See addbib.

         lookbib uses an inverted index made by indxbib to find sets of
         bibliographic 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.

         It is possible to search multiple databases, as long as they have a
         common 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 .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 (see grep).  lookbib 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
         *.ia
         *.ib                index files
         *.ic
         *.ig                reference file

   SEE ALSO
         addbib(1), indxbib(1), refer(1), roffbib(1), sortbib(1).

         grep(1) in the User's Reference Manual.

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








   8/91                                                                 Page 1