Additional Comments

There are a number of important points, which do not fit anywhere else, so here they are.

• When BibDB is invoked, it first looks for the configuration file. The default name for this file is `〈program name〉.CFG' (usually `BibDB.CFG'), but a different file name may be specified in the command line. The configuration file is searched for first in the current directory, then in the directory where BibDB resides, and finally along the DOS PATH. If the configuration file is not found, the program halts.

• When writing fields which contain a mixture of strings and macros, the first character must be `@', otherwise BibDB will enclose the text in braces. You should take care when writing such fields: BibDB will detect unbalanced braces and quotes, but will not check the syntax otherwise.

• If you insert line breaks into fields which you also intend to use in actual bibliography fields (e.g. ``title"), you should also declare the line break control as a null operation in your TEX file. Thus, using the default line break control, you should insert the line \def \Cr#1{} into the preamble of your TEX or L^ATEX document. Note that, if you choose to change the line break control to \cr, you should remember that this control is already in use in TEX.

• If BibDB encounters a field which was previously undeclared (in the configuration file), it automatically adds it to the list of permissible fields, and marks it as ``ignored'' by all entry types. However, care must be taken to ensure that the total number of declared and implicit fields not exceed 36. Generally, it is preferable to predefine all fields in the configuration file.

• BibDB will work only on legitimate BibTEX bibliography files, that is on files on which BibTEX reports no errors. If your file contains BibTEX errors, especially unbalanced braces, the results are unpredictable.

• If the program does not work, look in the configuration file to see if the parameters conform to your computer. You might need to switch on the ``alwaysreadfields'' parameter if the format of your database files is unusual. In particular, you might need to switch it on if you do not start entries on new lines. It is still possible, however, that there exist legitimate (if weird) BibTEX formats that BibDB will not be able to read.

• BibDB preserves any text that precedes the first entry, such as comments and `@STRING' commands, and also copies it faithfully during the `Dump all' and `Order file' operations (in BibTEX mode only). Any text that appears in the middle of a file is usually ignored, and `Dump' operations do not copy such text. In general, it is wise to put any comments, `@STRING' commands, etc., at the beginning of a bibliography file.

• BibDB works directly on the bibliography file, which is an ASCII file with no indexing data. Consequently, the program may slow down when working with very large bibliographies. Try to keep the individual bibliography files reasonably small. Also, if possible use a disk cache.

• You may rename BibDB.EXE to another name. The renamed program will then by default look for a configuration file whose name is the same as the program name. Thus, if you rename the program to BIBLIO.EXE, the configuration file should be called BIBLIO.CFG. Alternatively, you could use the `/c' command line parameter to explicitly specify a configuration file.

• BibDB works fine when compressed using LZEXE, PKLITE, DIET, or similar EXE file compressors. However, the selftest will fail if the program is compressed. So, first make sure the program is not virus infected, and then switch off the selftest by writing `` \selftest{off}'' in the configuration file.

• Before an actual change occurs to the bibliography file (as a consequence of saving the current sort parameters, or performing an Add, Edit, Import, Paste, Replace or Cut), the original file is backed up, and given the extension .BAK.

• BibDB is DESQview–aware. This means that: (a) BibDB will not needlessly occupy the CPU while waiting for input (true under WINDOWS 3.x as well), and (b) BibDB will write to the DESQview video buffer instead of to the video memory. Thus, the "Writes directly to screen" and the "Virtualize screen" parameters may be switched off in the DESQview DVP file. However, under DESQview 386, the mouse driver may not operate satisfactorily in this mode. Thus, you should either switch the mouse off (specify `nomouse' in the `desqview' configuration file parameter), or use screen virtualization anyway if you plan to run BibDB in a small window. You can also specify in the configuration file that, under DESQview, the default software mouse cursor be replaced by a hardware cursor. The hardware cursor is a blinking rectangle, and so can be annoying, but it enables automatic panning of the visible window over the logical screen, and is quite useful.

  Under DESQview/X, BibDB does not display a mouse cursor at all, but uses the global cursor, and so you can leave virtualization off. However, it has been reported that BibDB has difficulty using XMS under DESQview/X, since DESQview/X has a tendency to create ``holes'' in contiguous XMS memory. If this is the case on your system, you should specify `noxms' in the `desqview' configuration file parameter in order to avoid its use. EMS memory, however, does work under DESQview/X.

• Limitations: Up to 8 bibliography files may be specified on the command line. The line length in the bibliography file can't exceed 255 characters. If it does, use AWK, PERL or your favorite editor to fix it. The maximum length of any field entry is 3040 characters, but a maximum of two field entries in any one entry may be longer than 255 characters. If an entry contains more than two big fields, an error message is issued, and the field is truncated. The maximum length of the entry names is 50 characters. The maximum number of fields and of entry types that the program accepts is 36. The maximum number of user defined menu items in the ``Choose field'' and ``Dump format'' menus is 11. Also, patterns are limited to a maximum of 25 parts, and problems may occur if pattern entries are longer than 128 characters (especially when searching in long entry fields), although the formal limit is 255 characters. There is also a limit of 100 on the amount of nesting in ShowFormat definitions. Lines in the configuration file may not be longer than 255 characters, and fully expanded path lists may not be longer than 255 characters. The database may contain up to 65535 entries, although long files will slow down the program. Finally, the ShowFormat part of the configuration file may not be more than 16K bytes long.