TeXReƒ simplifies the task of adding citations and references to a manuscript for journal publication. Specifically, it takes over the task of numbering citations and sorting the references accordingly; freeing the author from this often tedious task.
Why use TeXReƒ?
If you are one of the few people who can draft an entire manuscript in only one pass, then this application probably won’t be for you. If, however, you are one of the rest of us, then you know that early in the writing process, sentences are pushed around in paragraphs and even paragraphs switched around in the paper. As a result, two or more citations often flip-flop—and must thus be renumbered. This can become quite a headache if one or more of these references are cited elsewhere in the paper. When, for example, a reference is cited later in the paper, the author must remember to change the index of that citation everywhere it occurs. On the other hand, when a reference is cited earlier in the paper, the index must be left alone. Furthermore, whenever a new reference is inserted into the paper, all “downstream” citations must be renumbered (except those which received their index “upstream” of the insertion). At the same time, every change to a citation index requires renumbering and resorting the reference list at the end of the paper. A single mistake means that the entire paper must be passed over again to resequence all of the indices—keeping an eye out for duplicate citations. …Or,…
You can use TeXReƒ to take care of all of this for you!!!
How do I obtain TeXReƒ?
I assume you already have a copy of TeXReƒ if you are reading this document. BUT, I want to take this opportunity to remind you that TeXReƒ is a shareware package. If you find it a useful tool, please send in the registration form and the meager fee of U.S. $15. As a registered user, you may install TeXReƒ on any Macintosh which you regularly use. Anyone else who uses these Macintoshes may also use TeXReƒ without additional fees, but may not copy it to a machine which you don’t regularly use (unless, of course, they too are registered users). By the way, should you have this document but cannot find a copy of TeXReƒ, email me at mayer@idefix.seas.upenn.edu and request a copy.
You may distribute TeXReƒ freely as long as all original files are present and unedited and as long as you don’t collect any fee except to cover the cost of duplication. Nonprofit user groups may include TeXReƒ on shareware collection disks provided that they register their copy (no fee).
Legal statement: TeXReƒ is provided with the following warranty only. Should TeXReƒ fail to perform its described function due to programmatic errors, the author, Michael A. Mayer, may at his discretion either provide the customer with a new version of TeXReƒ within two weeks which is free of that error, or may refund the registration fee. Copies of TeXReƒ which have not been registered carry no warranty of any kind. Conflicts with other applications, extensions, control panels, etc., are not covered under this warranty. The entire TeXReƒ package was free of all currently recognized viruses at the time it left the author’s computer—therefore, damage caused by any virus attached to TeXReƒ or any of the accompanying documentation or example files is not covered under this warranty.
How do I use TeXReƒ?
You will need to create two (2) ‘TEXT’ files: the manuscript itself, and a list of references. The reference file must contain all the references which the manuscript cites; it may contain unused references as well. The references in this file must be uniquely numbered—how they are numbered, however, is completely arbitrary. (I keep a master list of all the papers in my filing cabinet. As I add a new one, I add it to this master list and assign it the next available number.) The format of the reference file is highly flexible to allow for various formats preferred by different authors and journals. See “Setting Reƒ Prefs.” One possible format would be:
23—Mayer, M.A. and Vanderlick, T.K., Langmuir 8 (1992), 3131.
54—Levins, J.M. and Vanderlick, T.K., J. Colloids 15 (1993), 411.
The only restriction on the format is that it be consistent throughout the reference list . Here “consistent” only means with respect to the “Reƒ Prefs” settings.
The manuscript file contains the body of the paper. To cite a reference, simply insert the index number from the reference list as you would normally insert a citation index. This reference must have a «flag» attached so that TeXReƒ can spot it. In the following example, the reference was flagged with “!!”:
of course, as Joe Smith pointed out (!!21-23,54)
You may choose whatever flag works best for you. You can also specify if TeXReƒ should delete or leave the flag in the final manuscript. See “Setting Reƒ Prefs.” Citations to multiple references (as in the example above) may be separated by any combination of commas (,) and dashes (-).
Having created both a manuscript and a reference file, simply launch TeXReƒ. One or two windows may automatically open; these are from a previous session. If these are not your files, simply close them. Open your files through the “File” menu. Set your preferences through the “TeXReƒ” menu. Tell TeXReƒ to update the manuscript and reference list. Save the results. The citations are now numbered sequentially in the manuscript and the reference list contains only those references which were cited—sorted by order of citation.
What can’t TeXReƒ do?
• TeXReƒ is NOT an editor. You cannot write or edit either the manuscript or the reference list in TeXReƒ. These must be created through your favorite word processor or editor.
• For historical reasons, TeXReƒ is NOT format friendly. It only works with the text portion of your document. If it receives a formatted file, i.e., bold, underline, italic, red, etc., TeXReƒ will strip the formatting.
• For the preceding reason, TeXReƒ can only read files of type ‘TEXT’ or ‘WDBN.’ Be warned, however, that some word processors produce ‘TEXT’ files containing «in-line» formatting; running TeXReƒ on such a file may produce undesired results.
How do I customize TeXReƒ?
TeXReƒ recognizes two types of customization: File Prefs and Reƒ Prefs. File Prefs specify how TeXReƒ deals with loading and naming manuscript and reference list files. Reƒ Prefs specify how TeXReƒ recognizes citations and parses the reference list.
Setting File Prefs:
All File Preferences are set through the “File Prefs…” dialog box. The “Opening Files” section allows you to specify manuscript and reference list files to be automatically opened when TeXReƒ is launched, assuming they still exist in the same location TeXReƒ last saw them. The “Closing Files” section allows you to specify a default name that will appear in the “Save” and “Save As…” dialog boxes by adding an «extension» to the original name. You may specify this extension in the “Updated File Extension” edit box. The radio buttons allow you to specify the placement of this extension relative to any pre-existing extensions.
Setting Reƒ Prefs:
All Reƒ Preferences are set through the “Reƒ Prefs…” dialog box. The “Text File” section allows you to specify how TeXReƒ locates citations within the manuscript file. Enter the «flag» used for marking citations in the “Reference Flag” edit box. Checking the “Delete Ref Flag” box tells TeXReƒ to delete this citation flag from the final manuscript. The “Reference File” section allows you to specify the «format» of the reference list. The references may either be separated by a carriage return (i.e., one per line), or by a user defined break flag. Check the appropriate radio box. If you are using the latter method, be sure to specify the correct flag in the edit box and to check “Delete Break Flag” if it is to be deleted from the final reference list. Finally, the reference number (that arbitrary, yet unique index) may appear as the first number in a reference, as the last number in a reference, or it may be flagged with a user defined string. Again, check the appropriate radio box; if using a flag be sure to enter the flag into the edit box and check the delete box appropriately.
How do I navigate TeXReƒ?
TeXReƒ provides three pulldown menus: “File,” “Edit,” and “TeXReƒ.” The “File” menu allows you to open and save files as well as quit the application. “Open Text File…” presents you with a dialog box for opening the manuscript file. “Open Refs File…” presents you with a dialog box for opening the reference list files. “Open…” presents you with both dialog boxes as needed. “Save Text File…” presents you with a dialog box for saving the updated manuscript file. “Save Refs File…” presents you with a dialog box for saving the updated reference list files. “Save…” presents you with both dialog boxes as needed.
The “Edit” menu is the standard menu which appears with most Macintosh applications. However, because TeXReƒ is not an editor, “Cut,” “Paste,” and “Clear” only work within dialog edit boxes. “Undo” works only after the references have been updated, and before either the manuscript or the reference list file has been closed.
The “TeXReƒ” menu provides access to the two preferences dialog boxes described in “How do I customize TeXReƒ?”, lets you specify the mode in which TeXReƒ should run (“Watch Progress” and “Summarize”), and allows you to start the update process (“Update Refs Now”). In “Watch Progress” mode, TeXReƒ scrolls through the manuscript window so that you may watch it renumber the citations. Note: this option drastically slows down the operation. In “Summarize” mode, TeXReƒ produces a summary of the changes made. This summary may be saved to a file or printed.
Why “TeXReƒ”?
I, along with the rest of my research group, typeset manuscripts using (big surprise) TeX. This is why TeXReƒ does not (yet?) support formatted text (TeX only reads unformatted text) and why the manuscript and reference lists are kept in separate files. If I get enough requests for (and help with) handling of formatted text or for combined manuscript and reference files, I will probably add them—and change the name to something like ReƒIt.
