Overview

[This document will be expanded when BIEM BTEX version 1.00 comes out. Please report typos, omissions, inaccuracies, and especially unclear explanations to me (patashnik@SCORE.STANFORD.EDU). Suggestions for improvements are wanted and welcome.]

This documentation, for BIEM BTEX version 0.99a, is meant for general BIEM BTEX users; bibliography-style designers should read this document and then read ``Designing BIEM BTEX Styles'' [#!btxhak!#], which is meant for just them.

This document has three parts: Section  describe the differences between versions 0.98i and 0.99a of BIEM BTEX and between the corresponding versions of the standard styles; Section  updates Appendix B.2 of the L^ATEX book [#!latex!#]; and Section  gives some general and specific tips that aren't documented elsewhere. It's assumed throughout that you're familiar with the relevant sections of the L^ATEX book.

This documentation also serves as sample input to help BIEM BTEX implementors get it running. For most documents, this one included, you produce the reference list by: running L^ATEX on the document (to produce the aux file(s)), then running BIEM BTEX (to produce the bbl file), then L^ATEX twice more (first to find the information in the bbl file and then to get the forward references correct). In very rare circumstances you may need an extra BIEM BTEX/L^ATEX run.

BIEM BTEX version 0.99a should be used with L^ATEX version 2.09, for which the closed bibliography format is the default; to get the open format, use the optional document style openbib (in an open format there's a line break between major blocks of a reference-list entry; in a closed format the blocks run together).]

Note: BIEM BTEX 0.99a is not compatible with the old style files; nor is BIEM BTEX 0.98i compatible with the new ones (the new BIEM BTEX, however, is compatible with old database files).

Note for implementors: BIEM BTEX provides logical-area names TEXINPUTS: for bibliography-style files and TEXBIB: for database files it can't otherwise find.