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- Citation Database Manager (v1.5) Manual
- ========================================
-
- CONTENTS
- --------
- 1. Input
- 1.1 - Keyboard input
- 1.2 - File import
- 1.3 - #ID numbers
- 2. Output
- 2.1 Export Icon
- 2.2 Field Export
- 2.3 Generating Citations
- 2.3a Defining the style
- 2.3b Selecting references
- 2.3c Generating the output
- 3. Searching
- 3.1 First Author
- 3.2 Record #ID No.
- 3.3 General Search
- 4. Archiving
- 5. Configuration & Preferences
- 5.1 memory_transfer
- 5.2 Journals
- 5.3 Preferences
- 5.3a Archive opt(ion)s
- 5.3b Export "and" separator
- 5.3c Citation "and" separator
- 5.3d Export type
- 5.3e Brackets
- 5.3f Medlars Abstract
- 6. Misc
- 7. Errors
-
-
- This package should included the following:
-
- * !Citation - Main Application.
- * Refsdata - example citation library, drag to the iconbar icon.
- * Txtdata - an example bulk import text (see section 1.2 Bulk import).
- * OldArch - a pre-v1.5 example archive file (see section 4. Archiving).
- * NewArch - a v1.5 example archive file.
- * Medlars - an example Medlars file.
- * Docs directory - containing this Manual and some !Draw files showing
- annotated screen shots.
-
- What follows is a brief run down of the main features of !Citation -
- don't be afraid to experiment using the supplied example data.
-
- 1. Input
- ========
- "Where do I start?".... Load !Citation (double click in the icon in the
- filer window) and drag a library (for example "Refsdata" supplied with
- this package) to the !Citation icon on the iconbar (the big "C") and you
- will see the main viewer window display the first record in the citation
- library. Note that !Citation data libraries are actually application
- directories which can be copied, moved and *DELETED* (though not whilst
- it is being used by !Citation - please) as usual through the RISCOS filer
- menus... so keeping backups is easy.
-
- Shift-double clicking on a library (app directory) opens it to show the
- data files, one not surprisingly called "data" and others called "0", "1"
- etc. which are indexes. Do not alter these files or your data will be
- corrupted - but of course you will always have that back-up...?? You will
- also see the !Run and !Sprite files which are needed to define the
- resource as an application directory.
-
- "What about renaming the library?"..... Renaming these data resources has
- always been a bit problematical (look at CC's Impression) because the
- sprites in the sprite files need to be re-named as well as the directory
- otherwise the icon will not be displayed. Unless you are familiar with
- the workings of sprites and are happy with the former method, perhaps the
- easiest way to rename a library is to create a new library with the
- required name, open it, delete the empty data files and copy the full
- data files into the new directory. Note that it is the library directory
- that has a "name" not the data files.
-
- "How do I create a *NEW* library?".... Simply open up the icon bar menu,
- select "New Library", enter a name and drag to a filer window. Data files
- will be automatically created in this directory by !Citation and an empty
- viewer window displayed ready for data entry. The "!" prefix is
- automatically added to the name if you forget.
-
- If no library is loaded then the main viewer window opens with "No file
- open - Waiting" and advice in the Title field to "Drag a citation library
- to the iconbar...". Dragging a library to the iconbar immediately open
- the file and displays the first record. If you have several libraries,
- when the next is dragged to the iconbar and the current library is closed
- and the new one opened.
-
- "Close library" in the iconbar menu closes the current library and
- returns !Citation to its waiting mode. This option is occasionally useful
- since the pathname of the last active library is retained in a
- configuration file so that !Citation always opens where you left off. If
- this library moves or is deleted between running !Citation, !Citation
- will report an error and open with "No file open". If you make a back-up
- of the configuration file (see 5. Configuration) use the "close file"
- option in the icon bar menu first. This zeros the active library to
- "default" and prevents this error - but don't worry it is not a fatal if
- it does occur!
-
- 1.1 - Keyboard input
- --------------
- We will deal with manual input first and describe the actions of the
- icons on the main viewer card (see also accompanying !Draw file -
- "viewer")....
-
- Icons at the top of the card are grouped from left to right:
-
- *Window header bar - shows the name of the active file, editing/adding
- modes and the number of records in the library.
-
- *Status window - shows the record #ID number.
-
- *Goto first record arrow
- *Goto previous record arrow - note "adjust" click on previous/next
- arrows jumps 10 records and "select" just one record.
- *Goto next record arrow
- *Goto last record arrow
-
- *Add a record - in this mode all arrow keys are disabled (in fact all
- record movements) while a new record is manually added.
-
- *Edit a record - once in this mode one can "browse edit" with arrow keys
- to allow easy alteration of consecutive records. This also works with
- secondary arrow icons in "Search" and "Generate subset" windows (see
- later). In browse editing mode altered records will be automatically
- updated if user moves to a new record (ie. clicks on an arrow in the main
- viewer window) but you must use "Save" on the last altered record if
- leaving this mode, to update the file. This also applies to the secondary
- arrows other windows (see below).
-
- *Delete - flags the current record as deleted. Note records are not
- removed until the file is "Compacted" from the icon bar menu ("Compact
- library") since this can be a time consuming process and best executed in
- bulk. No attempt is made to stop the user editing deleted records. These
- will be lost on the next compact but can be reinstated BEFORE compacting
- using the "Main menu>Misc>Undelete" option.
-
- *Cancel - abort current operation and reinstate altered fields.
-
- *Save - update any changes to disc (note comment in Edit above). Only
- one record is ever held in memory so that if the system crashes data loss
- is minimal.
-
- *Export icon allows dragging of author names directly into your paper in
- the appropriate format eg. "[Radulescu et al, 1986]" or "[Smith & Jones,
- 1801]". (see 2. Output, for difference between select/adjust drags)
-
- If no file is open then all icons are disabled. If a new, empty data file
- is selected then only the "add" icon functions.
-
- Now to the nitty-gritty of typing. !Citation needs to have authors
- entered in a specified format to provide a known starting point from
- which the various output formats can be derived. Authors should be
- entered as: SURNAME, SPACE then INITIALS with no spaces between initials
- eg. Brown FG, Williams ED. !Citation assumes that all the characters
- *AFTER* the last space separator are the initials so that double-barreled
- or complex surnames with several part can be used eg.
-
- Wynford-Thomas D ("D" is the initial)
- Yo Ti Wa XF ("XF" are taken as the initials)
- de Cuevas BA ("BA" are taken as the initials)
- Minster (Jean-Francois) J-F ("J-F" are taken as the initials)
- The FRAM Group ("Group" is interpreted as initials)
-
- The last example represents a special case since it is likely that the
- user would wish to treat this author string as as a single entity. To
- indicate this, all the elements of the string *MUST* be joined by a
- hyphen or similar unique separator thus:
-
- The-FRAM-Group or The#FRAM#Group
-
- !Citation will then handle this string as a "surname" only with no
- initials. The separator may then later be removed by "Search & Replace"
- in the final copy.
-
- Note also, that provided punctuation of Authors fields is not required
- (in "Author Options", Citation styles window), full first names may also
- be used eg. Bond James.
-
- Up to ten authors can be specified and the "et al" icon can be selected
- at any time to add "..., et al" to the author output. Note that this icon
- is automatically selected if more than 10 authors are detected on bulk
- input, to flag to the user that more authors exist than can be
- accommodated by !Citation. Each maximum author length is 23 characters
- for surname and initials (...technical limitations I'm afraid but should
- be enough for most purposes).
-
- Title and Notes fields have a 254 character limit.
-
- The source fields comprise:
- Journal/Book title - 55 chars
- Editors - 30 chars
- Publisher - 25 chars
- ISBN/Place - 25 chars
- volume - 10 chars
- pages - 15 chars
- date - 15 chars
-
- These are essentially free format so that dates can be 1967 or 1973a or
- 13th Sept 1856. Similarly, pages and volume can contain letters to allow
- for example supplement page numbers "s11-s45". This flexibility
- essentially means that there can be no validation check on these fields
- for, say, numerical input only.
-
- A "select" click on the menu icon which sits by the Source header brings
- up a menu of your preferred journals (see 5. Configuration, for
- information on how to edit this list). If you are in adding/editing mode
- then clicking on an item in this menu inserts it into the Journal/Book
- title field, otherwise the options are greyed out (unselectable).
-
- The Keyword field can be upto 55 characters in length and can be used in
- any manner you wish, with or without separators between words.
-
- "How do I start adding references?".... Clicking on the "Add" icon will
- clear the card ready for input. The cursor will be initially in the First
- Author field but can be moved to another field by clicking into it or
- using "Tab" or "Return" to step through fields. "Tab" will step though
- groups of fields so that if there is only one author to enter, "Tab" will
- jump on to Title whereas "Return" steps through individual fields
- sequentially.
-
- The left/right cursor keys move within a field and with shift or ctrl
- effecting larger steps. Text in the longer fields will word wrap and
- scroll if necessary. Shift-Tab moves to the previous field. Ctrl-U clears
- a field and other standard RISCOS protocols apply.
-
- "Page up/down" or shift up/down arrows will allow browsing through
- records, mimicking clicking on the forward/back icons with "select".
-
- Note the "Paper type" and "Copy?" icons which give a quick visual
- reminder to the paper type or possession of a hard copy.
-
- A format card is available, which, in the adding mode, allowing authors,
- title, notes, papertype, copy, etal, keywords etc. *AS WELL AS* the
- subset assignments (see defining subsets in section 2.3b), to be
- duplicated over several additions. This is accessed from the
- "Main Menu>Format card>Edit format". Remember to toggle this option ON
- with "Format card>Use format". A tick by this item in the menu indicates
- the format card is active. Toggle OFF after use.
-
- 1.2 - File import
- -----------
- The file import window is accessed from the "Main Menu->File import".
- This window is used for three types of importing: 1) Citation archive
- files, dealt with later, 2) So called "Five-line text" files and 3)
- Medlar formatted files.
-
- The "five-line" text files are a useful option, as described in the
- introduction. Personally I keep a list of my current references in a text
- file on my Psion/Pocket book as a plain text file, adding to this list as
- I come across new references. This saves long typing sessions and keeps
- me organized...!
-
- The five-line file has the following format:
-
- start of file...
- au,au,au[CR]
- title[CR]
- journal_title,vol,pages,yr[CR]
- notes[CR]
- [CR]
- ...end of file
-
- There is a new line (CR or LF not both) after each line and after the
- last line of the last reference. The authors and source lines are
- formatted as comma separated variables and if no "notes" are included a
- blank line should *STILL* be present, so that there are *TWO* blank lines
- after the "Journal_title" line before the next reference (see the
- accompanying "Txtdata" file for an example).
-
- Thus there are 4 lines carrying the information and a 5th blank
- terminator line (this is used as a rough check that the file is in the
- correct format before import). The 5-line format however doesn't cater
- for the extra book fields in the database which will have to be entered
- manually.
-
- "How do I import my 5-line text file?".... Open the File import window,
- ensure the 5-line/Medlar is appropriately set and drag your text file
- into the window. (The import window only accepts CSV files, which it
- assumes are archives and text-type files which are assumed to be either
- 5-line or Medlars input depending on the button setting.) You will be
- informed that the file format will be checked first and given the option
- to continue or cancel. I have found, from experience, that despite this
- simple file structure it is easy to put an extra CR/LF in by mistake or
- forget to leave a blank line between references or a blank line for the
- "notes" if none are present. This would cause a synchronization error on
- import with fields being entered out-of-step.
-
- To prevent this Citation checks that each entry comprises 4 lines
- followed by a blank 5th line and if a non-blank 5th line is detected an
- error is flagged with an indication of roughly (+/- 1) around which entry
- the error lies. The file length is also checked to see if it accords with
- the number of entries. Lines of over 254 characters (this applies
- primarily to "title" and "notes" fields) are automatically truncated and
- ">>" added to the end to indicate this. No other warning is issued.
-
- If the format is OK then the user is asked whether to continue with the
- import. If a format error is flagged, check the file at the indicated
- place, correct the error and begin the process again. The error checking
- routine is fairly simple and aborts on the first error encountered. It
- might require several runs to debug a file that contains multiple errors
- but this is better than having all the fields out-of-synch. Importing
- occurs at about 40 references/min on an old ARM3 A410 (time for a cuppa!)
- but should be faster on newer models.
-
- "What about Medlars files?".... Medlar files are a standard format
- produced by some computerized journal databases specifically for
- importing into bibliography managers. I use this facility on MedLine
- which is the main database in the medical field but since this format is
- widely used by bibliography managers on other platforms (Endnote &
- Papyrus) I guess it is fairly universal. An example file is included with
- this package.
-
- Importing is through the same window but select the Medlars button BEFORE
- dragging the file. Confirmation for import is requested and then the
- whole file is directly imported on the assumption that, being machine
- created, there is no need to pre-check. However if you edit your file
- first to select out the desired references be sure to leave the
- individual references intact. These have a 6 character leader to each
- line which either contains a field assignment eg "AU - " or 6 spaces for
- continuing assignments. Each reference is terminated by a blank line. All
- these are required for !Citation to work out what goes where!! So the
- message is... edit with care...
-
- You will also see from the example file that I have assumed that these
- will be DOS files with both a CR and LF at the end of each line.
- !Citation will handle this automatically - there is NO NEED to strip out
- CRs - in fact if you do, this will mess up the routine. If you have a
- system that doesn't use DOS let me know and I can make a simple change to
- the routine to account for single LFs of CRs.
-
- "Can I replicate some fields over a series of file import cards?"...
- Yep.. With both types of file import, the Format card (Main Menu>Format
- card>Edit Format) can be used to set "papertype", "copy?" & keywords.
- The keyword option in particular, provides an easy means of grouping
- papers since a particular keyword can be searched for and autoadded to a
- Subset for output (see 3.3 General search). Don't forget to toggle
- "Main Menu>Format card>Use format" ON (ie. ticked) and untick after
- use.
-
- "Oh <substitute expletive>! I imported the wrong file... What can I do?"
- Have a cuppa and calm down... If you import the wrong batch of references
- or an error occurs and the file is half imported you can use the "Delete
- import" option from the "Main Menu>Misc>Delete import" to remove all of
- the last imported references and compact the file. If you have other
- deleted records in the file, this process also removes them - beware...
- Note this only works within a session. If you quit and restart !Citation
- the import pointers are lost.
-
- The user can also directly import text files to the Author, Title and
- Notes fields of the displayed record by drag'n'drop on the appropriate
- field. Note that this can ONLY be done in editing/adding mode. Authors
- should be comma separated and in the usual format. If a mistake is made
- "Cancel" will usually reinstate the previous text. Text also can be
- exported from these fields (see 2. Output) which means that !Edit can be
- easily used as a tool for editing long fields, re-importing after
- alterations.
-
- 1.3 - #ID Numbers
- -----------
- Each reference in !Citation is allocated a unique identity number (#ID)
- which is indicated in the status window as "No. #xxxx". To ensure that
- the #ID numbers are indeed unique they are assigned sequentially as
- records are added. Thus for a group of records in which there have been
- no deletions, these #ID numbers run sequentially but as records are
- deleted, gaps in the sequence may appear but this is of little
- consequence to the user.
-
- Two options are provided to manage record #ID numbers. "Main Menu>
- Misc>Reset #ID No." leads to a small window which shows the #ID number
- which will be assigned to the next entry and allows the user to change
- this "seed" value. This must be done with EXTREME caution since you may
- well end up generating duplicate #ID numbers and there is little error
- checking in this routine - alterations require confirmation through a
- warning box. Altering this "seed" value may be of use if you need to add
- a group of records originating from another application (de-archive or
- file import) which require specific #ID numbers, though I am sure other
- occasions may present themselves.
-
- The other option, "Main Menu>Misc>Alter #ID No.", allows the user to
- alter the #ID number of the record currently shown in main viewer window.
- Again caution is advised but this routine checks for invalid or duplicate
- number or warns the user that the #ID lies outside the current range and
- may be duplicated later
-
-
- 2. Output
- =========
- Output from !Citation can be performed in 3 ways.
-
- 2.1 - Export Icon
- -----------
- A "select" drag from the Export Icon (green arrow, top right of main
- window) gives "[authors & yr]" only from the current reference shown in
- the card. This is useful if you have !Citation running as your are
- writing and want to insert the currently displayed author into the
- paper's text. !Citation automatically works out the appropriate author
- format and puts this into the paper with the year surrounded by
- parentheses. This should work with any type of wordprocessor/DTP package
- and uses file or direct memory transfer. Alternatively an "adjust" drag
- from export icon give full citation in the defined citation style (see
- section 2.3a).
-
- 2.2 - Field Export
- ------------
- As mentioned in section 1.2, the Author, Title and Notes fields can be
- directly exported to file or to an application through direct memory
- transfer by dragging from the small green arrow adjacent to their header
- icons (see the !Draw file "viewer"). Note that text can be dragged
- directly back into those fields *ONLY* when !Citation is in the editing/
- adding mode.
-
- 2.3 - Generating citations for final output to a technical paper
- ----------------------------------------------------------
- This comprises three parts a) defining the style of the output
- references, b) selecting which references within the database are for
- output and c) generating the output set.
-
- 2.3a - Defining the Style
- ------------------
- The essence of !Citation is the ability to output references in any
- desired format. Styles are set up in the the Citation style window (Main
- Menu>Citation style, see also the !Draw file "style") and allow any
- style of output using certain command words. These are (note lower case
- and exact spelling):
-
- Command Output
- ------- ------
- idn Unique ID no.
- auth Authors in given format
- title Piece title
- sot Source (Journal/Book) title
- vol Volume field
- pgs Page field
- date Obvious really!
- eds Editor field
- pub Publisher field
- isbn ISBN/Place field
- keys Keywords field
- note Notes fields
- * Tab char [09]
- / New line [LF]
-
- They are mostly self explanatory. Any or all of the command words can be
- combined in any order with any punctuation or special characters (*/) as
- indicated above eg.
-
- auth (date)./title/{italic on}sot{italic}/vol;pgs
-
- This would output the authors followed by a space, date in parentheses
- followed by a full-stop, new-line, title, new-line, curly brackets
- containing the words "italic on" followed directly by the source and
- "{italic}" again. A new-line is inserted before volume number which is
- followed by a semi-colon and page numbers.
-
- Anything which !Citation encounters in the style format which is not a
- command word or */ is simply included in the output at the appropriate
- place eg. all punctuation (including spaces) and strings like {italic}.
- Note that the expressions in {curly brackets} are text formatting
- commands recognised by Impression which allow automatic conversion of the
- enclosed text into the specified style (see CC's Impression/Style manual
- - "Advanced Search and Replace" or set up some styles and export the text
- story with "Styles Set". The exported text will show the correct format).
- Thus in this case the "source" field will be italicized - a requirement
- of some journals.
-
- Three journal styles and 3 book styles, are stored in !Citation and these
- are saved in a configuration file (see 5. Configuration). Select which
- style you wish to use with the radio buttons by each style. To return to
- the default settings use the "Iconbar Menu>Citation styles>Default"
- (note this will replace your currently stored styles on exit). To restore
- the last saved styles to the current style window use the "Iconbar
- Menu>Citation styles>Restore".
-
- The Author options in Citation style window allows surname and initials
- to be reversed (from that shown in the viewer window), surname to be
- capitalized, and initials to be punctuated with a full stop, space or
- "#". The latter is sufficiently unusual to allow later search and replace
- in !Edit to convert to more esoteric separators if desired. The "With
- and" option allows automatic insertion of "and" or "&" (see Configuration
- 5.3b, 5.3c) before the penultimate author if required.
-
- Book Styles
- -----------
- Book references often require a slightly different output format from the
- standard journal format so !Citation automatically detects references
- which are of "book" type from the "Type" setting (viz. Paper/Review/Book)
- in the main viewer window and uses the selected "Book" format specified
- in the !Citation styles window. eg.
-
- Authors: Ears BG
- Noddy TB
- Title: The role of toys in child development.
- J/B title: Symposium on Child Health and Development
- Editors: Caroll L and Seagull L
- Publisher: Churchill Livingstone
- ISBN: 1234-4569-7894
- Pages: 124-134
- Year: 1985
-
- The book format of:
- auth (date)/title In: sot. Eds.: eds, Publisher: pub. ISBN isbn pp pgs
-
- will then output:
- Ears BG, Noddy TB (1985)
- The role of toys in child development. In: Symposium on Child Health and
- Development. Eds.: Caroll L and Seagull L, Publisher: Churchill
- Livingstone. ISBN 1234-4569-7894. pp 124-134
-
-
- 2.3b - Selecting references for output
- -------------------------------
- !Citation uses the idea of "Subsets" to select which references are for
- output, such that any record in the file can be included in a "Subset" of
- references. This simply means that each record holds a flag (actually 5
- flags) which indicates whether that record is a member of a particular
- Subset.
-
- There are up to 5 Subsets (hence 5 flags, numbered 0 to 4) and any record
- can be a member of any one or more of these Subsets or none. The Subset
- status for any record is shown in the "Define subset" window (Main
- Menu>Citation subsets>Define subsets, see !Draw file "subsets"). This
- window is an extension of the information seen in the main viewer and
- changes as the user browses the file. A reference is included in a Subset
- if the button by the Subset number (0 to 4) is ticked. The field next to
- this button, which contains a number will turn yellow if the
- corresponding set is selected - this is the "Ordering value" (we will
- return to this below).
-
- To select a Subset of references for output, one browses through the file
- to find the desired references and each time clicks on a Subset button to
- include that reference. With 5 Subsets, the user can have say, 5 papers
- on the go at any one time each defining a discrete Subset, though of
- course any one record may be a member of several Subsets. This method,
- particularly in combination with the various search options (see below),
- allows references to be easily added or removed from a Subset. The "Clear
- subset" option (Main Menu>Citation subsets>Clear subset) will clear any
- selected subset of ALL members - use wisely.
-
- It is thus essentially very easy to build up a Subset but what about the
- output order? In most cases journal require references to be arranged in
- alphabetical order, which can be performed automatically by !Citation but
- what about those that require references to be arranged in a particular
- order - usually the order in which the references occur in the text? This
- is where the "Ordering value" comes into play. This is simply a value
- which indicates to !Citation the order which the user would like the
- references to be arranged on output - note it is NOT the number which is
- printed by the reference on the final output but a value which simply
- determines the order in which references are organised in the final
- output. Thus the Ordering values do not need to be consecutive eg. if
- ref1=(10), ref2=(20), ref3=(15) the output will be.... 1. ref1 2. ref3
- 3. ref2
-
- In fact the bump icons in this window can increment in steps of 1 or 10
- depending on whether the are "select" or "adjust" clicked and I would
- recommend that the user uses large steps so that is is easy to go back an
- insert or reorder the references as the paper evolves.
-
- The process of setting the Ordering value is an extension of selecting
- the record as a Subset member. Once the Subset button is ticked the
- ordering field becomes available (ie. goes yellow). You should see the
- cursor in this field, if not click in it to put the cursor there, then
- either use the bump icons to increment/decrement the value (0 to 999) or
- enter a value manually. One only needs to click on the "Save" icon
- (bottom right of the card) if manually inputting a number into Ordering
- value. Clicking on the bump icons updates the record automatically. Once
- the Ordering value is given move on to the next record...and so on. Note
- that if the user only requires an alphabetical output the Ordering value
- can be ignored.
-
- The Subset selection buttons or Ordering values for a record can be
- changed at anytime and are stored with the record until the Subset is
- cleared.
-
- 2.3c - Generating the output subset
- ----------------------------
- We now have a citation output style and a Subset (or more) defined and we
- can output the Subset to the paper. Opening the Main Menu>Citation
- subsets>Generate set window shows the 5 possible subsets, the Order
- options, Go, Clear and Arrow icons (see !Draw file "subsets"). First
- select the Subset for output using the "Subset" radio buttons and then
- the desired output order. This is "plain Alphabetical", "Numbered
- alphabetical" and "Ordered" ie. according to the Ordering values. Click
- on the "Go" icon and !Citation searches the database to collect together
- all records which are members of that subset. The arrow keys can now be
- used to browse through the set to check the order and membership. The
- status window in this card indicates the browse position in the Subset.
-
- Note that once !Citation has calculated this group, altering the
- membership of the Subset with the "Define set" window has no effect until
- the process is "Clear"ed and started again. The final step is to click on
- the Generate subset icon (blue icon by the status window) and a save box
- is shown for the user to drag the set to file or directly into the paper.
-
- 3. Searching
- =========
- Three forms of searching are supported a) First Author, b) Record #ID
- number and c) General Search (see !Draw file "search").
-
- 3.1 - First Author
- ------------
- !Citation maintains an index of First author names as they are entered
- which allows very rapid searching. Opening the search window (Main
- Menu>Search>1st author) shows a yellow string entry field. Click in
- this field and begin entering the surname. Each letter is grabbed by
- !Citation as it is entered and the file updated to the nearest match. If
- the sequence of letters thusfar entered (which need not necessarily be
- the whole name) is not found then !Citation bleeps and flags "Not found"
- in the main card status window. The arrow keys on the search card allow
- alphabetical browsing of the file either around your found surname or if
- the field is empty, through the whole file. The user can, in this way,
- search for an author and once found browse round related papers.
-
- If there appears to be a problem with the alphabetical ordering it may be
- because the author index has become outdated. This shouldn't often happen
- but may occur after multiple file imports and deletes. In this case re-
- index the file using the "Re-index" option on the iconbar menu - this
- doesn't take long. An out-of-date index does not affect the "Generation
- subset" option since this creates its own new index each time.
-
- 3.2 - Record #ID No.
- --------------
- This simply accesses any record by its unique #ID number so that the user
- can go directly to any reference. The card number is entered into the
- entry field and pressing <Rtn> activates the find.
-
- 3.3 - General Search
- --------------
- For more extensive searches, including all Authors, Keywords, Sources and
- Subject (ie. Title, Keyword and Note fields combined) use the general
- search option (Main Menu>Search>General Search).
-
- The "Search range" on the general search card is self evident. "Authors"
- searches ALL authors (unlike the first author search). "Subject" searches
- Title, Keywords and Notes for the search string. "Keywords" searches
- keywords only - useful for defining a Set. The search string is case
- independent and the search performs a simple - "does the field specified
- in the search range *contain* the search string".
-
- This window bears some similarities in function to the "Generate subset"
- window in that a search string is entered and "Go" clicked (pressing
- <Rtn> after typing the search string mimics clicking on "Go"). The number
- of finds is flagged in the status window and the arrow icons allow
- browsing (and editing) through the found records with the status window
- indicating the position of the record in the found group. Before entering
- another search string the current search needs to be cleared with the
- "Clear" icon.
-
- Searching with an empty search string selects all records. This could be
- useful if you wish to output all references in a file, perhaps to import
- to another application (note that there is also an archive option which
- produces a CSV output of the entire file, see section 4.). Defining the
- citation style with commas or tabs separating fields allows a CSV or TSV
- formatted output (TSV though obviates any problems with the commas
- separating authors).
-
- The "Autoadd" option adds all finds to a specified Subset but does not
- provide an Ordering value. This is useful if the user has a group of
- records characterized by a specific term in the subject or keywords
- fields. These can be searched out and added to a Subset ready for output.
- An ordering value can be added by selecting the Subset using the
- "Generate subset" option with alphabetical ordering and stepping though
- the Subset updating the Ordering value as necessary.
-
-
- 4. Archiving
- ============
- Selecting "Archive" from the iconbar menu archives the main fields (ie.
- Author, Title, Source, Year) of the *ENTIRE* current library into a CSV
- format file. It is also possible to include the other ancillary fields
- usually held in a Citation record, viz. identity number, notes and button
- fields into the file by altering the "Archive opts" in the "Icon Bar Menu
- -> Preferences..." window (see section 5.2 for Archiving options). The
- button fields, "etal", "papertype" and "Copy?", are converted to text
- values in the process (ie. to etal_on/off, copy_on/off and research/
- review/book - see example Archive file) to make the file more readable.
-
- In contravention to the CSV standard, the archive file carries a one line
- header which provides general information on the creation date etc. but
- more importantly for Citation, specifies the presence of ancillary
- fields. This header shouldn't cause much of a problem in general use and
- can be deleted if the archive is not intended for use with Citation (see
- Technical info below).
-
- The archive options are by default set to include all fields except the
- identity numbers which is a suitable configuration for the following
- operations.
-
- The first major use of archiving is for the combining libraries. Simply
- load and archive each of the libraries you wish transfer, then open the
- receiving library and drag the CSV archive files to the file import
- window (Main Menu->File import). !Citation will detect that this is a CSV
- archive file (rather than a 5-line text or Medlar file) and a warning
- will be flagged asking for confirmation of dearchiving. If accepted the
- archived data will be added to the end of the receiving library data with
- new ID numbers allocated.
-
- The second major use is for "future-proofing" !Citation. Should a later
- version of !Citation require a change in the structure of the data file
- then data can simply be archived out of the old version and imported into
- the new version. If it is necessary to preserve the unique identity
- numbers of your old library, set the archive option accordingly (see
- section 5.2 for Archiving options).
-
- Other possible uses include, of course, importing of the whole file into
- any application that accepts CSV format files and importing CSV data into
- !Citation. In the former case, remember to delete the one line header or
- substitute it for a CSV description header before importing into your
- alternative application.
-
- Importing a CSV file into !Citation, could be problematic. !Citation
- expects the file to be machine created and so minimal error checking is
- employed on de-archiving. As you can see from the example Archive file
- (load it into !Edit), it is quite complex and easy to make errors if
- manually created. The only advantage of this type of import over the 5-
- line text type (see section 1.2 File Import) is again the ability to
- include "button" fields and keywords in the data. If you do attempt CSV
- import, make a backup of the receiving library first!
-
- Technical info
- --------------
- If you intend just use the Citation Archive files within Citation ignore
- the following section.
-
- If you wish to import CSV files from another application then you will
- need to know how to provide a header with the information Citation needs
- to make sense of the file. A header created by Citation will look
- something like this...
-
- "Citation Archive file. Created: 31/08/95.19:22:55 Ancillary Fields:
- keywords, notes, buttons"
-
- ... and it is all quite simple really.
-
- Citation first checks for the presence of the string "Citation Archive"
- in the header (note this is case sensitive). This is to trap incompatible
- files, so that in creating your own a header, this string must be present
- somewhere in the header line. The creation date and " Ancillary fields:"
- string are not validated and can be ignored.
-
- Secondly, Citation assumes that the CSV file contains at least the
- standard fields of 10 authors, title, source, volume, page and year. If
- ancillary fields are to be included then the following strings must be
- included in the header for each field present:
-
- "#IDN" - for the identity number
- "keywords" - for 5 keyword fields
- "notes" - for the notes field
- "buttons" - for the 3 button fields "etal", "papertype" and "copy"
-
- The order of the fields and format of the button values are obviously
- important and can easily be gleaned from examining the example archive
- file.
-
- Thus to import a CSV file containing references with a unique ID no. and
- keywords, a suitable header would be:
-
- "Citation Archive #IDN keywords"
-
- I hope this is sufficient explanation but since this is a subject which
- is only likely to be of interest to a minority of users it doesn't
- warrant a voluminous exposition. You are welcome to Email me for more
- info.
-
-
- 5. Configuration & Preferences
- ==============================
- There are 3 configuration files in the !Citation application directory
- (to open Shiftdouble click on !Citation), namely "config", "settings"
- and "options".
-
- "config" is used by the SBase exec program which runs !Citation (which is
- in intermediate code) - this file should not be changed.
-
- "settings" is similarly sacrosanct! This file is read by !Citation on
- start up and is updated on closing the application. It holds your
- preferred citation styles (amongst other things) and if this file is
- corrupted or lost !Citation will report an error on startup and uses
- defaults. A new 'settings' file will be created on exit but your previous
- styles will be lost. You may like to keep a back up.
-
- The last active file is also stored here, so if this moves or is deleted
- between running !Citation, !Citation will report an error on next start-
- up and open with "No file open". If you make a back up of this file use,
- the "Close library" option in the icon bar menu first, which zeros the
- active file to default and prevents this error - don't worry it is not a
- fatal error if it does occur!
-
- The "Citation styles>Default" option on the icon bar menu deletes all
- your preferred styles and returns to the defaults. Your preferred styles
- will be lost - beware (but may be restored with "Citation styles>
- Restore" before exiting).
-
- The "options" file however, is fair game for alteration by loading into
- !Edit. It needs a bit of explanation first, but essentially looks like
- this:
-
- File Start.....
- ***** Options - change carefully. See manual *****
- memory_transfer ON
- ***** Add Journals Below *****
- Nature
- Science
- J. Endocrinol
- Mol Cell Biol
- *END*
- ...File End
-
- The "Options" section contains (at the moment just one) configuration
- features which will rarely need altering once set up. Please alter only
- the appropriate parts (eg. ON/OFF). Adding lines (journal names excepted)
- or changing the order may have unexpected effects. Note that alterations
- to these options only take effect when !Citation is run.
-
- 5.1 - memory_transfer ON/OFF (default ON).
- ------------------------------------
- A problem has been reported with direct drag'n'drop memory transfer to
- other applications (eg. dragging from the "Export" icon to a WP) causing
- !Citation to crash - in particular to earlier versions of !Techwriter.
-
- The cause of this is, in the case of !Techwriter, rather technical but
- one (possibly slightly inelegant) solution is to avoid memory transfers
- altogether and use the <WimpScrap> directory instead - hence this option.
- With memory_transfer OFF, Drag'n'Drop works just as with before but your
- disc will spin up. The disadvantages are that it is a little slower and
- you really do need a hard drive.
-
- No problems with memory transfer have been found with !Edit, !Zap,
- !Artworks, !Style, !Publisher, !Draw(+) and for the most part you can
- leave the option ON. (My thanks to Peter Killworth and the folks at Icon
- Technology for their help with this one.) Note the latest version of
- Techwriter should now work with memory transfer.
-
- 5.2 - Journals
- --------
- A list of your favourite journals can be included in this file below the
- indicated "*****" separator. These should be entered as one journal per
- line with no empty lines between journal names and do not remove the
- "*END*" marker. Any number of entries may be added but the sum total
- length for the whole list cannot exceed 255 characters. Entries over this
- limit will be ignored.
-
- 5.3 - Preferences
- -----------
- A preference window can be called up from the icon bar menu which allows
- the setting of various parameters whilst Citation is running. All but the
- Archive opts are saved in the "settings" file on exiting the application.
- There is no "OK" icon in this window since all options are immediately
- effective and it is closed by clicking elsewhere or on the close cross.
-
- 5.3a - Archive opt(ion)s
- This allows selection of the ancillary fields to be included in an
- archive file (see section 4. on Archiving). These settings are *NOT*
- saved on exiting and will always default to ID no. OFF, keywords ON,
- notes ON and buttons ON on starting the application. This is to try and
- obviate the possibility of accidentally saving an archive with ID nos set
- and creating duplicates.
-
- Note that the warning box which asks for confirmation of de-archiving
- also shows which ancillary fields (if any) have been flagged in the
- header line.
-
- 5.3b - Export "and" separator
- A select drag from the "Export" icon (section 2.1) can be used to put the
- author name and year in a document. The default setting for a two author
- entry is [Smith & Jones, 1995] ie. using the ampersand symbol as a
- separator. This option setting may be changed, if desired, to give the
- letter form ie. [Smith and Jones, 1995].
-
- 5.3c - Citation "and" separator
- An option is available in the Author formatting in the Citation style
- window to place an "and" separator before the penultimate author name
- viz. Henery GH, Williams DW, Jones FG and James DS. The default setting
- is the letter form of "and" but may be changed to the ampersand symbol,
- if required, by altering this option setting accordingly.
-
- 5.3d - Export type
- A select drag from the "Export" icon (section 2.1) can be used to put the
- author name and year in a document. Selecting "#IDN" prefixes this output
- with the reference ID number eg. [#0234-Smith & Jones, 1995]. This is
- mainly intended for automatic citation generation (not implemented in
- this version) but might also prove useful for quickly back-referencing
- from the manuscript.
-
- 5.3e - Brackets
- A select drag from the "Export" icon (section 2.1) can be used to put the
- author name and year in a document. The default setting is to enclose
- this string in square brackets but round or curly brackets can be
- selected with this option.
-
- 5.3f - Medlars Abstract
- Medlar file abstracts are generally quite long and don't fit into the
- "Notes" field without considerable truncation thereby making them fairly
- useless. Unticking this option causes !Citation to ignore the abstract
- section of a Medlar reference and leave the space for your own, more
- succinct notes!
-
- 6. Misc
- =======
- * Note that "Compact"ing the library (icon bar menu) closes any active
- Search or Subset queries first since these may contain references which
- are flagged deleted and therefore removed from the file. Use this option
- cautiously.
-
- * The "Delete all records" option in the icon bar menu does just that for
- the entire library...do keep regular backups of your data.
-
- * There are some hot keys which work ONLY when the main card has the
- input focus:
- ctrl-D, open Define Subset window
- ctrl-S, open General Search window
- ctrl-A, open First Author search window
- ctrl-N, open Record by #ID no.
- ctrl-G, open Generate Set window
-
- * Clicking on the close cross - top left of the main viewer window, hides
- this window as well as any other window related to !Citation. The file is
- NOT closed and "select" clicking on the iconbar icon reopens the main
- viewer window and any related windows (search, define subsets etc). This
- is useful for maintaining an uncluttered desktop whilst working on your
- WP and you can easily flick back and forth to insert citations.
-
- * Most database files (including this one) use fixed length fields. A
- record uses about 1kb so a fair sized library can be stored on a 1.6 Mb
- floppy for backup (say, over a 1500). However, since most records contain
- numerous redundant spaces a compression utility (!Spark, !Compression
- etc) will achieve significant a space saving.
-
-
- 7. Errors
- =========
-
- I have tried to prevent most errors occurring by design but those obvious
- ones which escape are covered by appropriate error handlers (usually
- where data is imported or exported and the media may be faulty/not
- present). Error reports are mostly informative but S-base exec does not
- support many error messages so you might get something like "Error 107"
- or similar. A click on "OK" will abort most errors and !Citation will
- fail-safe.
-
- A global error handler, however, is provided to capture unforeseen errors
- and flags, "!Citation has encountered a fatal error and must exit
- immediately. No data should be lost (see manual)." After exiting,
- !Citation then writes an error code to the "settings" file (see section
- 5.). Immediately after experiencing such an error (preferably before
- running !Citation again), make a copy of your "settings" file and send it
- to me for diagnosis.
-
- Happy writing....
-