Bibcursed 2.0.0 review

Bibcursed is a simple program to make life a little easier when using BibTeX bibliographies. Here are some key features of "Bibcur

License: GPL (GNU General Public License) File size: 0K Developer: Dominic Tristram

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Bibcursed is a simple program to make life a little easier when using BibTeX bibliographies.

Here are some key features of "Bibcursed":
Adding references to your bibliography. This is done with prompts so templates for the different entries (article, proceedings, etc) do not have to be remembered. Error checking is used so that the required fields have to be supplied, and incorrect fields cannot be entered. New entries are inserted into the 'correct' place in the BibTeX file
Clean and easy removal of entries
Viewing of entries and changing of fields
Easy searching of entries, including search by field

Installation:

Installation is simple...

There are two versions of the makefile. One is for systems with ncurses (such as Linux and FreeBSD), while the other is for systems with curses, such as Solaris. If you are using an ncuses system, rename Makefile.ncurses to 'Makefile'. If you are using a curses-based system, do the same with the Makefile.curses file.
Edit the makefile and change INSTDIR to your chosen binary installation directory. If you do not have root permissions, this must be somewhere you have write access, such as your home directory. Ideally this location would be in your PATH.
Change the MANDIR to point to your man page directory. Again, if you do not have root permissions this must be somewhere you can write to
type 'make' to compile
type 'make install' to install the binary and man page. This step is not strictly necessary, as you can just copy the files where you like

Usage:

To start the program, simply specify your BibTeX file on the command line, like so:

bibcursed thesis.bib

The main screen will appear. This will show the number of entries in the BibTeX database in the to right corner. Selectable options will be listed near the middle of the screen.

To select an option, press the key highlighted in the option line. For example, the line 'Delete an entry' features the first 'd' in bold. Pressing the 'd' key will select that option.

The search and query option enables you to select one of several fields to search in. To find all references written by 'Jones' for example, you would press 'a' to choose 'Author', then type in 'Jones'. This procedure is similar for all other fields. All of the references containing the chosen author name will then be listed. The list is formed of the record name followed by the entry for author. Remember that bibtool is *always* case sensitive when searching!

Using the record name found with the search option, the entry can then be deleted using the delete option, or changed with the change option (both accessed from the main screen). Note that to use these options it is necessary to remember the record name of the desired record, so keep a note of it!

It is also possible to add a new entry to the database. To do this, press 'a' from the main screen. You must then choose the type of entry to add (usually this is 'article' or 'conference') by entering the relevant number or letter listed next to the reference type. When a reference type has been selected the valid fields for that type are listed. You *must* enter something for the fields in bold - the others are optional.

Once all of the required fields are entered, pressing Z will go to the next screen. Here you must enter a name for the reference. This must be unique, and it is a good idea to follow the same naming convention for all of your reference (author and year is usually a good idea, eg 'jones1999'). The entry will then be inserted into the BibTeX file in an alphabetically sorted position, ie 'jones1999' would go between 'ike1993' and 'king1997'. If you change your mind about adding the record, you can delete it with the delete option from the main menu.

Note that alterations to the BibTeX file are made to a temporary file first. If there is a problem (such as a crash or power failure) while the program is running, the only data that could be lost is the current change. However, it is always a good idea to keep several backups of important files in different locations, just in case.

What's New in This Release:
This is a new version to sync with Freshmeat.
There are no major changes to the code.