Re: [Groff] refer macros

[Andy Dougherty]

On Tue, 11 Jul 2000, Nicola Bernardini wrote:

> 
> Hi,
> 
> I need to use the refer preprocessor for a paper I'm writing and
> using the mm macros. The mm macros I have (from the groff CVS dist)
> have no support for refer, while the ms do. I'm thinking of rebuilding
> a separate set of refer macros to be used with any package.
> 
> Has something like this already been done? Is there any counter-indication
> in doing it? (I would send them to the maintainers afterwards of
> course).

Some time ago, I did something along these lines as follows:

1.  Extract the Refer support module from groff's tmac.s and put it in a
separate file.

2.  Modify that file to use -mm commands rather than -ms commands to
format the various lists.  (e.g. I used a .VL list instead of individual
indented .IP paragraphs).

3.  Customize the output to match the requirements of the journal I was
submitting to

4.  Save the result in a separate file and  .so it as part of my document.

Here's the result.  My originals were based on an older version of the
groff -ms macros; I have patched my macros against the oldest version I
have lying around to try to avoid confusing matters due to version skew.
Even so, I don't recognize what I was doing with the address@hidden stuff.

My main observations on the whole procedure are:

    1.  There wasn't too much to change, so it wasn't too hard.
    2.  The package builds extensively on existing macros in the larger
        macro package (either -ms or -mm).  I think it would be a mistake
        to try to reimplement the refer macros in a package-independent
        way.  That's likely to lead to too much duplication of effort
        (e.g. a package-independent way to get indented paragraphs using
        the prevailing indent, etc.)
    3.  Making a duplicate -mm version also duplicates a lot of work, but,
        as my patch shows, not all *that* much has to be changed, so it's
        probably not that big a deal to maintain duplicate "flavors"
        of the refer support.
    4.  Specific requirements of specific journals (or other target
        audiences) may require customization of the macros anyway.

Hope this helps.

--- ms.refer    Tue Jul 11 12:46:06 2000
+++ mm.refer    Sat Feb 21 13:50:39 1998
@@ -58,9 +57,11 @@
 .rm [F [T1 [T2
 ..
 .\" start of reference number
-.ds [. address@hidden
+.\" .ds [. \v'-.4m'\s-4[
+.ds [. \0[
 .\" end of reference number
-.ds .] address@hidden
+.\" .ds .] ]\s0\v'.4m'
+.ds .] ]
 .\" period before reference
 .ds <. .
 .\" period after reference
@@ -70,16 +71,13 @@
 .\" comma after reference
 .ds >, \" empty
 .\" start collected references
-.de ]<
+.de ]<   \" start to display collected references
 .als ref*print ref*end-print
-.SH
-\&\\*[REFERENCES]
address@hidden
-..
-.\" end collected references
-.de ]>
address@hidden
+.VL 4 0 1
+..
+.de ]>   \" end display of collected references
 .als ref*print ref*normal-print
+.LE
 ..
 .de ref*normal-print
 .ie d [F .FS "\\*([.\\*([F\\*(.]"
@@ -88,7 +86,7 @@
 .FE
 ..
 .de ref*end-print
-.ie d [F .IP "\\*([F."
+.ie d [F .LI "\\*([F."
 .el .XP
 \\*[ref*string]
 ..
@@ -118,21 +116,24 @@
 .if r [T .nr ref*suppress-period \\n([T
 ..
 .de ref*add-T2
-.ref*field T , "\\*Q" "" "\\*U"
+.ref*field T , "\\(lq" "" "\\(rq"
 .if r [T .nr ref*suppress-period \\n([T
 ..
-.de ref*add-P
-.ie \\n([P>0 .ref*field P , "pp. "
-.el .ref*field P , "p. "
-..
+.\" .de ref*add-P
+.\" .ie \\n([P>0 .ref*field P , "pp. "
+.\" .el .ref*field P , "p. "
+.\" ..
 .de ref*add-J
 .ref*field J , \fI "" \fP
 ..
+.de ref*add-V
+.ref*field V , \fB "" \fP
+..
 .de ref*add-D
 .ref*field D "" ( )
 ..
 .de ref*add-E
-.ref*field E , "ed. "
+.ref*field E , "" " eds."
 ..
 .de ref*add-G
 .ref*field G "" ( )


-- 
    Andy Dougherty              address@hidden
    Dept. of Physics
    Lafayette College, Easton PA 18042