Re: Why does refer(1) have no database field for "edition"?

[Peter Schaffter]

On Tue, Aug 03, 2021, Tadziu Hoffmann wrote:
> > Indeed, but the subject under discussion is making refer(1)
> > conformant to various acknowledged styles, not in-house usage.
> 
> But isn't that the job of the macro package, not refer?

Yes, it is.  My phrasing, above, was poor.
 
> I guess the question is "How can refer make that job easier?",
> which you answered by saying that mom defines a new database
> field for the edition.  If we consider this usage the status
> quo, should it be documented with an appropriate entry in the
> list of field names in the refer manual page?

Not unless (until?) it's implemented for all the canoncical macro
packages.  I proposed %e as a candidate for the edition field
because it's been around long enough in mom that it makes sense for
other macro packages to follow suit.  Plus it has the advantage of
being a meaningful mnenmonic.

> (The manual page does speak of the "conventional meaning" of
> each field, implying that this is by common agreement rather
> than by rule of an authority.)

That is indeed the case.  Field identifiers for refer(1) are
arbitrary.

Two things surprise me about what I'll call "the whole refer
picture."  One is that ms/mm/me do not implement fields for URLs and
other Web/Internet sources.  Mom implements five additional fields
for Internet sources as required by MLA:

  %s site name
  %c content (e.g. Web, Email, Blog...).
  %o organization, group, or sponsor or the site
  %a access date
  %u URL

Methinks, in 2021, that the other groff macro packages should catch
up with this newfangled Internet thingy.

The other is that nowhere is there any indication what style of
bibliographic formatting is provided by the ms/mm/me implementations
of refer(1), a matter of some importance for authors preparing
submissions and students writing papers.  Mom is upfront about
formatting in MLA style, which is useful to groffers seeking a macro
package that does MLA.  I believe the other packages should follow
suit and state, in their manpage or in refer(1), which style guide
is being followed for refer(1) bibliographies.

-- 
Peter Schaffter
https://www.schaffter.ca