Xbibfile is an interactive program to assist in preparing and using your BibTeX
references.

Xbibfile is designed to work in the X Window environment.  It is written in
standard C (well, GNU GCC) and uses the public domain GTK+ graphics package (see
URL www.gtk.org).  Because of the activity of porting GTK+ to the Windows
environment, the success in that effort will enable Xbibfile to operate in that
environment in the future.  All development work has been done under Linux.

Xbibfile has been under my development and use for over four years now.  It
arose out of my realisation early in my PhD candidature in the School of
Information Technology at Murdoch University that I needed software to handle my
research references.  The closes that I could find on CTAN that fulfilled my
requirements was XbibTeX by Nicolas Kelly and Christian Bischof.  But I would
need to make changes.  That I judged to be too difficult and thought writing my
own would be a fruitful way to go.  Initially the windows for creating the
various reference types was the total of Xbibfile.  The addition of windows to
search for references by author name, publication date, from word used in the
summary of the reference, etc. were only recently added.  When those additions
were made, the human interface was also revised thanks to suggestions from
members of the School.  May be now the program is fit for wider use.

This package consists, when compiled, of one executable "Xbibfile" and three
Perl scripts.  The main thrust is Xbibfile but the Perl scripts are a useful
leftovers from an earlier version of the executable.  Their function is now
performed withing Xbibfile.  However, if such results are wanted for routing to
a printer, then the Perl scripts become necessary.

A primitive Makefile is included in this distribution to compile Xbibfile.
Initial development work was done using Gtk version 1.2.10.  In version 0.7 of
Xbibfile, the conversion to GTK+ 2.0 was undertaken in an attempt use the
library procedures recommended in the documentation that accompanied that later
release.  A major part of the Xbibfile upgrade was the modification of the
manner of accessing the GTK library in the Makefile.

At this stage of the development there is no documentation.  Yes, I know, that
is unforgivable.  But my interest has been in creating the software to fulfil my
needs.  Hopefully the documentation will follow in future releases of this
package.

Initial versions of the GTK+ package implemented a subset of the Emacs
keystrokes when the user entered data.  However, the widgets on which they
operated are now recommended not for use.  Thus the editing facilities available
to assist user data entry are primitive.  This is particularly noticed in the
screen field used for entering your summaries of the referennce.  It is these
summaries that are used in the "word search" provided under Xbibfile.  If you
need to make changes to the BibTeX file after it has be saved under Xbibfile,
then your favourate text editor must be used.

There are a number of error screens that can appear.  When these occur, click
somewhere in that error window and the window will disappear.  Each such error
window is implemented as a window compose of a button only; to clear the window
you click the button.

As with most open source software, you use this software at your own risk.  This
software has, however, worked successfully for me.  I would appreciate it if you
could drop me a line indicating if you find this software useful.

This software is released under the conditions of the LaTeX Project Public
License.

Enjoy.

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Ross Maloney                      | email:  rmaloney@murdoch.edu.au
School of Information Technology  |
Murdoch University                |
Perth, W.A.,  Australia           | A graduate student aiming to understand
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