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.IX Title "Text::BibTeX::BibFormat 3pm"
.TH Text::BibTeX::BibFormat 3pm 2024-03-07 "perl v5.38.2" "User Contributed Perl Documentation"
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.SH NAME
Text::BibTeX::BibFormat \- formats bibliography entries
.SH SYNOPSIS
.IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
.Vb 4
\&   # Assuming $entry comes from a database of the \*(AqBib\*(Aq structure
\&   # (i.e., that it\*(Aqs blessed into the BibEntry class, which inherits
\&   # the format method from BibFormat):
\&   @blocks = $entry\->format;
.Ve
.SH DESCRIPTION
.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
The \f(CW\*(C`Text::BibTeX::BibFormat\*(C'\fR class is a base class of
\&\f(CW\*(C`Text::BibTeX::BibEntry\*(C'\fR for formatting bibliography entries.  It thus
performs the main job of any program that would hope to supplant BibTeX
itself; the other important job (sorting) is handled by its companion
class, \f(CW\*(C`Text::BibTeX::BibSort\*(C'\fR.
.PP
\&\f(CW\*(C`BibFormat\*(C'\fR (the \f(CW\*(C`Text::BibTeX\*(C'\fR prefix will be dropped for brevity)
pays attention to almost all of the structure options described in
Text::BibTeX::Bib; it only ignores those that cover sorting,
currently just \f(CW\*(C`sortby\*(C'\fR.  In particular, all of the "markup" options
control what language is generated by \f(CW\*(C`BibFormat\*(C'\fR; if none of those
options are set, then it will generate plain, unmarked text.
.PP
The only method in \f(CW\*(C`BibFormat\*(C'\fR's documented interface (so far) is
\&\f(CW\*(C`format\*(C'\fR.  (The class defines many other methods, but these should not
be necessary to outsiders, so they are undocumented and subject to
change.)
.SH METHODS
.IX Header "METHODS"
.IP "format ()" 4
.IX Item "format ()"
Formats a single entry for inclusion in the bibliography of some
document.  The exact processing performed is highly dependent on the
entry type and the fields present; in general, you should be able to
join \f(CW\*(C`format\*(C'\fR's outputs together to create a single paragraph for
inclusion in a document of whatever markup language you're working with.
.Sp
Returns a list of "blocks," which can either be jammed together like
sentences (for a traditional "tight" bibliography) or printed on
separate lines (for an "open" bibliography format).  Each block is a
reference to a list of sentences; sentences should be joined together
with an intervening period.  Each sentence is either a single string or
a list of clauses; clauses should be joined together with an intervening
comma.  Each clause is just a simple string.
.Sp
See the source code for \f(CW\*(C`btformat\*(C'\fR for an example of how to use the
output of \f(CW\*(C`format\*(C'\fR.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IX Header "SEE ALSO"
Text::BibTeX::Structure, Text::BibTeX::Bib,
Text::BibTeX::BibSort
.SH AUTHOR
.IX Header "AUTHOR"
Greg Ward <gward@python.net>
.SH COPYRIGHT
.IX Header "COPYRIGHT"
Copyright (c) 1997\-2000 by Gregory P. Ward.  All rights reserved.  This file
is part of the Text::BibTeX library.  This library is free software; you
may redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.