SORTBIB(1)                                                          SORTBIB(1)



NAME
       sortbib - sort bibliographic database

SYNOPSIS
       sortbib [ -sKEYS ] database  ...

DESCRIPTION
       _S_o_r_t_b_i_b  sorts  files  of records containing _r_e_f_e_r key-letters by user-
       specified keys.  Records may be separated by blank lines, or by .[  and
       .] delimiters, but the two styles may not be mixed together.  This pro‐
       gram reads through each _d_a_t_a_b_a_s_e and pulls out key  fields,  which  are
       sorted  separately.   The  sorted  key fields contain the file pointer,
       byte offset, and length of corresponding records.   These  records  are
       delivered  using  disk seeks and reads, so _s_o_r_t_b_i_b may not be used in a
       pipeline to read standard input.

       By default, _s_o_r_t_b_i_b alphabetizes by the first %A  and  the  %D  fields,
       which  contain  the  senior  author and date.  The -s option is used to
       specify new _K_E_Y_S.  For instance, -sATD will sort by author, title,  and
       date,  while  -sA+D will sort by all authors, and date.  Sort keys past
       the fourth are not meaningful.  No more than 16 databases may be sorted
       together  at  one  time.   Records  longer than 4096 characters will be
       truncated.

       _S_o_r_t_b_i_b sorts on the last word on the %A line, which is assumed  to  be
       the  author’s last name.  A word in the final position, such as ‘‘jr.’’
       or ‘‘ed.’’, will be ignored if the name beforehand ends with  a  comma.
       Authors with two-word last names or unusual constructions can be sorted
       correctly by using the _n_r_o_f_f convention ‘‘\0’’ in place of a blank.   A
       %Q field is considered to be the same as %A, except sorting begins with
       the first, not the last, word.  _S_o_r_t_b_i_b sorts on the last word  of  the
       %D  line,  usually  the  year.   It also ignores leading articles (like
       ‘‘A’’ or ‘‘The’’) when sorting by titles in the %T  or  %J  fields;  it
       will  ignore  articles of any modern European language.  If a sort-sig‐
       nificant field is absent from a  record,  _s_o_r_t_b_i_b  places  that  record
       before other records containing that field.

SEE ALSO
       refer(1), addbib(1), roffbib(1), indxbib(1), lookbib(1)

AUTHORS
       Greg Shenaut, Bill Tuthill

BUGS
       Records  with missing author fields should probably be sorted by title.



4.2 Berkeley Distribution       April 29, 1985                      SORTBIB(1)