lkbib(1) General Commands Manual lkbib(1)
Name
lkbib - search bibliographic databases
Synopsis
lkbib [-n] [-i fields] [-p file] ... [-t n] key ...
lkbib --help
lkbib -v
lkbib --version
Description
lkbib searches bibliographic databases for references matching all
keywords key and writes any references found to the standard output
stream. It reads databases given by -p options and then (unless -n is
given) a default database. The default database is taken from the
REFER environment variable if it is set, otherwise it is /usr/dict/
papers/Ind. For each database file to be searched, if an index file.i
created by indxbib(1) exists, then it will be searched instead; each
index can cover multiple databases.
Options
--help displays a usage message, while -v and --version show version
information; all exit afterward.
-i string
When searching files for which no index exists, ignore the
contents of fields whose names are in string.
-n Suppress search of default database.
-p file
Search file. Multiple -p options can be used.
-t n Require only the first n characters of keys to be given. The
default is 6.
Exit status
lkbib exits with status 0 on successful operation, status 2 if the
program cannot interpret its command-line arguments, and status 1 if it
encounters an error during operation.
Environment
REFER Assign this variable a file name to override the default
database.
Files
/usr/dict/papers/Ind
Default database to be used if the REFER environment variable is
not set.
file.i Index files.
See also
"Some Applications of Inverted Indexes on the Unix System", by M. E.
Lesk, 1978, AT&T Bell Laboratories Computing Science Technical Report
No. 69.
refer(1), lookbib(1), indxbib(1)
groff 1.24.1 2026-05-15 lkbib(1)
groff 1.24.1 - Generated Mon May 18 13:04:58 CDT 2026