2

Normally I do reference by 

\usepackage[backend=biber]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{reference.bib}
\printbibliography

where in the reference.bib there are 

@book{,
    author        = {},
    title         = {},
    year          = {},
    volume = {},
    publisher     = {},
    ISBN = {}
}

But in the articles in aps, many people do reference in a way that I never see before.

There are commands like \bibitem \BibitemOpen ..... that I have not seen before.

For example:

 \BibitemOpen
  \bibfield  {author} {\bibinfo {author} {\bibfnamefont {}~\bibnamefont
  {}},\ }\href {} {\bibfield
  {journal} {\bibinfo  {journal} {}\ }\textbf {\bibinfo
  {volume} {}},\ \bibinfo {pages} {} (\bibinfo {year}
  {})}\BibitemShut {NoStop}%
\bibitem [{\citenamefont {}()}]{}%

In what way should I use these reference commands? Where can I create such format? Is this another way to do reference?

Joseph Wright
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Ka Wa Yip
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1 Answers1

2

You've got two things going on here.

The command \bibitem is one from the LaTeX kernel. If one chooses to write the bibliography by hand

\begin{thebibliography}
\bibitem Some entry
\bibitem A second entry
...
\end{thebibliography}

then \bibitem is used in place of the 'normal' \item in the dedicated list structure. If one is using a BibTeX database (the common approach) then this is the structure you will find in the .bbl file created by BibTeX, but you never type in in by hand.

Within a .bbl file created by natbib, you will find additional macros inserted to allow the package to pick up and manipulate the bibliography from within the LaTeX run. It is natbib that defines \BibitemOpen and related commands. The source for the package has comment:

% \changes{8.2}{2008 Jul 13}{(AO) Allow optional arguments preceding cite key.}
% We give meanings to \cs{bibitemOpen} and \cs{bibitemShut};
% the default is \verb+\relax+. Special .bst files take care of inserting markup into
% the .bbl file. There, each \cs{bibitem} begins with \cs{BibitemOpen} andbibitemOpen
% ends with \cs{BibitemShut}.

Following through, as stated in the above \bibitemOpen and \bibitemClose are equal to \relax so do nothing. The standard definition of \BibitemOpen is just a wrapper around \bibitemOpen (so a no-op), whilst we have something a bit more involved for \BibitemShut:

\def\BibitemShut#1{%
 \def\@bibstop{#1}%
 \let\bibitem@Stop\bibitemStop
 \let\bibitem@NoStop\bibitemNoStop
 \@ifx{\bibitemShut\relax}{\let\@bibitemShut\@empty}{%
  \expandafter\def\expandafter\@bibitemShut\expandafter{\bibitemShut}%
 }%
}%
\def\@bibitemShut{}%
\def\bibitemStop{\@bibitemShut}%
\def\bibitemNoStop{%
 \@ifx{\@empty\@bibitemShut}{.\spacefactor\@mmm\space}{\@bibitemShut}%
}%
\def\bibitemContinue{%
 \@ifx{\@empty\@bibitemShut}{;\spacefactor\@mmm\space}{\@bibitemShut}%
}%

The above is used to tell if an entry ends with a full stop (period): this is useful if entries are being compressed into the form "1. a) ... b) ... c ..."

The only .bst files that write such data in a standard TeX installation are those in the REVTeX bundle, so as you say related to the APS and so on.

Note that if one is using biblatex the BibTeX database (.bib file) is the same but the way the .bbl file works is entirely different. As such, it does not contain \bibitem lines.

Joseph Wright
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