This is ../info/reftex, produced by makeinfo version 4.2 from reftex.texi. INFO-DIR-SECTION Emacs START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY * RefTeX: (reftex). Emacs support for LaTeX cross-references and citations. END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY This file documents RefTeX, a package to do labels, references, citations and indices for LaTeX documents with Emacs. This is edition 4.16 of the RefTeX User Manual for RefTeX 4.16 Copyright (c) 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being "A GNU Manual", and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License" in the Emacs manual. (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: "You have freedom to copy and modify this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development." This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.  File: reftex, Node: Top, Up: (dir) RefTeX is a package for managing Labels, References, Citations and index entries with GNU Emacs. Don't be discouraged by the size of this manual, which covers RefTeX in great depth. All you need to know to use RefTeX can be summarized on two pages (*note RefTeX in a Nutshell::). You can go back later to other parts of this document when needed. * Menu: * Introduction:: Quick-Start information. * Table of Contents:: A Tool to move around quickly. * Labels and References:: Creating and referencing labels. * Citations:: Creating Citations. * Index Support:: Creating and Checking Index Entries. * Viewing Cross-References:: Who references or cites what? * RefTeXs Menu:: The Ref menu in the menubar. * Key Bindings:: The default key bindings. * Faces:: Fontification of RefTeX's buffers. * Multifile Documents:: Document spread over many files. * Language Support:: How to support other languages. * Finding Files:: Included TeX files and BibTeX .bib files. * AUCTeX:: Cooperation with AUCTeX. * Optimizations:: When RefTeX is too slow. * Problems and Work-Arounds:: First Aid. * Imprint:: Author, Web-site, Thanks * Commands:: Which are the available commands. * Options:: How to extend and configure RefTeX. * Keymaps and Hooks:: For customization. * Changes:: A List of recent changes to RefTeX. The Index * Index:: The full index. Introduction * Installation:: How to install and activate RefTeX. * RefTeX in a Nutshell:: A brief summary and quick guide. Labels and References * Creating Labels:: * Referencing Labels:: * Builtin Label Environments:: The environments RefTeX knows about. * Defining Label Environments:: ... and environments it doesn't. * Reference Info:: View the label corresponding to a \ref. * xr (LaTeX package):: References to external documents. * varioref (LaTeX package):: How to create \vref instead of \ref. * fancyref (LaTeX package):: How to create \fref instead of \ref. Defining Label Environments * Theorem and Axiom:: Defined with `\newenvironment'. * Quick Equation:: When a macro sets the label type. * Figure Wrapper:: When a macro argument is a label. * Adding Magic Words:: Other words for other languages. * Using \eqref:: How to switch to this AMS-LaTeX macro. * Non-Standard Environments:: Environments without \begin and \end * Putting it Together:: How to combine many entries. Citations * Creating Citations:: How to create them. * Citation Styles:: Natbib, Harvard, Chicago and Co. * Citation Info:: View the corresponding database entry. * Chapterbib and Bibunits:: Multiple bibliographies in a Document. * Citations Outside LaTeX:: How to make citations in Emails etc. Index Support * Creating Index Entries:: Macros and completion of entries. * The Index Phrases File:: A special file for global indexing. * Displaying and Editing the Index:: The index editor. * Builtin Index Macros:: The index macros RefTeX knows about. * Defining Index Macros:: ... and macros it doesn't. The Index Phrases File * Collecting Phrases:: Collecting from document or external. * Consistency Checks:: Check for duplicates etc. * Global Indexing:: The interactive indexing process. AUCTeX * AUCTeX-RefTeX Interface:: How both packages work together * Style Files:: AUCTeX's style files can support RefTeX * Bib-Cite:: Hypertext reading of a document Options, Keymaps, Hooks * Options (Table of Contents):: * Options (Defining Label Environments):: * Options (Creating Labels):: * Options (Referencing Labels):: * Options (Creating Citations):: * Options (Index Support):: * Options (Viewing Cross-References):: * Options (Finding Files):: * Options (Optimizations):: * Options (Fontification):: * Options (Misc)::  File: reftex, Node: Introduction, Next: Table of Contents, Up: Top Introduction ************ RefTeX is a specialized package for support of labels, references, citations, and the index in LaTeX. RefTeX wraps itself round 4 LaTeX macros: `\label', `\ref', `\cite', and `\index'. Using these macros usually requires looking up different parts of the document and searching through BibTeX database files. RefTeX automates these time-consuming tasks almost entirely. It also provides functions to display the structure of a document and to move around in this structure quickly. *Note Imprint::, for information about who to contact for help, bug reports or suggestions. * Menu: * Installation:: How to install and activate RefTeX. * RefTeX in a Nutshell:: A brief summary and quick guide.  File: reftex, Node: Installation, Next: RefTeX in a Nutshell, Up: Introduction Installation ============ RefTeX is bundled and pre-installed with Emacs since version 20.2. It was also bundled and pre-installed with XEmacs 19.16-20.x. XEmacs 21.x users want to install the corresponding plug-in package which is available from the XEmacs ftp site (ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/packages/). See the XEmacs 21.x documentation on package installation for details. Users of earlier Emacs distributions (including Emacs 19) can get a copy of the RefTeX distribution from the maintainers web-page. *Note Imprint::, for more information. Environment =========== RefTeX needs to access all files which are part of a multifile document, and the BibTeX database files requested by the `\bibliography' command. To find these files, RefTeX will require a search path, i.e. a list of directories to check. Normally this list is stored in the environment variables `TEXINPUTS' and `BIBINPUTS' which are also used by RefTeX. However, on some systems these variables do not contain the full search path. If RefTeX does not work for you because it cannot find some files, read *Note Finding Files::. Entering RefTeX Mode ==================== To turn RefTeX Mode on and off in a particular buffer, use `M-x reftex-mode'. To turn on RefTeX Mode for all LaTeX files, add the following lines to your `.emacs' file: (add-hook 'LaTeX-mode-hook 'turn-on-reftex) ; with AUCTeX LaTeX mode (add-hook 'latex-mode-hook 'turn-on-reftex) ; with Emacs latex mode  File: reftex, Node: RefTeX in a Nutshell, Prev: Installation, Up: Introduction RefTeX in a Nutshell ==================== 1. Table of Contents Typing `C-c =' (`reftex-toc') will show a table of contents of the document. This buffer can display sections, labels and index entries defined in the document. From the buffer, you can jump quickly to every part of your document. Press `?' to get help. 2. Labels and References RefTeX helps to create unique labels and to find the correct key for references quickly. It distinguishes labels for different environments, knows about all standard environments (and many others), and can be configured to recognize any additional labeled environments you have defined yourself (variable `reftex-label-alist'). * Creating Labels Type `C-c (' (`reftex-label') to insert a label at point. RefTeX will either - derive a label from context (default for section labels) - prompt for a label string (default for figures and tables) or - insert a simple label made of a prefix and a number (all other environments) Which labels are created how is configurable with the variable `reftex-insert-label-flags'. * Referencing Labels To make a reference, type `C-c )' (`reftex-reference'). This shows an outline of the document with all labels of a certain type (figure, equation,...) and some label context. Selecting a label inserts a `\ref{LABEL}' macro into the original buffer. 3. Citations Typing `C-c [' (`reftex-citation') will let you specify a regular expression to search in current BibTeX database files (as specified in the `\bibliography' command) and pull out a list of matches for you to choose from. The list is _formatted_ and sorted. The selected article is referenced as `\cite{KEY}' (see the variable `reftex-cite-format' if you want to insert different macros). 4. Index Support RefTeX helps to enter index entries. It also compiles all entries into an alphabetically sorted `*Index*' buffer which you can use to check and edit the entries. RefTeX knows about the standard index macros and can be configured to recognize any additional macros you have defined (`reftex-index-macros'). Multiple indices are supported. * Creating Index Entries To index the current selection or the word at point, type `C-c /' (`reftex-index-selection-or-word'). The default macro `reftex-index-default-macro' will be used. For a more complex entry type `C-c <' (`reftex-index'), select any of the index macros and enter the arguments with completion. * The Index Phrases File (Delayed Indexing) Type `C-c \' (`reftex-index-phrase-selection-or-word') to add the current word or selection to a special _index phrase file_. RefTeX can later search the document for occurrences of these phrases and let you interactively index the matches. * Displaying and Editing the Index To display the compiled index in a special buffer, type `C-c >' (`reftex-display-index'). From that buffer you can check and edit all entries. 5. Viewing Cross-References When point is on the KEY argument of a cross-referencing macro (`\label', `\ref', `\cite', `\bibitem', `\index', and variations) or inside a BibTeX database entry, you can press `C-c &' (`reftex-view-crossref') to display corresponding locations in the document and associated BibTeX database files. When the enclosing macro is `\cite' or `\ref' and no other message occupies the echo area, information about the citation or label will automatically be displayed in the echo area. 6. Multifile Documents Multifile Documents are fully supported. The included files must have a file variable `TeX-master' or `tex-main-file' pointing to the master file. RefTeX provides cross-referencing information from all parts of the document, and across document borders (`xr.sty'). 7. Document Parsing RefTeX needs to parse the document in order to find labels and other information. It does it automatically once and updates its list internally when `reftex-label' and `reftex-index' are used. To enforce reparsing, call any of the commands described above with a raw `C-u' prefix, or press the `r' key in the label selection buffer, the table of contents buffer, or the index buffer. 8. AUCTeX If your major LaTeX mode is AUCTeX, RefTeX can cooperate with it (see variable `reftex-plug-into-AUCTeX'). AUCTeX contains style files which trigger appropriate settings in RefTeX, so that for many of the popular LaTeX packages no additional customizations will be necessary. 9. Useful Settings To make RefTeX faster for large documents, try these: (setq reftex-enable-partial-scans t) (setq reftex-save-parse-info t) (setq reftex-use-multiple-selection-buffers t) To integrate with AUCTeX, use (setq reftex-plug-into-AUCTeX t) To make your own LaTeX macro definitions known to RefTeX, customize the variables `reftex-label-alist' (for label macros/environments) `reftex-section-levels' (for sectioning commands) `reftex-cite-format' (for `\cite'-like macros) `reftex-index-macros' (for `\index'-like macros) `reftex-index-default-macro' (to set the default macro) If you have a large number of macros defined, you may want to write an AUCTeX style file to support them with both AUCTeX and RefTeX. 10. Where Next? Go ahead and use RefTeX. Use its menus until you have picked up the key bindings. For an overview of what you can do in each of the different special buffers, press `?'. Read the manual if you get stuck, of if you are curious what else might be available. The first part of the manual explains in a tutorial way how to use and customize RefTeX. The second part is a command and variable reference.  File: reftex, Node: Table of Contents, Next: Labels and References, Prev: Introduction, Up: Top Table of Contents ***************** Pressing the keys `C-c =' pops up a buffer showing the table of contents of the document. By default, this `*toc*' buffer shows only the sections of a document. Using the `l' and `i' keys you can display all labels and index entries defined in the document as well. With the cursor in any of the lines denoting a location in the document, simple key strokes will display the corresponding part in another window, jump to that location, or perform other actions. Here is a list of special commands in the `*toc*' buffer. A summary of this information is always available by pressing `?'. General ....... `?' Display a summary of commands. `0-9, -' Prefix argument. Moving around ............. `n' Goto next entry in the table of context. `p' Goto previous entry in the table of context. `C-c C-n' Goto next section heading. Useful when many labels and index entries separate section headings. `C-c C-p' Goto previous section heading. `N z' Jump to section N, using the prefix arg. For example, `3 z' jumps to section 3. Access to document locations ............................ `' Show the corresponding location in another window. This command does _not_ select that other window. `' Goto the location in another window. `' Go to the location and hide the `*toc*' buffer. This will restore the window configuration before `reftex-toc' (`C-c =') was called. `mouse-2' Clicking with mouse button 2 on a line has the same effect as . See also variable `reftex-highlight-selection', *Note Options (Fontification)::. `f' Toggle follow mode. When follow mode is active, the other window will always show the location corresponding to the line at point in the `*toc*' buffer. This is similar to pressing after each cursor motion. The default for this flag can be set with the variable `reftex-toc-follow-mode'. Note that only context in files already visited is shown. RefTeX will not visit a file just for follow mode. See, however, the variable `reftex-revisit-to-follow'. `.' Show calling point in another window. This is the point from where `reftex-toc' was last called. Exiting ....... `q' Hide the `*toc*' buffer, return to the position where `reftex-toc' was last called. `k' Kill the `*toc*' buffer, return to the position where `reftex-toc' was last called. `C-c >' Switch to the `*Index*' buffer of this document. With prefix `2', restrict the index to the section at point in the `*toc*' buffer. Controlling what gets displayed ............................... `t' Change the maximum level of toc entries displayed in the `*toc*' buffer. Without prefix arg, all levels will be included. With prefix arg (e.g `3 t'), ignore all toc entries with level greater than ARG (3 in this case). Chapters are level 1, sections are level 2. The mode line `T<>' indicator shows the current value. The default depth can be configured with the variable `reftex-toc-max-level'. `F' Toggle the display of the file borders of a multifile document in the `*toc*' buffer. The default for this flag can be set with the variable `reftex-toc-include-file-boundaries'. `l' Toggle the display of labels in the `*toc*' buffer. The default for this flag can be set with the variable `reftex-toc-include-labels'. When called with a prefix argument, RefTeX will prompt for a label type and include only labels of the selected type in the `*toc*' buffer. The mode line `L<>' indicator shows which labels are included. `i' Toggle the display of index entries in the `*toc*' buffer. The default for this flag can be set with the variable `reftex-toc-include-index-entries'. When called with a prefix argument, RefTeX will prompt for a specific index and include only entries in the selected index in the `*toc*' buffer. The mode line `I<>' indicator shows which index is used. `c' Toggle the display of label and index context in the `*toc*' buffer. The default for this flag can be set with the variable `reftex-toc-include-context'. Updating the buffer ................... `g' Rebuild the `*toc*' buffer. This does _not_ rescan the document. `r' Reparse the LaTeX document and rebuild the `*toc*' buffer. When `reftex-enable-partial-scans' is non-nil, rescan only the file this location is defined in, not the entire document. `C-u r' Reparse the _entire_ LaTeX document and rebuild the `*toc*' buffer. `x' Switch to the `*toc*' buffer of an external document. When the current document is using the `xr' package (*note xr (LaTeX package)::), RefTeX will switch to one of the external documents. In order to define additional commands for the `*toc*' buffer, the keymap `reftex-toc-map' may be used. The section macros recognized by RefTeX are all LaTeX section macros (from `\part' to `\subsubparagraph') and the commands `\addchap' and `\addsec' from the KOMA-Script classes. Additional macros can be configured with the variable `reftex-section-levels'. It is also possible to add certain LaTeX environments to the table of contents. This is probably only useful for theorem-like environments. *Note Defining Label Environments::, for an example.  File: reftex, Node: Labels and References, Next: Citations, Prev: Table of Contents, Up: Top Labels and References ********************* LaTeX provides a powerful mechanism to deal with cross-references in a document. When writing a document, any part of it can be marked with a label, like `\label{mark}'. LaTeX records the current value of a certain counter when a label is defined. Later references to this label (like `\ref{mark}') will produce the recorded value of the counter. Labels can be used to mark sections, figures, tables, equations, footnotes, items in enumerate lists etc. LaTeX is context sensitive in doing this: A label defined in a figure environment automatically records the figure counter, not the section counter. Several different environments can share a common counter and therefore a common label category. E.g. labels in both `equation' and `eqnarray' environments record the value of the same counter - the equation counter. * Menu: * Creating Labels:: * Referencing Labels:: * Builtin Label Environments:: The environments RefTeX knows about. * Defining Label Environments:: ... and environments it doesn't. * Reference Info:: View the label corresponding to a \ref. * xr (LaTeX package):: References to external documents. * varioref (LaTeX package):: How to create \vref instead of \ref. * fancyref (LaTeX package):: How to create \fref instead of \ref.  File: reftex, Node: Creating Labels, Next: Referencing Labels, Up: Labels and References Creating Labels =============== In order to create a label in a LaTeX document, press `C-c (' (`reftex-label'). Just like LaTeX, RefTeX is context sensitive and will figure out the environment it currently is in and adapt the label to that environment. A label usually consists of a short prefix indicating the type of the label and a unique mark. RefTeX has 3 different modes to create this mark. 1. A label can be derived from context. This means, RefTeX takes the context of the label definition and constructs a label from that(1). This works best for section labels, where the section heading is used to construct a label. In fact, RefTeX's default settings use this method only for section labels. You will be asked to confirm the derived label, or edit it. 2. We may also use a simple unique number to identify a label. This is mostly useful for labels where it is difficult to come up with a very good descriptive name. RefTeX's default settings use this method for equations, enumerate items and footnotes. The author of RefTeX tends to write documents with many equations and finds it impossible to come up with good names for each of them. These simple labels are inserted without query, and are therefore very fast. Good descriptive names are not really necessary as RefTeX will provide context to reference a label (*note Referencing Labels::). 3. The third method is to ask the user for a label. This is most useful for things which are easy to describe briefly and do not turn up too frequently in a document. RefTeX uses this for figures and tables. Of course, one can enter the label directly by typing the full `\label{mark}'. The advantage of using `reftex-label' anyway is that RefTeX will know that a new label has been defined. It will then not be necessary to rescan the document in order to access this label later. If you want to change the way certain labels are created, check out the variable `reftex-insert-label-flags' (*note Options (Creating Labels)::). If you are using AUCTeX to write your LaTeX documents, you can set it up to delegate the creation of labels to RefTeX. *Note AUCTeX::, for more information. ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) Note that the context may contain constructs which are illegal in labels. RefTeX will therefore strip the accent from accented Latin-1 characters and remove everything else which is not legal in labels. This mechanism is safe, but may not be satisfactory for non-western languages. Check the following variables if you need to change things: `reftex-translate-to-ascii-function', `reftex-derive-label-parameters', `reftex-label-illegal-re', `reftex-abbrev-parameters'.  File: reftex, Node: Referencing Labels, Next: Builtin Label Environments, Prev: Creating Labels, Up: Labels and References Referencing Labels ================== Referencing Labels is really at the heart of RefTeX. Press `C-c )' in order to reference a label (reftex-reference). This will start a selection process and finally insert the complete `\ref{label}' into the buffer. First, RefTeX will determine the label category which is required. Often that can be figured out from context. For example, if you write `As shown in eq.' and the press `C-c )', RefTeX knows that an equation label is going to be referenced. If it cannot figure out what label category is needed, it will query for one. You will then be presented with a label selection menu. This is a special buffer which contains an outline of the document along with all labels of the given label category. In addition, next to the label there will be one line of context of the label definition, which is some text in the buffer near the label definition. Usually this is sufficient to identify the label. If you are unsure about a certain label, pressing will show the label definition point in another window. In order to reference a label, move to cursor to the correct label and press . You can also reference several labels with a single call to `reftex-reference' by marking entries with the `m' key (see below). Here is a list of special commands in the selection buffer. A summary of this information is always available from the selection process by pressing `?'. General ....... `?' Show a summary of available commands. `0-9,-' Prefix argument. Moving around ............. `n' Go to next label. `p' Go to previous label. `b' Jump back to the position where you last left the selection buffer. Normally this should get you back to the last referenced label. `C-c C-n' Goto next section heading. `C-c C-p' Goto previous section heading. `N z' Jump to section N, using the prefix arg. For example `3 z' jumps to section 3. Displaying Context .................. `' Show the surroundings of the definition of the current label in another window. See also the `f' key. `f' Toggle follow mode. When follow mode is active, the other window will always display the full context of the current label. This is similar to pressing after each cursor motion. Note that only context in files already visited is shown. RefTeX will not visit a file just for follow mode. See, however, the variable `reftex-revisit-to-follow'. `.' Show insertion point in another window. This is the point from where you called `reftex-reference'. Selecting a label and creating the reference ............................................ `' Insert a reference to the label at point into the buffer from which the selection process was started. When entries have been marked, references all marked labels. `mouse-2' Clicking with mouse button 2 on a label will accept it like would. See also variable `reftex-highlight-selection', *Note Options (Misc)::. `m - + ,' Mark the current entry. When several entries have been marked, pressing `RET' will accept all of them and place them into several `\ref' macros. The special markers `,-+' also store a separator to be inserted before the corresponding reference. So marking six entries with the keys `m , , - , +' will give a reference list like this (see the variable `reftex-multiref-punctuation') In eqs. (1), (2), (3)--(4), (5) and (6) `u' Unmark a marked entry. `a' Accept the marked entries and put all labels as a comma-separated list into one _single_ `\ref' macro. Some packages like `saferef.sty' support multiple references in this way. `l' Use the last referenced label(s) again. This is equivalent to moving to that label and pressing . `' Enter a label with completion. This may also be a label which does not yet exist in the document. `v' Toggle between `\ref' and `\vref' macro for references. The `\vref' macro is defined in the `varioref' LaTeX package. With this key you can force RefTeX to insert a `\vref' macro. The current state of this flag is displayed by the `S<>' indicator in the mode line of the selection buffer. `V' Cycle between `\ref', `\fref' and `\Fref'. The `\fref' and `\Fref' macros are defined in the `fancyref' LaTeX package. With this key you can force RefTeX to insert a `\fref' or `\Fref' macro. The current state of this flag is displayed by the `S<>' indicator in the mode line of the selection buffer. Exiting ....... `q' Exit the selection process without inserting any reference into the buffer. Controlling what gets displayed ............................... The defaults for the following flags can be configured with the variable `reftex-label-menu-flags' (*note Options (Referencing Labels)::). `c' Toggle the display of the one-line label definition context in the selection buffer. `F' Toggle the display of the file borders of a multifile document in the selection buffer. `t' Toggle the display of the table of contents in the selection buffer. With prefix ARG, change the maximum level of toc entries displayed to ARG. Chapters are level 1, section are level 2. `#' Toggle the display of a label counter in the selection buffer. `%' Toggle the display of labels hidden in comments in the selection buffers. Sometimes, you may have commented out parts of your document. If these parts contain label definitions, RefTeX can still display and reference these labels. Updating the buffer ................... `g' Update the menu. This will rebuilt the menu from the internal label list, but not reparse the document (see `r'). `r' Reparse the document to update the information on all labels and rebuild the menu. If the variable `reftex-enable-partial-scans' is non-`nil' and your document is a multifile document, this will reparse only a part of the document (the file in which the label at point was defined). `C-u r' Reparse the _entire_ document. `s' Switch the label category. After prompting for another label category, a menu for that category will be shown. `x' Reference a label from an external document. With the LaTeX package `xr' it is possible to reference labels defined in another document. This key will switch to the label menu of an external document and let you select a label from there (*note xr: xr (LaTeX package).). In order to define additional commands for the selection process, the keymap `reftex-select-label-map' may be used.  File: reftex, Node: Builtin Label Environments, Next: Defining Label Environments, Prev: Referencing Labels, Up: Labels and References Builtin Label Environments ========================== RefTeX needs to be aware of the environments which can be referenced with a label (i.e. which carry their own counters). By default, RefTeX recognizes all labeled environments and macros discussed in `The LaTeX Companion by Goossens, Mittelbach & Samarin, Addison-Wesley 1994.'. These are: - `figure', `figure*', `table', `table*', `equation', `eqnarray', `enumerate', the `\footnote' macro (this is the LaTeX core stuff) - `align', `gather', `multline', `flalign', `alignat', `xalignat', `xxalignat', `subequations' (from AMS-LaTeX's `amsmath.sty' package) - the `\endnote' macro (from `endnotes.sty') - `Beqnarray' (`fancybox.sty') - `floatingfig' (`floatfig.sty') - `longtable' (`longtable.sty') - `figwindow', `tabwindow' (`picinpar.sty') - `SCfigure', `SCtable' (`sidecap.sty') - `sidewaysfigure', `sidewaystable' (`rotating.sty') - `subfigure', `subfigure*', the `\subfigure' macro (`subfigure.sty') - `supertabular' (`supertab.sty') - `wrapfigure' (`wrapfig.sty') If you want to use other labeled environments, defined with `\newtheorem', RefTeX needs to be configured to recognize them (*note Defining Label Environments::).  File: reftex, Node: Defining Label Environments, Next: Reference Info, Prev: Builtin Label Environments, Up: Labels and References Defining Label Environments =========================== RefTeX can be configured to recognize additional labeled environments and macros. This is done with the variable `reftex-label-alist' (*note Options (Defining Label Environments)::). If you are not familiar with Lisp, you can use the `custom' library to configure this rather complex variable. To do this, use M-x customize-variable reftex-label-alist Here we will discuss a few examples, in order to make things clearer. It can also be instructive to look at the constant `reftex-label-alist-builtin' which contains the entries for all the builtin environments and macros (*note Builtin Label Environments::). * Menu: * Theorem and Axiom:: Defined with `\newenvironment'. * Quick Equation:: When a macro sets the label type. * Figure Wrapper:: When a macro argument is a label. * Adding Magic Words:: Other words for other languages. * Using \eqref:: How to switch to this AMS-LaTeX macro. * Non-Standard Environments:: Environments without \begin and \end * Putting it Together:: How to combine many entries.  File: reftex, Node: Theorem and Axiom, Next: Quick Equation, Up: Defining Label Environments Theorem and Axiom Environments ------------------------------ Suppose you are using `\newtheorem' in LaTeX in order to define two new environments, `theorem' and `axiom' \newtheorem{axiom}{Axiom} \newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem} to be used like this: \begin{axiom} \label{ax:first} .... \end{axiom} So we need to tell RefTeX that `theorem' and `axiom' are new labeled environments which define their own label categories. We can either use Lisp to do this (e.g. in `.emacs') or use the custom library. With Lisp it would look like this (setq reftex-label-alist '(("axiom" ?a "ax:" "~\\ref{%s}" nil ("axiom" "ax.") -2) ("theorem" ?h "thr:" "~\\ref{%s}" t ("theorem" "th.") -3))) The type indicator characters `?a' and `?h' are used for prompts when RefTeX queries for a label type. `?h' was chosen for `theorem' since `?t' is already taken by `table'. Note that also `?s', `?f', `?e', `?i', `?n' are already used for standard environments. The labels for Axioms and Theorems will have the prefixes `ax:' and `thr:', respectively. *Note AUCTeX::, for information on how AUCTeX can use RefTeX to automatically create labels when a new environment is inserted into a buffer. The `~\ref{%s}' is a format string indicating how to insert references to these labels. The next item indicates how to grab context of the label definition. - `t' means to get it from a default location (from the beginning of a `\macro' or after the `\begin' statement). `t' is _not_ a good choice for eqnarray and similar environments. - `nil' means to use the text right after the label definition. - For more complex ways of getting context, see the variable `reftex-label-alist' (*Note Options (Defining Label Environments)::). The following list of strings is used to guess the correct label type from the word before point when creating a reference. E.g. if you write: `As we have shown in Theorem' and then press `C-c )', RefTeX will know that you are looking for a theorem label and restrict the menu to only these labels without even asking. The final item in each entry is the level at which the environment should produce entries in the table of context buffer. If the number is positive, the environment will produce numbered entries (like `\section'), if it is negative the entries will be unnumbered (like `\section*'). Use this only for environments which structure the document similar to sectioning commands. For everything else, omit the item. To do the same configuration with `customize', you need to click on the `[INS]' button twice to create two templates and fill them in like this: Reftex Label Alist: [Hide] [INS] [DEL] Package or Detailed : [Value Menu] Detailed: Environment or \macro : [Value Menu] String: axiom Type specification : [Value Menu] Char : a Label prefix string : [Value Menu] String: ax: Label reference format: [Value Menu] String: ~\ref{%s} Context method : [Value Menu] After label Magic words: [INS] [DEL] String: axiom [INS] [DEL] String: ax. [INS] [X] Make TOC entry : [Value Menu] Level: -2 [INS] [DEL] Package or Detailed : [Value Menu] Detailed: Environment or \macro : [Value Menu] String: theorem Type specification : [Value Menu] Char : h Label prefix string : [Value Menu] String: thr: Label reference format: [Value Menu] String: ~\ref{%s} Context method : [Value Menu] Default position Magic words: [INS] [DEL] String: theorem [INS] [DEL] String: theor. [INS] [DEL] String: th. [INS] [X] Make TOC entry : [Value Menu] Level: -3 Depending on how you would like the label insertion and selection for the new environments to work, you might want to add the letters `a' and `h' to some of the flags in the variables `reftex-insert-label-flags' (*note Options (Creating Labels)::) and `reftex-label-menu-flags' (*note Options (Referencing Labels)::).  File: reftex, Node: Quick Equation, Next: Figure Wrapper, Prev: Theorem and Axiom, Up: Defining Label Environments Quick Equation Macro -------------------- Suppose you would like to have a macro for quick equations. It could be defined like this: \newcommand{\quickeq}[1]{\begin{equation} #1 \end{equation}} and used like this: Einstein's equation is \quickeq{E=mc^2 \label{eq:einstein}}. We need to tell RefTeX that any label defined in the argument of the `\quickeq' is an equation label. Here is how to do this with lisp: (setq reftex-label-alist '(("\\quickeq{}" ?e nil nil 1 nil))) The first element in this list is now the macro with empty braces as an _image_ of the macro arguments. `?e' indicates that this is an equation label, the different `nil' elements indicate to use the default values for equations. The `1' as the fifth element indicates that the context of the label definition should be the 1st argument of the macro. Here is again how this would look in the customization buffer: Reftex Label Alist: [Hide] [INS] [DEL] Package or Detailed : [Value Menu] Detailed: Environment or \macro : [Value Menu] String: \quickeq{} Type specification : [Value Menu] Char : e Label prefix string : [Value Menu] Default Label reference format: [Value Menu] Default Context method : [Value Menu] Macro arg nr: 1 Magic words: [INS] [ ] Make TOC entry : [Value Menu] No entry  File: reftex, Node: Figure Wrapper, Next: Adding Magic Words, Prev: Quick Equation, Up: Defining Label Environments Figure Wrapping Macro --------------------- Suppose you want to make figures not directly with the figure environment, but with a macro like \newcommand{\myfig}[5][tbp]{% \begin{figure}[#1] \epsimp[#5]{#2} \caption{#3} \label{#4} \end{figure}} which would be called like \myfig[htp]{filename}{caption text}{label}{1} Now we need to tell RefTeX that the 4th argument of the `\myfig' macro _is itself_ a figure label, and where to find the context. (setq reftex-label-alist '(("\\myfig[]{}{}{*}{}" ?f nil nil 3))) The empty pairs of brackets indicate the different arguments of the `\myfig' macro. The `*' marks the label argument. `?f' indicates that this is a figure label which will be listed together with labels from normal figure environments. The `nil' entries for prefix and reference format mean to use the defaults for figure labels. The `3' for the context method means to grab the 3rd macro argument - the caption. As a side effect of this configuration, `reftex-label' will now insert the required naked label (without the `\label' macro) when point is directly after the opening parenthesis of a `\myfig' macro argument. Again, here the configuration in the customization buffer: [INS] [DEL] Package or Detailed : [Value Menu] Detailed: Environment or \macro : [Value Menu] String: \myfig[]{}{}{*}{} Type specification : [Value Menu] Char : f Label prefix string : [Value Menu] Default Label reference format: [Value Menu] Default Context method : [Value Menu] Macro arg nr: 3 Magic words: [INS] [ ] Make TOC entry : [Value Menu] No entry  File: reftex, Node: Adding Magic Words, Next: Using \eqref, Prev: Figure Wrapper, Up: Defining Label Environments Adding Magic Words ------------------ Sometimes you don't want to define a new label environment or macro, but just change the information associated with a label category. Maybe you want to add some magic words, for another language. Changing only the information associated with a label category is done by giving `nil' for the environment name and then specify the items you want to define. Here is an example which adds German magic words to all predefined label categories. (setq reftex-label-alist '((nil ?s nil nil nil ("Kapitel" "Kap." "Abschnitt" "Teil")) (nil ?e nil nil nil ("Gleichung" "Gl.")) (nil ?t nil nil nil ("Tabelle")) (nil ?f nil nil nil ("Figur" "Abbildung" "Abb.")) (nil ?n nil nil nil ("Anmerkung" "Anm.")) (nil ?i nil nil nil ("Punkt"))))  File: reftex, Node: Using \eqref, Next: Non-Standard Environments, Prev: Adding Magic Words, Up: Defining Label Environments Using `\eqref' -------------- Another case where one only wants to change the information associated with the label category is to change the macro which is used for referencing the label. When working with the AMS-LaTeX stuff, you might prefer `\eqref' for doing equation references. Here is how to do this: (setq reftex-label-alist '((nil ?e nil "~\\eqref{%s}" nil nil))) RefTeX has also a predefined symbol for this special purpose. The following is equivalent to the line above. (setq reftex-label-alist '(AMSTeX)) Note that this is automatically done by the `amsmath.el' style file of AUCTeX (*note Style Files::) - so if you use AUCTeX, this configuration will not be necessary.  File: reftex, Node: Non-Standard Environments, Next: Putting it Together, Prev: Using \eqref, Up: Defining Label Environments Non-standard Environments ------------------------- Some LaTeX packages define environment-like structures without using the standard `\begin..\end' structure. RefTeX cannot parse these directly, but you can write your own special-purpose parser and use it instead of the name of an environment in an entry for `reftex-label-alist'. The function should check if point is currently in the special environment it was written to detect. If so, it must return a buffer position indicating the start of this environment. The return value must be `nil' on failure to detect the environment. The function is called with one argument BOUND. If non-`nil', BOUND is a boundary for backwards searches which should be observed. We will discuss two examples. Some people define abbreviations for environments, like `\be' for `\begin{equation}', and `\ee' for `\end{equation}'. The parser function would have to search backward for these macros. When the first match is `\ee', point is not in this environment. When the first match is `\be', point is in this environment and the function must return the beginning of the match. To avoid scanning too far, we can also look for empty lines which cannot occure inside an equation environment. Here is the setup: ;; Setup entry in reftex-label-alist, using all defaults for equations (setq reftex-label-alist '((detect-be-ee ?e nil nil nil nil))) (defun detect-be-ee (bound) ;; Search backward for the macros or an empty line (if (re-search-backward "\\(^[ \t]*\n\\|\\\\ee\\>\\)\\|\\(\\\\be\\>\\)" bound t) (if (match-beginning 2) (match-beginning 2) ; Return start of environment nil) ; Return nil because env is closed nil)) ; Return nil for not found A more complex example is the `linguex.sty' package which defines list macros `\ex.', `\a.', `\b.' etc. for lists which are terminated by `\z.' or by an empty line. \ex. \label{ex:12} Some text in an exotic language ... \a. \label{ex:13} more stuff \b. \label{ex:14} still more stuff \a. List on a deeper level \b. Another item \b. and the third one \z. \b. Third item on this level. ... text after the empty line terminating all lists The difficulty is that the `\a.' lists can nest and that an empty line terminates all list levels in one go. So we have to count nesting levels between `\a.' and `\z.'. Here is the implementation for RefTeX. (setq reftex-label-alist '((detect-linguex ?x "ex:" "~\\ref{%s}" nil ("Example" "Ex.")))) (defun detect-linguex (bound) (let ((cnt 0)) (catch 'exit (while ;; Search backward for all possible delimiters (re-search-backward (concat "\\(^[ \t]*\n\\)\\|\\(\\\\z\\.\\)\\|" "\\(\\ex[ig]?\\.\\)\\|\\(\\\\a\\.\\)") nil t) ;; Check which delimiter was matched. (cond ((match-beginning 1) ;; empty line terminates all - return nil (throw 'exit nil)) ((match-beginning 2) ;; \z. terminates one list level - decrease nesting count (decf cnt)) ((match-beginning 3) ;; \ex. : return match unless there was a \z. on this level (throw 'exit (if (>= cnt 0) (match-beginning 3) nil))) ((match-beginning 4) ;; \a. : return match when on level 0, otherwise ;; increment nesting count (if (>= cnt 0) (throw 'exit (match-beginning 4)) (incf cnt))))))))  File: reftex, Node: Putting it Together, Prev: Non-Standard Environments, Up: Defining Label Environments Putting it all together ----------------------- When you have to put several entries into `reftex-label-alist', just put them after each other in a list, or create that many templates in the customization buffer. Here is a lisp example which uses several of the entries described above: (setq reftex-label-alist '(("axiom" ?a "ax:" "~\\ref{%s}" nil ("axiom" "ax.") -2) ("theorem" ?h "thr:" "~\\ref{%s}" t ("theorem" "theor." "th.") -3) ("\\quickeq{}" ?e nil nil 1 nil) AMSTeX ("\\myfig[]{}{}{*}{}" ?f nil nil 3) (detect-linguex ?x "ex:" "~\\ref{%s}" nil ("Example" "Ex."))))  File: reftex, Node: Reference Info, Next: xr (LaTeX package), Prev: Defining Label Environments, Up: Labels and References Reference Info ============== When point is idle on the argument of a `\ref' macro, the echo area will display some information about the label referenced there. Note that the information is only displayed if the echo area is not occupied by a different message. RefTeX can also display the label definition corresponding to a `\ref' macro, or all reference locations corresponding to a `\label' macro. *Note Viewing Cross-References::, for more information.  File: reftex, Node: xr (LaTeX package), Next: varioref (LaTeX package), Prev: Reference Info, Up: Labels and References `xr': Cross-Document References =============================== The LaTeX package `xr' makes it possible to create references to labels defined in external documents. The preamble of a document using `xr' will contain something like this: \usepackage{xr} \externaldocument[V1-]{volume1} \externaldocument[V3-]{volume3} and we can make references to any labels defined in these external documents by using the prefixes `V1-' and `V3-', respectively. RefTeX can be used to create such references as well. Start the referencing process normally, by pressing `C-c )'. Select a label type if necessary. When you see the label selection buffer, pressing `x' will switch to the label selection buffer of one of the external documents. You may then select a label as before and RefTeX will insert it along with the required prefix. For this kind of inter-document cross-references, saving of parsing information and the use of multiple selection buffers can mean a large speed-up (*note Optimizations::).