reftex: RefTeX in a Nutshell
1.2 RefTeX in a Nutshell
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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 integrate RefTeX 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, or 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.
Info Catalog
reftex: Installation
reftex: Introduction