BibTeX files look something like this:
@Article{RN298,
author = {Abbott, R. J.},
title = {LIFE-HISTORY VARIATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE POLYMORPHISM FOR CAPITULUM TYPE AND OUTCROSSING RATE IN SENECIO-VULGARIS L},
journal = {Heredity},
volume = {56},
pages = {381-391},
ISSN = {0018-067X},
DOI = {10.1038/hdy.1986.60},
url = {://WOS:A1986C827000012},
year = {1986},
type = {Journal Article}
}
The output of the script produces:
%A Abbott, R. J.
%D 1986
%P 381-391
%V 56
%J Heredity
%T Life-History Variation Associated With The Polymorphism For Capitulum Type And Outcrossing Rate In Senecio-Vulgaris L
%K Life
This can then be used in the GNU troff (groff) and refer unix toolkits for making pretty typeset formatted output, which looks a bit like LaTeX, but much faster (and easier..?).
There is an implementation in python, and one in JavaScript, so it can be easily manipulated in the browser.
A python script is provided which takes a mandatory argument, specifying a path to a .bib file and an optional argument which filters the final refer record based upon a minimum number of entries. Use -h flag for more information.
python bib_to_refer.py [-h] [--number NUMBER] filename
By default it prints to the console, so it is best to pass it to a simple text file.
python bib_to_refer.py /path/to/bib.bib > refer_database.txt
The JavaScript script is an export of the 'Refer' object. I think it will run like Refer.parse(refer_database_file).
The script depends on bibtexparser, a cool module that allows for parsing of BibTeX files, argparse which allows for pretty command line interface and re for regular expressions.