How tell LaTeX to use existing bbl file without running bibtex?

Question

How can I tell LaTeX that it should use an existing bbl file foo.bbl, say, without running bibtex?

Answer 1

LaTeX attempts to read a .bbl file when you use the \bibliography command. If the file does not exist, you get an empty bibliography. LaTeX doesn't 'know' if you run BibTeX, it only knows if a .bbl file exists. (You can make a .bbl file by hand, and it will work.)

Answer 2

OK, I see, just use \input{foo.bbl}. The bbl file just contains the bibitems and thus can be included like any other content.