[texhax] Abbreviated journal names with BibTeX

[Roger Mason]

Hello,

 I am finishing a paper that will be submitted to a journal and have
made a .bst file to provide the correct formatting information for the
bibliography.  I have previously set up a .bib file in which all journal names
are written out in full, but the target journal uses abbreviated journal names.  I
would like to know if it is possible to convert the full names to
abbreviated names, e.g. "Journal" to "J", Physics to "Phys" etc
without modifying the database itself.

I am aware of the use of macros in a .bst file to expand abbreviations
but, as far as I can see, this will not work in the present case
because the .bib entries contain disallowed characters (e.g. spaces).

I have searched the FAQ, and more broadly on the web but have found
no solution (other than the inelegant one of hacking the .bbl file
with a good editor).  Of course I may have missed an important entry
or misunderstood something iin the documents I consulted, in which
case I appologise for troubling you.

Thanks for any help.

Roger Mason