Re: Select and insert multiple bibliography entries into one \cite command with regexp search.

[Hongyi Zhao]

On Thu, Aug 12, 2021 at 3:21 PM Vladimir Lomov <lomov.vl@yandex.ru> wrote:
>
> Hello,
> ** Hongyi Zhao <hongyi.zhao@gmail.com> [2021-08-12 12:40:24 +0800]:
>
> [...]
>
> > What do you mean by saying ``"big" output''? The original description
> > given by Arash is as follows:
>
> > (bib "z:/path/to/test-bib-file.bib")
>
> The output length is bigger than 80 symbols (cf. what Arash shown).
>
> [...]
>
> > But even so, I still can't see the similar result given by Arash as follows:
>
> > (bib "z:/path/to/test-bib-file.bib")
>
> This is output in the buffer
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ((xr nil "\\\\\\\\\\\\") (index-tags) (is-multi nil) (bibview-cache) 
> (master-dir . "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/") (label-numbers) (bof 
> "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/doc-samp3.ltx") (eof 
> "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/doc-samp3.ltx"))
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> for my third document after I forced RefTeX to reparse document (I think
> RefTeX parses document only when there is a change in a buffer or after some
> time, didn't check that though). This is output for my second document
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ((xr nil "\\\\\\\\\\\\") (index-tags) (is-multi nil) (bibview-cache) 
> (master-dir . "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/") (label-numbers) (bof 
> "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/doc-samp2.ltx") (eof 
> "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/doc-samp2.ltx"))
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> and the first one:
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ((xr nil "\\\\\\\\\\\\") (index-tags) (is-multi nil) (bibview-cache) 
> (master-dir . "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/") (label-numbers) (bof 
> "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/doc-samp.ltx") (bib 
> "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/sample.bib") (eof 
> "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/doc-samp.ltx"))
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> As you see, only the first document has 'bib' part.
>
> > See the following result of mine generated by `C-x C-e' on the lisp
> > code line of the TeX document:
>
> > ------------------------------------
> > \documentclass{article}
>
> > \usepackage{natbib}
> > \bibliography{\string~/Documents/bibliograph/better-bibtex/references-bibtex.bib}
>
> > \begin{document}
>
> > \cite{weiFirstprinciplesCharacterizationBibased2009}
>
> > \begin{verbatim}
> >  (insert "\n"
> >       (format "%S" (symbol-value reftex-docstruct-symbol)))
> > ((xr nil "\\\\\\\\\\\\") (index-tags) (is-multi nil) (bibview-cache)
> > (master-dir . 
> > "/home/werner/Desktop/work/emacs-auctex/reftex-docstruct-symbol/")
> > (label-numbers) (bof
> > "/home/werner/Desktop/work/emacs-auctex/reftex-docstruct-symbol/reftex-docstruct-symbol.tex")
> > (eof 
> > "/home/werner/Desktop/work/emacs-auctex/reftex-docstruct-symbol/reftex-docstruct-symbol.tex"))
> > \end{verbatim}
> > \end{document}
>
> > %%% Local Variables:
> > %%% mode: latex
> > %%% TeX-master: t
> > %%% End:
> > ------------------------------------
>
> To be sure I made a fourth document in which I moved '\bibliography' into
> preamble and use '\string~' and got
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ((xr nil "\\\\\\\\\\\\") (index-tags) (is-multi nil) (bibview-cache) 
> (master-dir . "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/") (label-numbers) (bof 
> "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/doc-samp4.ltx") (eof 
> "/home/vladimir/tmp/test/emacs/doc-samp4.ltx"))
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Funny, I didn't even try to replicate your document, I merely wrote mine as
> example to check what is going on. I read RefTeX manual again and didn't find
> any mention where '\bibliography' macro must in document to be taken into
> account. Well, I consulted with source2e (LaTeX source) and found this
> (quoting from source2e.pdf, run texdoc source2e to find section "ltbibl.dtx"):
>
>   \bibliography{⟨file1,file2, . . . ,filen⟩} : specifies the bibdata files.
>   Writes a \bibdata entry on the .aux file and tries to read in mainfile.bbl.
>
> in other words, LaTeX will insert bibliography list in place of
> '\bibliography' command. Why someone would issue the command in document
> preamble, it is meaningless. Why you use it there?
>
> I made my examples didn't consulting LaTeX manual but follow some logic: put
> '\bibliography' macro there where I need to insert bibliography list. May be I
> read some manual, may be the LaTeX source and remember that but I even didn't
> thought to issue '\bibliography' into a preamble.
>
> To conclude: you have problem only because you insert '\bibliography' macro in
> WRONG place. Though I'm not sure if RefTeX is "smart" enough but it definitely
> ignores that macro and it is right.

No. Your above conclusion is partially right. See my following testing results:

---
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{natbib}
\bibliography{/home/werner/Documents/bibliograph/better-bibtex/references-bibtex.bib}
\begin{document}

\begin{verbatim}
 (insert "\n" (format "%S" (symbol-value reftex-docstruct-symbol)))
((xr nil "\\\\\\\\\\\\") (index-tags) (is-multi nil) (bibview-cache)
(master-dir . "/home/werner/Desktop/work/emacs-auctex/reftex-docstruct-symbol/")
(label-numbers) (bof
"/home/werner/Desktop/work/emacs-auctex/reftex-docstruct-symbol/reftex-docstruct-symbol.tex")
(bib "/home/werner/Documents/bibliograph/better-bibtex/references-bibtex.bib")
(eof 
"/home/werner/Desktop/work/emacs-auctex/reftex-docstruct-symbol/reftex-docstruct-symbol.tex"))
\end{verbatim}

\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
\end{document}

%%% Local Variables:
%%% mode: latex
%%% TeX-master: t
%%% End:
---

But use the `\string~' variable to point to the bib file won't work:

---
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{natbib}
\bibliography{\string~/Documents/bibliograph/better-bibtex/references-bibtex.bib}
\begin{document}

\begin{verbatim}
 (insert "\n" (format "%S" (symbol-value reftex-docstruct-symbol)))
((xr nil "\\\\\\\\\\\\") (index-tags) (is-multi nil) (bibview-cache)
(master-dir . "/home/werner/Desktop/work/emacs-auctex/reftex-docstruct-symbol/")
(label-numbers) (bof
"/home/werner/Desktop/work/emacs-auctex/reftex-docstruct-symbol/reftex-docstruct-symbol.tex")
(eof 
"/home/werner/Desktop/work/emacs-auctex/reftex-docstruct-symbol/reftex-docstruct-symbol.tex"))
\end{verbatim}

\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
\end{document}

%%% Local Variables:
%%% mode: latex
%%% TeX-master: t
%%% End:
---

The key points and some additional comments:

1. When you revise any part relevant to the `\bibliography' macro, the
file must be re-parsed before do the testing discussed here.
2. The following options set in the init file don't ensure that the
document is parsed automatically when we open it:
      (setq reftex-enable-partial-scans t
               reftex-save-parse-info t)
3. The `\string~' variable expansion doesn't work with RefTeX, but it
works smoothly with helm-bibtex.
4. Put the `\bibliography' macro in preamble will trigger the
xelatex/pdflatex/bibtex error as follows:

----
ERROR: LaTeX Error: Missing \begin{document}.

--- TeX said ---

See the LaTeX manual or LaTeX Companion for explanation.
Type  H <return>  for immediate help.
 ...

l.1 \begin{thebibliography}{1}

--- HELP ---
LaTeX produced printed output before encountering a \begin{document}
command. Either you forgot the \begin{document} command or there is
something wrong in the preamble. The problem may be a stray character
or an error in a declaration---for example, omitting the braces around
an argument or forgetting the \ in a command name.
----

To conclude:

1. If you use helm-bibtex, the following example works smoothly:

---
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{natbib}

\begin{document}

\begin{verbatim}
 (insert "\n" (format "%S" (symbol-value reftex-docstruct-symbol)))
\end{verbatim}

\cite{weiFirstprinciplesCharacterizationBibased2009}

\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
\bibliography{\string~/Documents/bibliograph/better-bibtex/references-bibtex.bib}

\end{document}

%%% Local Variables:
%%% mode: latex
%%% TeX-master: t
%%% End:
---

But the following error will be triggered when using RefTeX to insert
the references:

reftex-offer-bib-menu: No valid bibliography in this document, and no
default available

2. The following example works smoothly with both RefTeX and helm-bibtex:

---
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{natbib}

\begin{document}

\begin{verbatim}
 (insert "\n" (format "%S" (symbol-value reftex-docstruct-symbol)))
\end{verbatim}

\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
\bibliography{/home/werner/Documents/bibliograph/better-bibtex/references-bibtex.bib}

\end{document}

%%% Local Variables:
%%% mode: latex
%%% TeX-master: t
%%% End:
---


Best regards,
Hongyi