Some BibTeX questions

Some BibTeX questions

[Jeff Smith]

Hi!

A couple of questions regarding BibTeX and ConTeXt. :-)

1) For various reasons I want to make my own .bbl file. Do I
understand correctly that I therefore don't need to use \setupbibtex
in my document? I wouldn't see the point in linking to my original
.bib file if I don't want the system to generate the .bbl in the first
place. However, is this the command which generates the .aux file?
What purpose does this one have?

2) In an automatically generated .bbl file, the \setuppublicationlist
command seems to have as a value for the samplesize parameter the very
first s-key of the list, .i.e that of the first publication in the
database. These labels are clearly generated from the first three
characters of the first Author data, and the last two character of the
Year data. For example, in my database, the author being Achinstein
and the year being 1975 for the first entry, the generated s-key is
Ach75. This is the value \setuppublicationlist[samplesize] as well.

What is the purpose of 'samplesize' exactly? And what is the use of
the s-key in the first place? Is it mandatory? The answer to this is
unclear to me. Hic et nunc, I wouldn't even know where to use them;
not in the way I cite references in my document. I would use a and y
exclusively.

3) All the a-keys with author lastnames in my generated bbl file
contain the names in brackets {}, excluding the normal delimiting
brackets of the key itself. For example, for my first publication, you
read a={{Achinstein}}. With more than one authors, I have for example
a={{Bromberger},{Halle}}. However, in Taco's documentation
(bibmod-doc), there are no such brackets in the sample entry:
a=Hoekwater. Are the brackets absolutely necessary? With more than one
name, perhaps?

Many thanks in advance for your answers! As always I'm ever grateful
for the great help this list provides.

Jeff Smith
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Re: Some BibTeX questions

[Taco Hoekwater]

Jeff Smith wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> A couple of questions regarding BibTeX and ConTeXt. :-)
> 
> 1) For various reasons I want to make my own .bbl file. Do I
> understand correctly that I therefore don't need to use \setupbibtex
> in my document? 

Correct. Don't use \setupbibtex in that case, because it will trigger
bibtex runs and those will likely destroy your handcrafted bbl.

> 
> 2) In an automatically generated .bbl file, the \setuppublicationlist
> command seems to have as a value for the samplesize parameter the very
> first s-key of the list, .i.e that of the first publication in the
> database. 

In some styles, the "s" (=short) key is used for both referencing
and labelling in the list of publications. The "samplesize" decides
how much space on the left should be reserved for the labels in that
style. It will make the publication list look like this:

   [Ach75] Random musings about greenery. Achinaeus Julius, Emperial
           Elite press, Rome, 75 BCE.
   [...]   Etc. etc.

And cites will be like

   As can be read in [Ach75], ...

> 3)  Are the brackets absolutely necessary? With more than one
> name, perhaps?

Whenever there are embedded commas or square brackets in the keys,
just like in the rest of context. Bibtex is paranoid and inserts
many extra braces, just in case.

Best wishes,
Taco


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maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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___________________________________________________________________________________

Re: Some BibTeX questions

[Jeff Smith]

Thank you very much Taco, for these answers!

Jeff

On Thu, Mar 20, 2008 at 5:19 AM, Taco Hoekwater <taco@elvenkind.com> wrote:
>
>
>  Jeff Smith wrote:
>  > Hi!
>  >
>  > A couple of questions regarding BibTeX and ConTeXt. :-)
>  >
>  > 1) For various reasons I want to make my own .bbl file. Do I
>  > understand correctly that I therefore don't need to use \setupbibtex
>  > in my document?
>
>  Correct. Don't use \setupbibtex in that case, because it will trigger
>  bibtex runs and those will likely destroy your handcrafted bbl.
>
>
>  >
>  > 2) In an automatically generated .bbl file, the \setuppublicationlist
>  > command seems to have as a value for the samplesize parameter the very
>  > first s-key of the list, .i.e that of the first publication in the
>  > database.
>
>  In some styles, the "s" (=short) key is used for both referencing
>  and labelling in the list of publications. The "samplesize" decides
>  how much space on the left should be reserved for the labels in that
>  style. It will make the publication list look like this:
>
>    [Ach75] Random musings about greenery. Achinaeus Julius, Emperial
>            Elite press, Rome, 75 BCE.
>    [...]   Etc. etc.
>
>  And cites will be like
>
>    As can be read in [Ach75], ...
>
>  > 3)  Are the brackets absolutely necessary? With more than one
>  > name, perhaps?
>
>  Whenever there are embedded commas or square brackets in the keys,
>  just like in the rest of context. Bibtex is paranoid and inserts
>  many extra braces, just in case.
>
>  Best wishes,
>  Taco
>
>
>  ___________________________________________________________________________________
>  If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!
>
>  maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
>  webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
>  archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
>  wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
>  ___________________________________________________________________________________
>
___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________