Include dates in tm-alpha

#1

I’m currently writing up a multifile document using the style tm-book with each of my chapters in different files. To include my bibliography, I am attaching a mother .bib file via Insert > Automatic > Bibliography. I would like to use the tm-alpha style for the bibliography which is similar to the alpha style in LaTeX.

In LaTeX, under the alpha style, citations are written as a combinations of initials and publication date, i.e. [AB12].

Indeed, this is what tm-alpha is supposed to do also according to the Jolly Writer, page 115:

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Although, in my document, tm-alpha only seems ot show the initials and not the year of publication.

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I am wondering on how I could include the year along with the initials as outlines in the Jolly Writer.

#2

I took a look at alpha.scm and it is too complicated for me to figure out quickly.

On the other hand

  • I tested it, and I get the labels as in the book example in your image
  • your tm-alpha bibliography is missing the publication years too. Could there be something wrong with your bib file?
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#3

Hi @pireddag, thank you for your comment and pointing out that something could be wrong with the .bib file.

I had a think and I believe my original .bib file was exported in a BibLaTeX format. I have now tested exporting the .bib file in a BibTeX format, and the dates seem to work now. Although, I am now greeted with some convert errors which I assume come from the .bib file.

I am exporting using Zotero BetterBibTex. Would you know how I could fix these?

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#4

The error was an import error on Zotero’s front causing a faulty abstract in the .bib entry. I have now fixed it manually by removing the abstract via Zotero.

Summary

The problem seems to be: TeXmacs seems to accept BibTeX formats of .bib files and not BibLaTeX formats.

So if importing an external .bib directory, I recommend that the .bib file is in a BibTeX format. In Zotero, simply choose to export using BibTeX instead of BibLaTeX.

Question

Is there a plan for TeXmacs to accept BibLaTeX formats in the future since it is the successor to BibTeX?

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#5

If noone answers here, you could try asking the question in the mailing list, which @vdhoeven reads.

#6

I do not think so, officially.It does not make really sense since the preferred approach with TeXmacs is to use the internal database. My workflow is to have Zotero/BetterBibTeX create a bib file with interesting references and then I import them in the internal database, so I do not need to have hanging bib files around. The references are attached to your document so if it is opened with another instance of TeXmacs which does not know them, they are automatically imported in the internal database. Result: you do not have to worry anymore about references. :slight_smile:

But should not be difficult to write an importer by starting with the bibtex one. Since Zotero can produce BibTeX files anyway should not be a problem.

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