bug#21099: 24.3; bibtex-clean-entry and date fields in biblatex

bug#21099: 24.3; bibtex-clean-entry and date fields in biblatex

[Brian Zbriger]

`bibtex-clean-entry` removes curly braces from date fields, even if
`bibtex-dialect` is set to `biblatex`. I have not been able to find
documentation on this issue, but in my experience using latexmk and
biber, this makes the entry invalid. I have had to re-add the curly braces
to get my .bib files working again.

If I am correct in thinking that dates with curly braces are generally
compatible with biblatex, they should be left alone. Otherwise there
should be an option to have them left alone.


In GNU Emacs 24.3.1 (i686-pc-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 3.10.7)
of 2014-03-08 on toyol, modified by Debian
Windowing system distributor `The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.11501000
System Description: Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS

bug#21099: 24.3; bibtex-clean-entry and date fields in biblatex

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Brian Zbriger <brian.zbr@gmail.com> writes:

> `bibtex-clean-entry` removes curly braces from date fields, even if
> `bibtex-dialect` is set to `biblatex`. I have not been able to find
> documentation on this issue, but in my experience using latexmk and
> biber, this makes the entry invalid. I have had to re-add the curly braces
> to get my .bib files working again.
>
> If I am correct in thinking that dates with curly braces are generally
> compatible with biblatex, they should be left alone. Otherwise there
> should be an option to have them left alone.

(I'm going through old bug reports that have unfortunately not gotten
any responses.)

If this bug is still present, could you post a test case?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

bug#21099: 24.3; bibtex-clean-entry and date fields in biblatex

[Gustavo Barros]

Hi Lars,

On Thu, Aug 01 2019, Lars Ingebrigtsen wrote:

> Brian Zbriger <brian.zbr@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> `bibtex-clean-entry` removes curly braces from date fields, even if
>> `bibtex-dialect` is set to `biblatex`. I have not been able to find
>> documentation on this issue, but in my experience using latexmk and
>> biber, this makes the entry invalid. I have had to re-add the curly braces
>> to get my .bib files working again.
>>
>> If I am correct in thinking that dates with curly braces are generally
>> compatible with biblatex, they should be left alone. Otherwise there
>> should be an option to have them left alone.
>
> (I'm going through old bug reports that have unfortunately not gotten
> any responses.)
>
> If this bug is still present, could you post a test case?

I can add two things about this.  First, that I’ve been using
bibtex-mode for some time, with `(bibtex-dialect (quote biblatex))` and,
with proper configuration of `bibtex-entry-format`, namely the exclusion
of value `numerical-fields` which is added by default, I get braces in
all of my fields, including date/year ones when using
`bibtex-clean-entry`.

On the other hand, it is true there is a dearth of documentation for
"bibtex.el".  It’s comments state:

> See documentation for `bibtex-mode' or type "M-x describe-mode" when
> you are in BibTeX mode.

I might have missed it, but I cannot find a built-in documentation for
it.  And what we get for "C-h m" is scant.

I have found some time ago something that has been put online.
http://www.jonathanleroux.org/bibtex-mode.html

It’s been made available with a note:

> I am not the author of this file and am only putting it online
> because, to my knowledge, it is not available anywhere else anymore
> and I find it a very valuable reference. I wish to acknowledge here
> the work of its author Stefan Schoef. I haven't been able to find out
> who the current maintainer of the BibTex-Mode for GNU emacs is, but am
> willing to withdraw this text or add any copyright notice that would
> be deemed relevant. 
> 
> Jonathan Le Roux, June 2009. 

But that’s the only source I’ve ever found for it.  And it is the most
comprehensive piece I’ve found about it too, by far.

Best regards,
Gustavo Barros.

bug#21099: 24.3; bibtex-clean-entry and date fields in biblatex

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Gustavo Barros <gusbrs.2016@gmail.com> writes:

> I can add two things about this.  First, that I’ve been using
> bibtex-mode for some time, with `(bibtex-dialect (quote biblatex))` and,
> with proper configuration of `bibtex-entry-format`, namely the exclusion
> of value `numerical-fields` which is added by default, I get braces in
> all of my fields, including date/year ones when using
> `bibtex-clean-entry`.

Do you have an example bibtex file that demonstrates the error in
`bibtex-clean-entry'?

> On the other hand, it is true there is a dearth of documentation for
> "bibtex.el".  It’s comments state:
>
>> See documentation for `bibtex-mode' or type "M-x describe-mode" when
>> you are in BibTeX mode.
>
> I might have missed it, but I cannot find a built-in documentation for
> it.  And what we get for "C-h m" is scant.

`C-h f bibtex-mode RET' gives me a quite long doc string (in Emacs 27,
at least).

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

bug#21099: 24.3; bibtex-clean-entry and date fields in biblatex

[Gustavo Barros]

Hi Lars,

On Fri, Aug 02 2019, Lars Ingebrigtsen wrote:

> Do you have an example bibtex file that demonstrates the error in
> `bibtex-clean-entry'?

Precisely, what I meant to say is that (currently at least) the problem 
does not seem to arise.

The default value of `bibtex-entry-format`, indeed makes 
`bibtex-clean-entry` strip braces of numerical fields.  But this 
behavior can be customized by removing `numerical-fields` from 
`bibtex-entry-format`.

So, with defaults, from an original entry like:

    @Article{Author2019c,
      author       = {Author},
      title        = {Title},
      journaltitle = {Journal title},
      date         = {2019},
    }

the result of `bibtex-clean-entry` is:

    @Article{Author2019c,
      author       = {Author},
      title        = {Title},
      journaltitle = {Journal title},
      date         = 2019,
    }

If we customize `bibtex-entry-format` by just removing 
`numerical-fields` from it with:

    (setq bibtex-entry-format
	  '(opts-or-alts required-fields))

We then get from `bibtex-clean-entry`:

    @Article{Author2019c,
      author       = {Author},
      title        = {Title},
      journaltitle = {Journal title},
      date         = {2019},
    }

Besides, to the best of my knowledge, the default of striping braces of 
numerical fields is also not problematic for biblatex or biber.  And I 
see no reason why latexmk would have any special implications on the 
case.


> `C-h f bibtex-mode RET' gives me a quite long doc string (in Emacs 27,
> at least).

I expressed myself poorly here.  Of course the docstring is built-in 
documentation.  What I meant to say is that there appears to be no info 
document for bibtex-mode.  And please compare the docstring with the 
link I provided.  The content of that link seems to have been the 
“manual” of bibtex-mode which, as far as I could search, is not (no 
longer?) shipped with Emacs.

In my experience with bibtex-mode, that “manual” was quite useful.  I 
have no idea if there was any good reason for it not being included with 
the package itself (or for it to be dropped).  But, if the only reason 
was that it got “lost in the way” it might be worth to try to recover 
it.

But I might well be drifting from the OP here.  From a strict 
perspective, the message is: I cannot (currently) reproduce the problem, 
it is likely just a customization issue, and even the default behavior 
of bibtex-mode should not make biblatex/biber choke.

Best regards,
Gustavo Barros.

bug#21099: 24.3; bibtex-clean-entry and date fields in biblatex

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Gustavo Barros <gusbrs.2016@gmail.com> writes:

> So, with defaults, from an original entry like:
>
>    @Article{Author2019c,
>      author       = {Author},
>      title        = {Title},
>      journaltitle = {Journal title},
>      date         = {2019},
>    }
>
> the result of `bibtex-clean-entry` is:
>
>    @Article{Author2019c,
>      author       = {Author},
>      title        = {Title},
>      journaltitle = {Journal title},
>      date         = 2019,
>    }

Right; this is what the bug report claims makes latexmk and biber stop
working, but you say later that this isn't the case?  Could there be
versions of these programs that choke on brace-less entries?

(If it sounds like it's been a long time since I've used bibtex and has
forgotten most everything about it, that's correct. :-) I've now Cc'd
the bibtex maintainer.)

> If we customize `bibtex-entry-format` by just removing
> `numerical-fields` from it with:
>
>    (setq bibtex-entry-format
> 	  '(opts-or-alts required-fields))
>
> We then get from `bibtex-clean-entry`:
>
>    @Article{Author2019c,
>      author       = {Author},
>      title        = {Title},
>      journaltitle = {Journal title},
>      date         = {2019},
>    }
>
> Besides, to the best of my knowledge, the default of striping braces
> of numerical fields is also not problematic for biblatex or biber.
> And I see no reason why latexmk would have any special implications on
> the case.

> I expressed myself poorly here.  Of course the docstring is built-in
> documentation.  What I meant to say is that there appears to be no
> info document for bibtex-mode.

Yes, the manual just refers to the doc string:

---
Bib@TeX{} mode is a major mode for Bib@TeX{} files, which are commonly
used for keeping bibliographic references for @LaTeX{} documents.  For
more information, see the documentation string for the command
@code{bibtex-mode}.
---

> But I might well be drifting from the OP here.  From a strict
> perspective, the message is: I cannot (currently) reproduce the
> problem, it is likely just a customization issue, and even the default
> behavior of bibtex-mode should not make biblatex/biber choke.

Right.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

bug#21099: 24.3; bibtex-clean-entry and date fields in biblatex

[Gustavo Barros]

Hi Lars,

On Fri, Aug 02 2019, Lars Ingebrigtsen wrote:
>
> Right; this is what the bug report claims makes latexmk and biber stop
> working, but you say later that this isn't the case?  Could there be
> versions of these programs that choke on brace-less entries?
>

Not that I’m aware of.  biblatex tries hard to keep backward 
compatibility, especially with the BibTeX entry *format*.  So I’d be 
surprised if that was the case. (Not so with a field with text, 
e.g. `month = jan` is indeed different from `month = "jan"`).  I’ve been 
active a number of years on TeX.SX with the biblatex and biber tags, and 
I don’t recall a case of missing braces in dates producing issues.  Of 
course, it is hard to remember such things, so before I wrote I had done 
some (light) testing on a file with different cases and built it 
successfully with `latex -> biber -> latex` with a current TeX 
Live. (That’s why you got "Author2019c" as an example).  Anyway, since 
you asked, I took a look at the file "biblatex-examples.bib", which 
ships with biblatex and which, as far as I know, is the one used for 
testing it, entries such as:

    @article{aksin,
      author       = {Aks{\i}n, {\"O}zge and T{\"u}rkmen, Hayati and 
      Artok, Levent
                      and {\c{C}}etinkaya, Bekir and Ni, Chaoying and
                      B{\"u}y{\"u}kg{\"u}ng{\"o}r, Orhan and {\"O}zkal, 
                      Erhan},
      title        = {Effect of immobilization on catalytic 
      characteristics of
                      saturated {Pd-N}-heterocyclic carbenes in 
                      {Mizoroki-Heck}
                      reactions},
      journaltitle = jomch,
      date         = 2006,
      volume       = 691,
      number       = 13,
      pages        = {3027-3036},
      indextitle   = {Effect of immobilization on catalytic 
      characteristics},
    }

    @article{angenendt,
      author       = {Angenendt, Arnold},
      title        = {In Honore Salvatoris~-- Vom Sinn und Unsinn der
                      Patrozinienkunde},
      journaltitle = {Revue d'Histoire Eccl{\'e}siastique},
      date         = 2002,
      volume       = 97,
      pages        = {431--456, 791--823},
      langid       = {german},
      indextitle   = {In Honore Salvatoris},
      shorttitle   = {In Honore Salvatoris},
      annotation   = {A German article in a French journal. Apart from 
      that, a
                      typical \texttt{article} entry. Note the 
                      \texttt{indextitle}
                      field},
    }

    @article{baez/article,
      author       = {Baez, John C. and Lauda, Aaron D.},
      title        = {Higher-Dimensional Algebra {V}: 2-Groups},
      journaltitle = {Theory and Applications of Categories},
      date         = 2004,
      volume       = 12,
      pages        = {423-491},
      version      = 3,
      eprint       = {math/0307200v3},
      eprinttype   = {arxiv},
      langid       = {english},
      langidopts   = {variant=american},
      annotation   = {An \texttt{article} with \texttt{eprint} and
                      \texttt{eprinttype} fields. Note that the arXiv 
                      reference is
                      transformed into a clickable link if 
                      \texttt{hyperref} support
                      has been enabled.  Compare \texttt{baez\slash 
                      online}, which
                      is the same item given as an \texttt{online} 
                      entry},
    }

    @article{bertram,
      author       = {Bertram, Aaron and Wentworth, Richard},
      title        = {Gromov invariants for holomorphic maps on 
      {Riemann} surfaces},
      journaltitle = jams,
      date         = 1996,
      volume       = 9,
      number       = 2,
      pages        = {529-571},
      langid       = {english},
      langidopts   = {variant=american},
      shorttitle   = {Gromov invariants},
      annotation   = {An \texttt{article} entry with a \texttt{volume} 
      and a
                      \texttt{number} field},
    }

    @article{doody,
      author       = {Doody, Terrence},
      title        = {Hemingway's Style and {Jake's} Narration},
      year         = 1974,
      volume       = 4,
      number       = 3,
      pages        = {212-225},
      langid       = {english},
      langidopts   = {variant=american},
      related      = {matuz:doody},
      relatedstring= {\autocap{e}xcerpt in},
      journal      = {The Journal of Narrative Technique},
      annotation   = {An \texttt{article} entry cited as an excerpt from 
      a
                      \texttt{collection} entry. Note the format of the
                      \texttt{related} and \texttt{relatedstring} 
                      fields},
    }

    @collection{matuz:doody,
      editor       = {Matuz, Roger},
      title        = {Contemporary Literary Criticism},
      year         = 1990,
      volume       = 61,
      publisher    = {Gale},
      location     = {Detroit},
      pages        = {204-208},
      langid       = {english},
      langidopts   = {variant=american},
      annotation   = {A \texttt{collection} entry providing the excerpt 
      information
                      for the \texttt{doody} entry. Note the format of 
                      the
                      \texttt{pages} field},
    }

And there is plenty more of examples of numeric fields without braces or 
quotes there.

Regarding latexmk, I’m not a regular user of it.  But, as far as I know, 
it is not a proper TeX “engine”, it is a build automation tool which 
wraps around the usual ones.  So I see no reason why it should make a 
difference.

Best regards,
Gustavo Barros.

bug#21099: 24.3; bibtex-clean-entry and date fields in biblatex

[Gustavo Barros]

On Fri, Aug 02 2019, Gustavo Barros wrote:

>
> Not that I’m aware of.  biblatex tries hard to keep backward 
> compatibility,
> especially with the BibTeX entry *format*.  So I’d be surprised if 
> that was
> the case.
>

Just to be sure I’m not misunderstood here.  I’m not arguing that an 
issue could never occur.  Only that expected behavior is to work well 
with numeric fields without braces or quotes.  And, thus, current 
defaults of bibtex-mode are quite sane in this respect.

Best regards,
Gustavo Barros.

bug#21099: 24.3; bibtex-clean-entry and date fields in biblatex

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Gustavo Barros <gusbrs.2016@gmail.com> writes:

> And there is plenty more of examples of numeric fields without braces
> or quotes there.

Thanks for explaining how this works.  I think the conclusion here is
that it's (as you say) unlikely that bibtex.el does something wrong here
(by default), so I'm closing this bug report.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

bug#21099: 24.3; bibtex-clean-entry and date fields in biblatex

[Roland Winkler]

On Fri Aug 2 2019 Lars Ingebrigtsen wrote:
> Gustavo Barros <gusbrs.2016@gmail.com> writes:
> 
> > So, with defaults, from an original entry like:
> >
> >    @Article{Author2019c,
> >      author       = {Author},
> >      title        = {Title},
> >      journaltitle = {Journal title},
> >      date         = {2019},
> >    }
> >
> > the result of `bibtex-clean-entry` is:
> >
> >    @Article{Author2019c,
> >      author       = {Author},
> >      title        = {Title},
> >      journaltitle = {Journal title},
> >      date         = 2019,
> >    }
> 
> Right; this is what the bug report claims makes latexmk and biber stop
> working, but you say later that this isn't the case?  Could there be
> versions of these programs that choke on brace-less entries?

If for whatever reason you do not want to remove the braces from a
numeric field such as `date', you can achieve this by removing the
element numerical-fields from the user variable bibtex-entry-format.

(The element numerical-fields has been part of the default value of
bibtex-entry-format for longer than I have been the maintainer of
bibtex.el (since ~1999).)