Bib Delimited Help
Name:Bib Delimited
Version:1.1
Last update:2019-08-08 08:42:29




This package converts .bib files to/from delimited windows. To activate this package, just check the box in the dialog that appears using the Alpha ↣ Global Setup ↣ Features menu item. This could also be a Bib mode feature preference ( click here to display the Bib Mode Features Preferences).
Once the package is active, it will insert two new items into the submenu BibTeX Menu ↣ BibTeX Conversions, named which are described below. Note that any @string strings will NOT be converted, use the String Conversions ↣ Unstringify Window menu item first if this is an issue. Any @string entries will also be ignored.

Bib To Delimited

This is useful if you want to convert a .bib file with entries like this: 
@article{DiMaggio1997,
   author   = {Paul DiMaggio},
   title    = {Culture and Cognition},
   journal  = {Annual Review of Sociology},
   volume   = 21,
   pages    = {263-287},
   year     = 1997,
}
into something like this: 
Paul DiMaggio
Culture and Cognition
Annual Review of Sociology
21
263-287
1997
or perhaps into a tab delimited entry that could be read into a spreadsheet window (such as Excel): 
DiMaggio1997    Paul DiMaggio    Culture and Cognition    Annual Review of Sociology    21    263-287    1997
This menu item will convert any highlighted entries (or all entries in the current window if there is no selection), grabbing each field value to use in a delimited entry. When the menu item is chosen, a dialog with several different delimiting options is presented, which will look like this. Options will be remembered for the next round, and will be saved between editing sessions.
Experiment converting entries with the BibTeX Example.bib file.

Delimited To Bib

As expected, this menu item reverses the process. A slightly different dialog will be presented (click here), and once again settings will be saved. This is useful if you have a set of bibliographic data that you want to turn into BibTeX entries. Note that unless both the BibTeX menu and this package are globally activated, you'll have to first change the mode of the delimited window to be converted to Bib.
All of the entries, which will include the entire window if there is no selection, will be converted using a single entry type, and it is up to you to ensure that the fields in the delimited format are in the proper order that a normal entry template would provide. If this is not the case, you can either add/delete fields from the delimited window (the package Columns Manipulation is useful for this sort of activity) or change the Default Entry Fields ↣ <Entry> preference for the entry.
Experiment using a window that was first converted using the first menu item described above.

Known problems

Please report any problem or bug you encounter to Alpha's Bug Tracker.

License and Disclaimer

Copyright (c) 2002-2019, Craig Barton Upright.
All rights reserved.
The bibDelimited package is free software and distributed under the terms of the new BSD license:
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL CRAIG BARTON UPRIGHT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.