NAME
bt_misc - miscellaneous BibTeX-like string-processing utilities
SYNOPSIS
void bt_purify_string (char * string, ushort options);
void bt_change_case (char transform, char * string, ushort options);
DESCRIPTION
bt_purify_string()
void bt_purify_string (char * string, ushort options);
"Purifies" a "string" in the BibTeX way (usually used for
generating sort keys). "string" is modified in-place. "options"
is currently unused; just set it to zero for future compatibility.
Purification consists of copying alphanumeric characters,
converting hyphens and ties to space, copying spaces, and skipping
(almost) everything else.
"Almost" because "special characters" (used for accented and non-
English letters) are handled specially. Recall that a BibTeX
special character is any brace-group that starts at brace-depth
zero whose first character is a backslash. For instance, the
string
{\foo bar}Herr M\"uller went from {P{\r r}erov} to {\AA}rhus
contains two special characters: "{\foo bar}" and "\AA". Neither
the "\"u" nor the "\r r" are special characters, because they are
not at the right brace depth.
Special characters are handled as follows: if the control sequence
(the TeX command that follows the backslash) is recognized as one
of LaTeX’s "foreign letters" ("\oe", "\ae", "\o", "\l", "\ae",
"\ss", plus uppercase versions), then it is converted to a
reasonable English approximation by stripping the backslash and
converting the second character (if any) to lowercase; thus,
"{\AA}" in the above example would become simply "Aa". All other
control sequences in a special character are stripped, as are all
non-alphabetic characters.
For example the above string, after "purification," becomes
barHerr Muller went from Pr rerov to Aarhus
Obviously, something has gone wrong with the word "P{\r r}erov" (a
town in the Czech Republic). The accented ‘r’ should be a special
character, starting at brace-depth zero. If the original string
were instead
{\foo bar}Herr M\"uller went from P{\r r}erov to {\AA}rhus
then the purified result would be more sensible:
barHerr Muller went from Prerov to Aarhus
Note the use of a "nonsense" special character "{\foo bar}": this
trick is often used to put certain text in a string solely for
generating sort keys; the text is then ignored when the document is
processed by TeX (as long as "\foo" is defined as a no-op TeX
macro). This assumes, of course, that the output is eventually
processed by TeX; if not, then this trick will backfire on you.
Also, "bt_purify_string()" is adequate for generating sort keys
when you want to sort according to English-language conventions.
To follow the conventions of other languages, though, a more
sophisticated approach will be needed; hopefully, future versions
of btparse will address this deficiency.
bt_change_case()
void bt_change_case (char transform, char * string, ushort options);
Converts a string to lowercase, uppercase, or "non-book title
capitalization", with special attention paid to BibTeX special
characters and other brace-groups. The form of conversion is
selected by the single character "transform": ’u’ to convert to
uppercase, ’l’ for lowercase, and ’t’ for "title capitalization".
"string" is modified in-place, and "options" is currently unused;
set it to zero for future compatibility.
Lowercase and uppercase conversion are obvious, with the proviso
that text in braces is treated differently (explained below).
Title capitalization simply means that everything is converted to
lowercase, except the first letter of the first word, and words
immediately following a colon or sentence-ending punctuation. For
instance,
Flying Squirrels: Their Peculiar Habits. Part One
would be converted to
Flying squirrels: Their peculiar habits. Part one
Text within braces is handled as follows. First, in a "special
character" (see above for definition), control sequences that
constitute one of LaTeX’s non-English letters are converted
appropriately---e.g., when converting to lowercase, "\AE" becomes
"\ae"). Any other control sequence in a special character
(including accents) is preserved, and all text in a special
character, regardless of depth and punctuation, is converted to
lowercase or uppercase. (For "title capitalization," all text in a
special character is converted to lowercase.)
Brace groups that are not special characters are left completely
untouched: neither text nor control sequences within non-special
character braces are touched.
For example, the string
A Guide to \LaTeXe: Document Preparation ...
would, when "transform" is ’t’ (title capitalization), be converted
to
A guide to \latexe: Document preparation ...
which is probably not the desired result. A better attempt is
A Guide to {\LaTeXe}: Document Preparation ...
which becomes
A guide to {\LaTeXe}: Document preparation ...
However, if you go back and re-read the description of
"bt_purify_string()", you’ll discover that "{\LaTeXe}" here is a
special character, but not a non-English letter: thus, the control
sequence is stripped. Thus, a sort key generated from this title
would be
A Guide to Document Preparation
...oops! The right solution (and this applies to any title with a
TeX command that becomes actual text) is to bury the control
sequence at brace-depth two:
A Guide to {{\LaTeXe}}: Document Preparation ...
SEE ALSO
btparse
AUTHOR
Greg Ward <gward@python.net>