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tex2bib

A python3-based commandline tool to extract bibcodes from a tex-file, query those on ADS, and write out a bib-file with all retreived bib-entries.

Example

$ python tex2bib.py main.tex

to extract all citations from the tex-file, query them on ADS, and write the corresponding bib-entries to a file named references.bib.

Motivation

Creating and maintaining a bib-file for a LaTeX document can be a tedious, error-prone, and time consuming process. This script reduces the process to executing a one-line command. Note, however, that this script only works if ADS bibcodes are used in the tex-file(s). Custom bibcodes cannot be automatically queried on ADS.

Requirements

This script uses the following standard python packages:

  • json
  • optparse
  • os
  • requests

A user account on ADS and an ADS-token are required for querying the citations on ADS.

Getting Started

Get the python script

$ git clone https://github.com/skiehl/tex2bib.git

Create an account on ADS and generate your ADS token under "Settings" - "API Token". Copy the token to the conf.py file or store it to use use it when you execute the script.

Usage

To create a bib-file for a tex-file named main.tex use the following command:

$ python tex2bib.py main.tex

This will work, if the ADS token was added to conf.py. If not provide your ADS token as follows:

$ python tex2bib.py main.tex -t YOUR_ADS_TOKEN

If your documents consists of multiple tex-files, you can add as many as needed, e.g.:

$ python tex2bib.py main.tex table.tex appendix.tex

The bib-entries are written per default into references.bib. Specify a custom file name as follows:

$ python tex2bib.py main.tex -b OUT.bib

Unfortunately, ADS's bibcodes contain the ampersand for A&A papers. Those cause errors in the LaTeX document compilation, when they are used in tables. This was a very unfortunate choice by ADS. You can use AA instead when you cite A&A papers, e.g. replace \citet{2016A&A...590A..10K} with \citet{2016AA...590A..10K}. These entries will be queried correctly. If you want all ampersands removed from the final bib-file use the -a option:

$ python tex2bib.py main.tex -a

Note, however, that the script does not keep track of which bibcodes used and which ones did not use the ampersand. Either remove or keep all.

Reference

This script is possible only through the fantastic work of the ADS and its API:

License

tex2bib is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License - see the LICENSE file.

Alternatives

This script only works with ADS bibcodes. Custom bibcodes cannot be retrieved from ADS. If you want to use custom bibcodes, you may want to use this tool:

bibmanager - ReadMe