Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!masscomp!think.com!paperboy!hsdndev!husc6!bespin!kochhar
From: kochhar@harvard.harvard.EDU (Sandeep Kochhar)
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Subject: Bibtex question
Keywords: Keys
Message-ID: <6458@husc6.harvard.edu>
Date: 19 Apr 91 17:33:04 GMT
Sender: news@husc6.harvard.edu
Reply-To: kochhar@harvard.harvard.EDU (Sandeep Kochhar)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Aiken Computation Laboratory, Harvard University
Lines: 80


Hi!
Here's a (simple?) question for bibtex style-file hackers...

I was trying to develop a ".bst" style that would print out as label the 
citation key as used in the ".bib" file.
e.g. 

@ARTICLE{foobar, 
	...
	...
}

would produce the command

\bibitem[foobar]{foobar}
...


in the ".bbl" file.

Seemed fairly easy. The original alpha style had the function:

FUNCTION {output.bibitem}
{ newline$
  "\bibitem[" write$
  label write$
  "]{" write$
  cite$ write$
  "}" write$
  newline$
  ""
  before.all 'output.state :=
}

All I did was change the line "label write$" to "cite$ write$", getting:

FUNCTION {output.bibitem}
{ newline$
  "\bibitem[" write$
  cite$ write$
  "]{" write$
  cite$ write$
  "}" write$
  newline$
  ""
  before.all 'output.state :=
}

It worked fine, except for labels that had underscores.
These caused latex to choke...

e.g.

@ARTICLE{foo_bar, ....}

would produce
\bibitem[foo_bar]{foo_bar},
which upsets latex.

I can fix the ".bbl" file by hand to prefix all underscores by a backslash.
This pleases latex.

However, I'd like to automate this process.

Any ideas on how to write a function in bibtex (".bst") to convert
the underscores to "backslash-underscore"...
(note: purify$ doesn't work since it *removes* the underscore)

(Note: I'd heard that there was a keys.bst somewhere, but I can't locate
it.... Anyone know?)

Thanks

-- 

Sandeep Kochhar
Harvard University              email: kochhar@harvard.harvard.edu
33 Oxford st.                   tel:   (617) 495-3998            
Cambridge, MA 02138             fax:   (617) 495-9837