How to abbreviate the first name of the author?

users
#1

Hi,

for a paper I have to only render the Initials of the first name in the
list of references:

  At the place of: Anderson, David
  I have to use: Anderson, D.

Any idea how to do that with the bibliography tools of libre office?

Thanks, Dietrich

#2

Hi,
- copy list of authors into spreadsheet into column A
- type formula =FIND(",";A1;1) into B1
- type formula =LEFT(A1;B1-1)&MID(A1;B1;3)&"." into C1

- copy&paste B1 and C1 into remaining rows
- copy&paste column C into your document

Regards, Jiri

Dne 12.7.2011 10:48, Dietrich Bollmann napsal(a):

#3

Is it practical to the replace feature EDIT>>FIND&REPLACE to replace the
name with the initial?

#4

Hi, Jay,

> for a paper I have to only render the Initials of the first name in the
> list of references:
>
> At the place of: Anderson, David
> I have to use: Anderson, D.
>
> Any idea how to do that with the bibliography tools of libre office?

Is it practical to the replace feature EDIT>>FIND&REPLACE to replace the
name with the initial?

Editing everything by hand was what I wanted to avoid. But it looks as
if this might be the easiest way to solve the problem for smaller
documents...

Thanks for your answer!

Dietrich

#5

Hi,

Thanks for your friendly answer.

So there is no way to do this with the built-in bibliography tools
alone? As lots of bibliography styles use Initials something like a
built-in filter would be nice.

Should I do this manipulation when the document is finished, or is it
possible to switch to a spreadsheet as bibliography database?

How do I copy the list of authors into a spreadsheet? When marking the
authors row by pushing on the "Author" field in the header row of the
bibliography database tool, the "edit -> copy" functionality is
deactivated. I also couldn't find any way to export the bibliography
database to a spreadsheet.

Thanks, Dietrich

#6

Hi :slight_smile:
Keyboard short-cuts sometimes work when menus don't
Ctrl C = copy
Ctrl X = cut (X looks a little like a pair of scissors)
Ctrl V = Paste
Ctrl Shift V = sometimes pastes 'without formatting' (doesn't work in my
web-based email program)
Also selecting the Authors in a different way might work but i don't really
understand exactly how they are held in the document.

If it's not confidential you could try forwarding me a copy by attaching the
document (or part of the document) in a personal email to me. Just use
copy&paste to put my email address in the "To" or "Cc" field. The mailing list
doesn't accept attachments
Good luck and regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#7

✁

Sorry for this being very off topic, but why does most people write
Ctrl C, Ctrl V and so on? Shouldn't it rather be Ctrl c, Ctrl v?
Ctrl C should be the same thing as Ctrl Shift c, shouldn't it? Since C
is the same as Shift c, I mean (unless you didn't create your own very
suspect keyboard layout, of course… like I did, but not THAT suspect…
:relaxed:

I would even prefer writing like Ctrl+c, since the ”+” indicates that
”Ctrl” should not be released before the ”c” is hit. That way this
syntax for the Compose key makes sense: Compose o c ⇨ © (press the
compose key, release it, press o, release it, press c, release it ⇨ a
© appears at the cursor's position).

Once again, sorry for being off topic here, I just couldn't stop myself… :relaxed:

Kind regards

Johnny Rosenberg
ジョニー・ローゼンバーグ

#8

Hi :slight_smile:
+1
Lol, i totally agree. I just never thought about it. I did notice someone
taking extravagant care in a very precise guide ages ago. Hmm Ctrl+c would be
Ctrl and the + key and the c? I got told off for using the + one time. I have
even been told off for using the space too but it's too confusing for a higher
percentage of people if they saw Ctrlc in a guide. There is an old 'joke' about
spending hours looking for the "Any" key. I think Ctrl+c is fine unless you
bump into my old, very fussy and ex boss.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#9

Hi :slight_smile:
+1
Lol, i totally agree.  I just never thought about it.  I did notice someone
taking extravagant care in a very precise guide ages ago.  Hmm Ctrl+c would be
Ctrl and the + key and the c?  I got told off for using the +  one time.  I have
even been told off for using the space too but it's too confusing for a higher
percentage of people if they saw Ctrlc in a guide.  There is an old 'joke' about
spending hours looking for the "Any" key.  I think Ctrl+c is fine unless you
bump into my old, very fussy and ex boss.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Well, if the rules for key combinations are what I tried to insinuate,
Ctrl+c does not mean ”hit Ctrl, then hit + and then hit c”. Ctrl + c
would.
Remember?
Compose o c ⇨ ©
I didn't type Compose oc or Composeoc…

I am not saying that I am absolutely right here, but I think this is a
good syntax: Use a space to separate key pressings, use a ”+” if
several keys must be pressed at the same time (like AltGr+Shift+f or
whatever). I have seen some people using a ”-” instead, which is okay
for me, but I think the ”+” better describes what's going on. Well,
that's my opinion anyway.

Well, enough about this, I guess. Sorry for continuing being off topic… :relaxed:

Kind regards

Johnny Rosenberg
ジョニー・ローゼンバーグ

#10

Hi :slight_smile:
+1
Lol, i totally agree.  I just never thought about it.  I did notice someone
taking extravagant care in a very precise guide ages ago.  Hmm Ctrl+c would be
Ctrl and the + key and the c?  I got told off for using the +  one time.  I have
even been told off for using the space too but it's too confusing for a higher
percentage of people if they saw Ctrlc in a guide.  There is an old 'joke' about
spending hours looking for the "Any" key.  I think Ctrl+c is fine unless you
bump into my old, very fussy and ex boss.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Well, if the rules for key combinations are what I tried to insinuate,
Ctrl+c does not mean ”hit Ctrl, then hit + and then hit c”. Ctrl + c
would.
Remember?
Compose o c ⇨ ©
I didn't type Compose oc or Composeoc…

I am not saying that I am absolutely right here, but I think this is a
good syntax: Use a space to separate key pressings, use a ”+” if
several keys must be pressed at the same time (like AltGr+Shift+f or
whatever). I have seen some people using a ”-” instead, which is okay
for me, but I think the ”+” better describes what's going on. Well,
that's my opinion anyway.

Well, enough about this, I guess. Sorry for continuing being off topic… :relaxed:

Just one tiny little thing… let's not forget the Emacs way of doing
it: C-x C-c, M-x command and so on… With ”my” syntax the first one
would be Ctrl+x Ctrl+c, which takes up more space and takes longer to
type unless you don't use AutoKey or similar for text expansion (which
I do…).

Kind regards

Johnny Rosenberg
ジョニー・ローゼンバーグ

#11

Hi :slight_smile:
You are right. Some people have a different view which is not entirely wrong.
I think there are various agreed standards and your way fits at least one of
them.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#12

You might find this useful

If say the name David is in cell C11, then type in D11 =CHAR(CODE(C11)) will return the "D" the 1st Character

regards

John B

#13

The only practical way I've found is changing the database. If you do that, it might be a good idea to put first, last names and initials in separate fields in the literature database, although that will mean editing the database and inserting three new keys (last name, first name, first name initial -- and that possibly for several authors? ... might become painful).
The advantage would be that you'll be able to have any combination of those in the literature index later. The limitation is, though, that you won't be able to make use of any custom fields in the database unless you link them to some of the standard keys. You have five "user fields" that could be used, or maybe there are other keys you don't need, but at this pint the whole strategy becomes an ugly hackjob.

So maybe you should decide for yourself whether this is actually going to be worth it or whether to have a separate database for differently spelled author names ...

Regarding the copy/paste problem: I've just tried around a bit, and this worked for me:
- open the literature .odb file ind LO base
- go to "tables" and right-click on the data table (don't open it!). It's probably called "biblio".
- select "copy"
- open a new spreadsheet in calc, ctrl+v, there you go.

About getting the results backinto the DB: I haven't tried if that would work the same way, because right now I'm too afraid to mess up my own literature database ...
The worst case would be copy/pasting the contents of the single fields back by hand.

After changing the database, it is necessary to update your document, too. Usually writer will make a copy of a record in the database when you insert a citation. One way I found to change existing entries is to insert the changed entries into the document from the database. Writer will then ask whether it should update the other entries using the same key, and if you say yes, it will. If you accidentally click "no", you'll create a second entry for the changed dataset. You should avoid that!

Hope this helps somewhat,

   Zak

P.S.: The more I think about this, the more I think moving to a proper 3rd party solution might be a good idea. I'm just not sure wether an external tool will be able to dynamically update the literature list with the contents of the document and so on.