Friday, July 06, 2007

Two small bugs in merlin.mbs

UPDATE: I've posted a patch file as well as a patched merlin.mbs that fixes this problem. If you prefer the patch option, execute
patch < merlin-fix-nm-rvvc.patch
in the same directory as your old merlin.mbs file. Be sure you're using the 4.20 (2007/04/24) version of merlin.mbs to start with (search through the file for the ProvidesFile line.

I just sent this to Patrick W. Daly. I think I've found two small bugs in merlin.mbs (from custom-bib), the master bibliography style used to generate many common BST files. They both involve adding an nm-rvvc near some existing nm-rvv lines.

I am referring to the 4.20 version of merlin.mbs. I think this is the latest version of the MBS file.
% \ProvidesFile{merlin.mbs}[2007/04/24 4.20 (PWD, AO, DPC)]
The bugs:
  • In FUNCTION {sort.format.names} (lines 8394--8401)
    %<*!nm-init&!nm-rev&!nm-rev1&!nm-rv&!nm-rvx&!nm-rvcx&!nm-rvv>
    %<!vonx> "{vv{ } }{ll{ }}{ ff{ }}{ jj{ }}"
    %<vonx> "{ll{ }}{ ff{ }}{ jj{ }}"
    %</!nm-init&!nm-rev&!nm-rev1&!nm-rv&!nm-rvx&!nm-rvcx&!nm-rvv>
    %<*nm-init|nm-rev|nm-rev1|nm-rv|nm-rvx|nm-rvcx|nm-rvv>
    %<!vonx> "{vv{ } }{ll{ }}{ f{ }}{ jj{ }}"
    %<vonx> "{ll{ }}{ f{ }}{ jj{ }}"
    %</nm-init|nm-rev|nm-rev1|nm-rv|nm-rvx|nm-rvcx|nm-rvv>
    I think this should be:
    %<*!nm-init&!nm-rev&!nm-rev1&!nm-rv&!nm-rvx&!nm-rvcx&!nm-rvv&!nm-rvvc>
    %<!vonx> "{vv{ } }{ll{ }}{ ff{ }}{ jj{ }}"
    %<vonx> "{ll{ }}{ ff{ }}{ jj{ }}"
    %</!nm-init&!nm-rev&!nm-rev1&!nm-rv&!nm-rvx&!nm-rvcx&!nm-rvv&!nm-rvvc>
    %<*nm-init|nm-rev|nm-rev1|nm-rv|nm-rvx|nm-rvcx|nm-rvv|nm-rvvc>
    %<!vonx> "{vv{ } }{ll{ }}{ f{ }}{ jj{ }}"
    %<vonx> "{ll{ }}{ f{ }}{ jj{ }}"
    %</nm-init|nm-rev|nm-rev1|nm-rv|nm-rvx|nm-rvcx|nm-rvv|nm-rvvc>
    Otherwise, I think this would cause problems sorting when authors might share last names and first initial.
  • In FUNCTION {format.names.ed} (lines 4908--4929)
    %<*nm-rvv>
    "{f{.}.}" format.name$ duplicate$ empty$ 'skip$
    { tie.or.space.prefix bib.fname.font swap$ * }
    if$
    s nameptr
    "{vv~}{ll}" format.name$ bib.name.font *
    s nameptr
    "{jj}" format.name$ duplicate$ empty$ 'skip$
    { bib.fname.font " " swap$ * }
    if$
    %</nm-rvv>
    %<*!nm-rvv>
    "{ff}" format.name$ duplicate$ empty$ 'skip$
    { tie.or.space.prefix bib.fname.font swap$ * }
    if$
    s nameptr
    "{vv~}{ll}" format.name$ bib.name.font *
    s nameptr
    "{jj}" format.name$ duplicate$ empty$ 'skip$
    { bib.fname.font ", " swap$ * }
    if$
    %</!nm-rvv>
    I think this should be:
    %<*nm-rvv|nm-rvvc>
    "{f{.}.}" format.name$ duplicate$ empty$ 'skip$
    { tie.or.space.prefix bib.fname.font swap$ * }
    if$
    s nameptr
    "{vv~}{ll}" format.name$ bib.name.font *
    s nameptr
    "{jj}" format.name$ duplicate$ empty$ 'skip$
    { bib.fname.font " " swap$ * }
    if$
    %</nm-rvv|nm-rvvc>
    %<*!nm-rvv&!nm-rvvc>
    "{ff}" format.name$ duplicate$ empty$ 'skip$
    { tie.or.space.prefix bib.fname.font swap$ * }
    if$
    s nameptr
    "{vv~}{ll}" format.name$ bib.name.font *
    s nameptr
    "{jj}" format.name$ duplicate$ empty$ 'skip$
    { bib.fname.font ", " swap$ * }
    if$
    %</!nm-rvv&!nm-rvvc>
    That actually looks like it will give a formatting error on output!
So hopefully those'll get fixed, right? Am I missing something? Am I wrong?

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