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Troubleshooting: Word plugin inserts superfluous linebreaks in bibliography

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    • CommentAuthormark
    • CommentTimeFeb 14th 2008
     
    I vaguely remember someone reporting the same problem, but an extensive search didn't locate that topic here, so I'm posting it anew.

    The bibliography created by the Word plugin (newest version, using it with Word 2003) contains an unneeded linebreak after every reference. (When showing paragraph breaks ΒΆ, there are indeed two of them where it should be just one after every citation.)
    Where does that come from and how can I get rid of it?
    • CommentAuthoreckles
    • CommentTimeMar 29th 2008
     
    I can't find any solution this problem, which is quite frustrating actually. It prevents the refreshing of the bibliography, since I have to delete the line breaks each time. This doesn't seem to be in the CSL files, rather it is a problem with the template used by the plugin. I was trying to figure out how to easily edit the Visual Basic to fix this. Any ideas? Maybe I will post this on the Trac.
    • CommentAuthoreckles
    • CommentTimeMar 29th 2008
     
    Actually it seems the problem is in Zotero itself: "Create Bibliography from Selected Items..." has the same problem -- it includes extra line breaks.
    • CommentAuthoreckles
    • CommentTimeMar 29th 2008
     
    Oh I guess I can't create a ticket in Trac. But it would be great if someone else would please. This seems like a really simple fix, and would be very helpful. I'm surprised this hasn't come up before.
    • CommentAuthorTjowens
    • CommentTimeMar 31st 2008
     
    What style are you using? I just created a bib with the "Create Bibliography From Selected Items" function using Chicago and it worked just fine. If I can duplicate the issue I would be more than happy to write up a ticket.
    • CommentAuthoreckles
    • CommentTimeApr 3rd 2008
     
    It is a problem with all styles I have tried, including the Chicago styles. Maybe I haven't been clear about the problem. The issue is that there are two lines breaks between the end of one entry and the next entry, while there should only be one.

    Here is what the output for three items looks like now (Chicago style, Zotero 1.0.3):
    Turner, JC, M.A. Hogg, P.J. Oakes, S.D. Reicher, and M.S. Wetherell. 1987. Rediscovering the social group: a self-categorization theory. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Vermazen, B. 1982. General beliefs and the principle of charity. Philosophical Studies 42, no. 1:111-118.

    Vermazen, B. 1983. The Intelligibility of Massive Error. The Philosophical Quarterly 33, no. 130:69-74.

    Here is what it should look like:
    Turner, JC, M.A. Hogg, P.J. Oakes, S.D. Reicher, and M.S. Wetherell. 1987. Rediscovering the social group: a self-categorization theory. Oxford: Blackwell.
    Vermazen, B. 1982. General beliefs and the principle of charity. Philosophical Studies 42, no. 1:111-118.
    Vermazen, B. 1983. The Intelligibility of Massive Error. The Philosophical Quarterly 33, no. 130:69-74.
    • CommentAuthorTjowens
    • CommentTimeApr 3rd 2008
     
    Now I understand. Ticket created https://www.zotero.org/trac/ticket/985
    • CommentAuthoreckles
    • CommentTimeApr 4th 2008
     
    Thanks!

    Looking at the ticket, I see that there is still some doubt (from simon) about this being a general bug.

    No matter the desired style, line spacing should not be controlled through adding extra line breaks, but by controlling the presentation. That is, the second line break should be removed for all styles, not just Chicago. And in fact, the CSL files are unable to turn off these extra line breaks because Zotero always puts them in. I've verified this problem with Chicago, APA, IEEE, and MLA. And I've looked at the CSL to determine that this is out of its control as far as I can tell (or I would just make at style that fixes this).

    I appreciate the interest and (future) fix. As is, one has to manually remove the line breaks each time the bibliography is updated, so this will be a major improvement to the Zotero workflow.
    • CommentAuthorerazlogo
    • CommentTimeApr 7th 2008 edited
     
    To have no extra lines, you need to add the following option to your bibliography layout: <option name="entry-spacing" value="0"/>

    This is now done in all Chicago styles--you can download from the Dev Styles section at http://www.zotero.org/styles/ Chicago note styles will only work with the dev xpi and the upcoming 1.0.4 version.
    • CommentAuthormark
    • CommentTimeApr 8th 2008 edited
     
    Just for reference, here is the earlier thread about the same problem. Glad to see this will be fixed in future versions.
    • CommentAuthorerazlogo
    • CommentTimeApr 8th 2008
     
    mark - The other thread refers to a different problem. APA and MLA do require an extra break between bibliography entries, so I didn't change anything in those styles. The question of using "entry-spacing" settings vs Word styles in the other thread is still open.
    • CommentAuthormark
    • CommentTimeApr 11th 2008
     
    Ah, I see. Then it's good that I started this one after all.
    • CommentAuthortonyc2001
    • CommentTimeApr 12th 2008 edited
     
    The APA style for the reference list is double spaced with no extra line between references (refer APA Publication Manual, 5th ed, p.313 for an example).

    Currently the reference list is appended by Zotero using a forced single spacing and a blank line. If this is being changed, then can the extra lines be removed and can the formatting be left to the current Word style? I have a style in Word set up for references, but the single-spacing is appended to this style and overrides the current double spacing.
    • CommentAuthoreckles
    • CommentTimeApr 24th 2008
     
    Thanks for clearing this up.

    However, I don't see why all the styles shouldn't have entry-spacing set to 0. The exact spacing requirements can be set in Word, LaTeX, or whatever the bibliography is being imported into.
    • CommentAuthorbdarcus
    • CommentTimeApr 24th 2008
     
    @eckles: because there's a difference between "can" and "must." If you don't set the spacing in the CSL style and have Zotero (or other implementations) pass on that information, then users are required to set it themselves, and the formatting doesn't work correctly otherwise.

    The challenge is just to achieve some balance.
    • CommentAuthortonyc2001
    • CommentTimeMay 7th 2008 edited
     
    Placing the following lines into my local APA style csl solves this problem:

    <option name="entry-spacing" value="0"/>
    <option name="line-spacing" value="2"/>

    I'm still not sure why this isn't standard, but what the hey! I've had a crash course in csl and it didn't hurt too much. I've also created myself a second APA style which turns off the issue number and doi: or access details. Creates a nicer (though slightly nonstandard) reference list, as required by my current university markers.

    The latest dev version has solved all of the other issues I've reported in the forums with the APA style, except for the double spacing. C'est la vie.
    • CommentAuthorandersunz
    • CommentTimeMay 23rd 2008
     
    I don't understand the term csl. Can I enter the information on my own, or do I need a particular program? Where is the file where I can place the
    "<option name="entry-spacing" value="0"/>
    <option name="line-spacing" value="2"/> lines?
    • CommentAuthormark
    • CommentTimeMay 24th 2008
     
    Andersunz, you can find more background information on this here (style repository) and more specifically here (creating citation styles).

    You could ask tonyc2001 to send you his customized style, or you can apply the change yourself. It's probably easiest to get at the APA CSL file (which is XML data) through Zotero's built-in CSL preview tool. Type chrome://zotero/content/tools/csledit.xul in your adress bar and hit go. Then you can select the style you want to change in the dropdown pane on the right. The two lines must be added right below the <bibliography> tag of the CSL code in the upper pane (scroll down, it's towards the end). You might want to change the name of the style (in the upper regions of the CSL code) to reflect that it is your customized version of APA.

    Use the preview function to see whether it looks fine (select a couple of refs in your library and click refresh if you don't get a preview) and if it does, copy the CSL code from the upper pane into a plain text file (e.g. via Notepad). Save or rename the file as whatever.csl (the extension is important) and drag and drop it onto Firefox. Zotero will pop the question whether you want to install the style. OK it and you're done.
    • CommentAuthortonyc2001
    • CommentTimeMay 26th 2008
     
    I'm happy to send you my updated csl file, just let me know how. As Mark points out you can save these somewhere with the filetype of .csl and then drag and drop them onto the firefox window and they will update the existing style.

    I also have another style which is APA without the issue number and access info (DOI). This is the one I use for assignments.

    Cheers
    Tony
    • CommentAuthorksalt
    • CommentTimeJul 3rd 2008
     
    Tony-
    I would love a copy of your updated csl file for APA style. I am csl illiterate but I really want to get rid of those issue numbers and DIOs.
    Thanks,
    Kristi
    • CommentAuthortonyc2001
    • CommentTimeJul 17th 2008
     
    Hi Kristi,

    how would you like me to deliver the file? I can't see a messaging system in this forum. My email address is tchristie61 at gmail dot com. If you email me, stating which version of the csl (with double spacing, or with double spacing/no issue/no DOI, or both) and I'll email it/them to you.

    Cheers
    Tony

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