bib2gls application FAQ

Why doesn’t symbol-sort-fallback work? 🔗

The symbol-sort-fallback option identifies the fallback field to use if the sort field is missing for entries defined with @symbol (or related symbol types, such as @number). If the sort field is set then the fallback value isn’t needed. Similarly, if the sort field is never needed (for example, the field used for sorting is changed with sort-field) then the fallback value for the sort field will never be needed.

So if the symbol-sort-fallback option doesn’t seem to be working check that you haven’t set the sort field in the .bib file and check that you haven’t switched to a different field for sorting and check the entry type is @symbol (or @number etc).

Remember also that custom-sort-fallbacks can override symbol-sort-fallback, so check if that has been set.

For example, if the entry is defined as:

@symbol{fx,
  name={\ensuremath{f(x)}},
  description={a function of $x$},
  sort={fx}
}

In this case the sort field isn’t missing, so symbol-sort-fallback won’t apply to this entry. The explicit use of the sort field in the .bib file forces the sort field to fx regardless of the symbol-sort-fallback setting. (Remember that this can also happen if you alias or copy a field to sort.)

Suppose now the entry is defined as:

@symbol{fx,
  name={\ensuremath{f(x)}},
  description={a function of $x$}
}

And the document has:

\GlsXtrLoadResources[src={entries},
 sort-field=description,
 symbol-sort-fallback=name
]

Here the symbol-sort-fallback is redundant as the sort field isn’t queried (because the description field is now being used for the sort value).

Suppose now the entry is defined as:

@entry{fx,
  name={\ensuremath{f(x)}},
  description={a function of $x$}
}

And the document has:

\GlsXtrLoadResources[src={entries},
 symbol-sort-fallback=description
]

The symbol-sort-fallback setting won’t be applied to the fx entry because it’s been defined with @entry not @symbol (so it’s governed by the entry-sort-fallback setting).

In general, it’s best not to use the sort field in the .bib and it’s more flexible to keep the default sort-field setting. See Gallery (bib2gls): Sorting.

2020-07-01 16:56:39

Permalink: https://www.dickimaw-books.com/faq.php?id=231
Alternative link: https://www.dickimaw-books.com/faq.php?itemlabel=bib2glssortfallback

Category: bib2gls application
Topic: Sorting