Reverse numbering in biblatex with customized bibchecks

biblatex

I would like to show bibliographies of different categories (e.g., conference papers, journal papers, etc.) in my CV. In each category, the bibliography entries are sorted by the published date. To allow permanent indices for increments in the future, I would have these indices reversely numbered, so that newer works get larger indices. Meanwhile, I would like to mark some of my works as "selected works", in which I set up a new field of "selected" and print the entries using a customized check filter.

I have tried the solution here but it does not work. In my system, the following MWE produces the normal numbering not the reversed.

\documentclass[10pt, a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[czech,english]{babel}  
\usepackage[backend=biber,style=ieee,defernumbers=true,sorting=keysort]{biblatex}

\makeatletter
\newcounter{bibenvcounter}
\newcounter{bibitemcounter}[bibenvcounter]

\newcommand*{\auxkacz@envmax}[2]{%
  \csgdef{blxkacz@envmax@#1}{#2}}

\defbibenvironment{bibliography}
  {\stepcounter{bibenvcounter}%
   \list
     {\ifcsundef{blxkacz@envmax@\the\value{bibenvcounter}}
        {}
        {\numdef\abx@field@localnumber{%
           \csuse{blxkacz@envmax@\the\value{bibenvcounter}}%
             -\value{bibitemcounter}}%
         \csundef{blx@defer@\the\c@refsection
            @\blx@refcontext@context
            @\abx@field@entrykey}%
         \blx@thelabelnumber}%
      \stepcounter{bibitemcounter}%
      \printtext[labelnumberwidth]{%
        \printfield{labelprefix}%
        \printfield{labelnumber}}}
     {\setlength{\labelwidth}{\labelnumberwidth}%
      \setlength{\leftmargin}{\labelwidth}%
      \setlength{\labelsep}{\biblabelsep}%
      \addtolength{\leftmargin}{\labelsep}%
      \setlength{\itemsep}{\bibitemsep}%
      \setlength{\parsep}{\bibparsep}}%
      \renewcommand*{\makelabel}[1]{\hss##1}}
  {\endlist
   \blx@auxwrite\@mainaux{}{%
     \string\auxkacz@envmax
       {\the\value{bibenvcounter}}
       {\the\value{bibitemcounter}}}}
  {\item}
\makeatother

\defbibcheck{confnoyear}{ \ifentrytype{inproceedings} {\iffieldundef{year}{}{\skipentry}} {\skipentry} }
\defbibcheck{journoyear}{ \ifentrytype{article}       {\iffieldundef{year}{}{\skipentry}} {\skipentry} }
\defbibcheck{confwyear}{  \ifentrytype{inproceedings} {\iffieldundef{year}{\skipentry}{}} {\skipentry} }
\defbibcheck{jourwyear}{  \ifentrytype{article}       {\iffieldundef{year}{\skipentry}{}} {\skipentry} }

\DeclareSortingScheme{keysort}{
  \sort[direction=descending]{\field{entrykey}}
}

\usepackage{filecontents}
\begin{filecontents}{\jobname.bib}
@inproceedings{a,
  author  = {Author, A.},
  title   = {A Title},
  date    = {1980},
}
@inproceedings{b,
  author  = {Buthor, B.},
  title   = {B Title},
  date    = {1980},
}
@inproceedings{c,
  author  = {Buthor, C.},
  title   = {C Title},
  date    = {1980},
}
@inproceedings{d,
  author  = {Duthor, D.},
  title   = {A Title},
}
@inproceedings{e,
  author  = {Euthor, E.},
  title   = {B Title},
}
\end{filecontents}

\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}

\begin{document}
\newrefcontext[labelprefix=CS,sorting=keysort]
\printbibliography[check=confnoyear] \nocite{*}

\newrefcontext[labelprefix=C,sorting=keysort]
\printbibliography[check=confwyear] \nocite{*}
\end{document}

Is there any problem with my configuration? Any help is appreciated!

Best Answer

The answer to Separate biblatex biblios, descending numbering, 'check' filters was written for an older version of biblatex.

With the current v3.16 I recommend the following variation of the answer that uses the same idea, but tries to change localnumber directly.

\documentclass[10pt, a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage[backend=biber,style=ieee,defernumbers=true,sorting=keysort]{biblatex}

\makeatletter
\newcounter{bibenvcounter}
\newcounter{bibitemcounter}[bibenvcounter]

\newcommand*{\auxkacz@envmax}[2]{%
  \csgdef{blxkacz@envmax@#1}{#2}}

\def\blx@thelabelnumber{%
  \begingroup
  \nottoggle{blx@skiplab}
    {\iftoggle{blx@labelnumber}
       {\ifundef\abx@field@shorthand
         % Need to know if we set any localnumber from .aux file, not
         % just current item. Otherwise, we may just write new
         % localnumbers but not existing ones
         % Also, don't want to regenerate localnumber for any key in a
         % refsection which we've already seen because this has the nasty
         % side-effect of incrementing the localnum counter
         % Also, have to create localnumber again if \nocite{*} as items
         % could have been added to the .bib file without changing the cite
         % information in the .tex
         {\ifboolexpr { (not togl {blx@localnumber}
                         or
                         test {\ifinlist{*}\blx@nocites})
                         and
                         not test {\ifcsdef{blx@defer@\the\c@refsection @\blx@refcontext@context @\abx@field@entrykey}} }
            {\iftoggle{blx@omitnumbers}
               {\let\abx@field@localnumber\@empty}
               {\ifcsundef{blxkacz@envmax@\the\value{bibenvcounter}}
                  {\blx@rerun@latex
                   \csdef{blxkacz@envmax@\the\value{bibenvcounter}}{0}}
                  {\csnumgdef{blx@labelnumber@\the\c@refsection}{%
                   \csuse{blxkacz@envmax@\the\value{bibenvcounter}}%
                      -\value{bibitemcounter}}%
                   \edef\abx@field@localnumber{%
                    \csuse{blx@labelnumber@\the\c@refsection}}%
                  \blx@bbl@addentryfield{\abx@field@entrykey}{\the\c@refsection}%
                  {localnumber}{\blx@refcontext@context}{\abx@field@localnumber}}}}
            {}%
          % Issue re-run message if there was no localnumber in the .aux and
          % \nocite{*} was used because this means that an entry was added to the .bib
          % and was not yet recorded in the .aux. We will have generated a localnumber
          % for such a case above and now we need to re-run to make sure it's in the .aux
          % for the next run
          \ifboolexpr { test {\ifinlist{*}\blx@nocites}
                        and
                        not test {\ifcsdef{blx@localnumber@\the\c@refsection @\abx@field@entrykey}} }
            {\blx@rerun@latex}
            {}%
          % If localnumbers were already in the .aux, add them
          % again from the .aux. This prevents some cycling
          % problems where pagebreaks change after localnumber
          % settles down and then we need another run which then
          % regenerates localnumber requiring another run but then
          % the pagebreaks change back again ... etc.
          \ifcsundef{blx@defer@\the\c@refsection @\blx@refcontext@context @\abx@field@entrykey}
            {\ifundef\abx@field@localnumber
               {}
               {\listxadd\blx@localnumaux{%
                  \string\abx@aux@number%
                     {\the\c@instcount}%
                     {\abx@field@entrykey}%
                     {\the\c@refsection}%
                     {\blx@refcontext@context}%
                     {\abx@field@localnumber}}%
                   % record that we have already generated and output localnum
                   % for this key in this refsection/refcontext
                   \global\cslet{blx@defer@\the\c@refsection @\blx@refcontext@context @\abx@field@entrykey}\@empty}}
           {}}
         {}}%
       {}}
    {}%
  \endgroup}

\defbibenvironment{bibliography}
  {\stepcounter{bibenvcounter}%
   \list
     {\stepcounter{bibitemcounter}%
      \printtext[labelnumberwidth]{%
        \printfield{labelprefix}%
        \printfield{labelnumber}}}
     {\setlength{\labelwidth}{\labelnumberwidth}%
      \setlength{\leftmargin}{\labelwidth}%
      \setlength{\labelsep}{\biblabelsep}%
      \addtolength{\leftmargin}{\labelsep}%
      \setlength{\itemsep}{\bibitemsep}%
      \setlength{\parsep}{\bibparsep}}%
      \renewcommand*{\makelabel}[1]{\hss##1}}
  {\endlist
   \blx@auxwrite\@mainaux{}{%
     \string\auxkacz@envmax
       {\the\value{bibenvcounter}}
       {\the\value{bibitemcounter}}}}
  {\item}
\makeatother

\defbibcheck{confnoyear}{ \ifentrytype{inproceedings} {\iffieldundef{year}{}{\skipentry}} {\skipentry} }
\defbibcheck{journoyear}{ \ifentrytype{article}       {\iffieldundef{year}{}{\skipentry}} {\skipentry} }
\defbibcheck{confwyear}{  \ifentrytype{inproceedings} {\iffieldundef{year}{\skipentry}{}} {\skipentry} }
\defbibcheck{jourwyear}{  \ifentrytype{article}       {\iffieldundef{year}{\skipentry}{}} {\skipentry} }

\DeclareSortingTemplate{keysort}{
  \sort[direction=descending]{\field{entrykey}}
}

\begin{filecontents}{\jobname.bib}
@inproceedings{a,
  author  = {Author, A.},
  title   = {A Title},
  date    = {1980},
}
@inproceedings{b,
  author  = {Buthor, B.},
  title   = {B Title},
  date    = {1980},
}
@inproceedings{c,
  author  = {Cuthor, C.},
  title   = {C Title},
  date    = {1980},
}
@inproceedings{d,
  author  = {Duthor, D.},
  title   = {A Title},
}
@inproceedings{e,
  author  = {Euthor, E.},
  title   = {B Title},
}
\end{filecontents}
\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}

\begin{document}
\nocite{*}

\cite{a}

\cite{b}

\cite{c}

\cite{d}

\cite{e}

\newrefcontext[labelprefix=CS,sorting=keysort]
\printbibliography[check=confnoyear]

\newrefcontext[labelprefix=C,sorting=keysort]
\printbibliography[check=confwyear]
\end{document}

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] biblatex: Reverse numbering (i.e., count down)

The desired numbering scheme can be achieved by printing the labelnumber as the total number of entries in the current reference section, minus the actual label number, plus one.

This approach is demonstrated in the document below. It relies on commands from etoolbox and allows for an arbitrary number of reference sections.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[backend=bibtex,style=numeric,sorting=ydnt]{biblatex}

% Count total number of entries in each refsection
\AtDataInput{%
  \csnumgdef{entrycount:\therefsection}{%
    \csuse{entrycount:\therefsection}+1}}

% Print the labelnumber as the total number of entries in the
% current refsection, minus the actual labelnumber, plus one
\DeclareFieldFormat{labelnumber}{\mkbibdesc{#1}}    
\newrobustcmd*{\mkbibdesc}[1]{%
  \number\numexpr\csuse{entrycount:\therefsection}+1-#1\relax}

\addbibresource[label=biblatex]{biblatex-examples.bib}
\addbibresource[label=base]{xampl.bib}

\begin{document}
\begin{refsection}[biblatex]
  \nocite{markey,companion,ctan,knuth:ct}
  \printbibliography[title={biblatex examples}]
\end{refsection}
\begin{refsection}[base]
  \nocite{whole-set,inbook-minimal,book-minimal}
  \printbibliography[title={Base examples}]
\end{refsection}
\end{document}

enter image description here

If the document is saved as doc.tex, compile with:

latex doc
bibtex doc1-blx
bibtex doc2-blx
latex doc

With backend=biber, there is no need to run biber on each of the reference sections. You can also access bib files remotely from github.

Some caveats:

Shorthands. The labelnumber is overridden by the shorthand field. So with shorthands the maximum labelnumber in a given reference section doesn't correspond to the total number of cited entries. To handle this you can clear the shorthand field with biber by adding the following source map to the preamble:
```
\DeclareSourcemap{
  \maps[datatype=bibtex]{
    \map{\step[fieldset=shorthand,null]}
  }
}
```
Data-only entries. The code in \AtDataInput is executed for each entry in the bbl file. This includes related entries or other entries suppressed in the bibliography via skipbib or dataonly. To omit these from the entry total, you should condition on the skipbib setting.
```
\makeatletter
\def\ifskipbib{\iftoggle{blx@skipbib}}
\makeatother

\AtDataInput{\ifskipbib{}{%
  \csnumgdef{entrycount:\therefsection}{\csuse{entrycount:\therefsection}+1}}}
```
Multiple sorting schemes. If your document uses more than one sorting scheme in a reference section, the bbl file will contain duplicate entries - one for each scheme. To avoid counting duplicates, you can track the entries already counted in a list.
```
\AtDataInput{%
  \xifinlistcs{\thefield{entrykey}}{entrylist:\therefsection}{}{%
    \listcsxadd{entrylist:\therefsection}{\thefield{entrykey}}%
    \csnumgdef{entrycount:\therefsection}{%
      \csuse{entrycount:\therefsection}+1}}}
```
Multiple versus single bib files. Using a single bib file for each reference section is convenient, but not necessary - as long as the entries accessed in each section correspond to those printed in the bibliography. For an alternative approach with a single reference section and labelnumber prefixes, refer to this post.

[Tex/LaTex] Customized citation keys with biblatex

A similar question to this one was recently posted. Prefixes to labelnumber can be easily added using the prefixnumbers option of \printbibliography. This option needs defernumbers enabled globally. For the last reference list, you'll probably want to filter out the previous keywords. The notkeyword filter can be used more than once. All this is demonstrated using your MWE below.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[american]{babel}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage[style=numeric-comp,defernumbers=true]{biblatex}

\begin{filecontents*}{\jobname.bib}
@ARTICLE{refconf,
    author = {author},
    title = {title},
    keywords = {conference}}
@ARTICLE{refjour,
    author = {author},
    title = {title},
    keywords = {journal}}
@ARTICLE{ref,
    author = {author},
    title = {title}}
\end{filecontents*}
\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}

\begin{document}
\cite{refjour}, \cite{refconf}, \cite{ref}
\printbibheading
\printbibliography[keyword=conference,prefixnumbers={c.},
  heading=subbibliography,title={Personal Conference references}]
\printbibliography[keyword=journal,prefixnumbers={j.},
  heading=subbibliography,title={Personal Journal references}]
\printbibliography[notkeyword=journal,notkeyword=conference,prefixnumbers={},
  heading=subbibliography,title={Other references}]
\end{document}

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] biblatex: Reverse numbering (i.e., count down)

[Tex/LaTex] Customized citation keys with biblatex

Related Question