Fixing Multiply-Defined Labels Warning in LaTeX

cross-referencingwarnings

I got a "LaTeX Warning: There were multiply-defined labels", and I know what it means but my document is pretty big and it has various files. So, how can I find the multiply-defined label?

I am using TeXShop in MacOS.

This is the whole warning (I believe):

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Bibliography
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(./Thesis.bbl [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35]) [36] (./Thesis.aux)
LaTeX Warning: There were undefined references.
LaTeX Warning: There were multiply-defined labels.
 )

Best Answer

The log message you quoted is a sort of "summary" of earlier, more detailed warnings, telling you exactly which references are undefined/multiply defined. Scroll up through the log file and you should find more detailed messages that look like the one below:

LaTeX Warning: Label `foo' multiply defined.

Related Solutions

Cross-Referencing – Understanding LaTeX Warning ‘Undefined References’

Getting a warning about undefined references after the first LaTeX run is nothing to worry about. Just rerun LaTeX once or twice more and all cross-references should be resolved (including the one to lastpage).

On the other hand, if you have typos in your labels and/or in your cross-referencing commands, the warnings won't go away upon recompiling the code once or twice more. At that state, they become useful because they tell you something is amiss and needs to be corrected.

[Tex/LaTex] LaTeX gives warning – empty label `’ multiply defined

A label is something that you create in a document. So, you'll want to look through your document for something like \label and see how the label has been defined.

The syntax is

 \label{<label-name>}

where <label-name> is something that you create.

If you have multiple empty labels created, such as

\label{}

or something equivalent, then you'll get the error you've reported.

One way to bug-chase this and a generally good practice is to give useful and meaningful names to your labels. For example, if you have an equation, then you can write

\label{eqn:<short description of equation>}

If, for example, the label is for a section introducing the definition of a martingale, then you can write

\label{sec:defn_of_martingale}

By doing this, your labels will be meaningful and easier to understand in your source document. But also, it'll much easier to find duplicate labels.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Cross-Referencing – Understanding LaTeX Warning ‘Undefined References’

[Tex/LaTex] LaTeX gives warning – empty label `’ multiply defined

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