missing \ before _ in url in .bib file

[DS-Rodrigues]

Hi

I am using Better BibTeX to get my references from Zotero to LaTeX (I use TeXShop). I have just downloaded the latest version of Better BibTeX (v6.7.62)

However, I get a list of errors in LaTeX because in the url field in .bib file the _ are missing the \ before.

In Zotero (Preferences) I selected Add URLs to BibTeX export in the 'url' field and in my main.tex I included \usepackage{url}.

Am I doing something wrong? Could you please advise?

Thanks,
Daniela

[retorquere]

Do you have an MWE (something like the document below) for me, and a debug log ID for the item that has the URL (right-click -> better bibtex -> send debug log)?

\documentclass[a4paper, 12pt]{article}

\usepackage{filecontents}

\begin{filecontents*}{\jobname.bib}
@article{de_waele_quantum-interference_1969,
  title = {Quantum-Interference Phenomena in Point Contacts between Two Superconductors},
  author = {{de Waele}, A. {\relax Th}. A. M. and {de Bruyn Ouboter}, R.},
  year = {1969},
  month = feb,
  journal = {Physica},
  volume = {41},
  number = {2},
  pages = {225--254},
  doi = {10.1016/0031-8914(69)90116-5}
}

\end{filecontents*}

\begin{document}
\title{Report}
\author{myself}
\date{\today}
\maketitle

\nocite{*}

\bibliographystyle{apalike}
\bibliography{\jobname}
\end{document}

[DS-Rodrigues]

Thanks for looking into this.

Debug log ID: 3TNML7DH-refs-euc

One example is:

@book{oecdRealisingPotentialPrimary2020,
  title = {Realising the {{Potential}} of {{Primary Health Care}}},
  author = {{OECD}},
  year = {2020},
  month = may,
  series = {{{OECD Health Policy Studies}}},
  publisher = {{OECD}},
  address = {{Paris}},
  doi = {10.1787/a92adee4-en},
  url = {https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/realising-the-potential-of-primary-health-care_a92adee4-en},
  urldate = {2023-03-26},
  isbn = {978-92-64-56162-5 978-92-64-93390-3 978-92-64-74645-9},
  langid = {english}
}

[retorquere]

I don't get any errors when I compile this:

\documentclass[a4paper, 12pt]{article}

\usepackage{filecontents}

\begin{filecontents*}{\jobname.bib}
@book{oecdRealisingPotentialPrimary2020,
  title = {Realising the {{Potential}} of {{Primary Health Care}}},
  author = {{OECD}},
  year = {2020},
  month = may,
  series = {{{OECD Health Policy Studies}}},
  publisher = {{OECD}},
  address = {{Paris}},
  doi = {10.1787/a92adee4-en},
  url = {https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/realising-the-potential-of-primary-health-care_a92adee4-en},
  urldate = {2023-03-26},
  isbn = {978-92-64-56162-5 978-92-64-93390-3 978-92-64-74645-9},
  langid = {english}
}
\end{filecontents*}

\begin{document}
\title{Report}
\author{myself}
\date{\today}
\maketitle

\nocite{*}

\bibliographystyle{apalike}
\bibliography{\jobname}
\end{document}

[DS-Rodrigues]

I see, a bit more of my code, please see below:

\documentclass[12pt, a4paper, twoside]{report} 

\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage[margin=2cm] {geometry}
\usepackage{setspace}
\linespread{1.5}
\usepackage[round]{natbib}
\usepackage{acronym}
\usepackage{rotating}
\usepackage{comment}
\usepackage{url}
\graphicspath {{./Drivers-Figures/} {./Impact-Figures/}}
\setcounter{tocdepth}{4}
\setcounter{secnumdepth}{5}

\begin{document}

This is how I am citing \citep{oecdRealisingPotentialPrimary2020} and sometimes citet{oecdRealisingPotentialPrimary2020}

% References
\addcontentsline{toc}{chapter} {References}
\bibliographystyle{agsm}
\bibliography{references}

\end{document}

[DS-Rodrigues]

Just to let you know that for this other reference:

@incollection{worldhealthorganizationResolutionWHA72Primary2019,
  title = {Resolution {{WHA72}}.2: {{Primary}} Health Care},
  booktitle = {Seventy-Second {{World Health Assembly}}},
  author = {{World Health Organization}},
  year = {2019},
  publisher = {{World Health Organization}},
  address = {{Geneva}},
  url = {https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf\_files/WHA72/A72\_R2-en.pdf},
  langid = {english}
}

Better BibTeX included \ prior to _, but for others like the one I shared above it didn't so I get an error when compiling LaTeX. Any ideas about why this is happening?

[retorquere]

I always need a debug log for things like this. I cannot say why you got this output if I do not know the input.

[retorquere]

Just to get this out of the way -- the \ is not missing before the _, url is a verbatim field, and different rules apply there, such as not having to escape characters like this. Something else was broken in BBT though, usually you would have been able to select "assume url package is not loaded, and the url field would have been treated as non-verbatim. That doesn't currently work, but a fix on that is running through the test suite.

[retorquere]

Let's continue the discussion at #2466