Sonny Software

Hi.

I've been playing with custom citation formats, and have a very picky question to ask. I have set almost every document type to be cited by author and date, except for certain translated books, which I have given a secondary title to (e.g. GMM for Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals).
I suspect what I want to do is impossible, but thought I'd ask anyways. What I want is for every document type except ones with secondary titles to be cited with "Ibid." when appropriate. This is largely a matter of stylistic preference, and I'll be able to live with the Ibid. for everything, but if I could keep my GMMs throughout the document I'd be happier. This is especially useful when comparing, say, four texts by the same author, with multiple quotes from each. It can be very hard for the reader to remember just which book was quoted last, and the secondary title makes this absolutely obvious. But when dealing with secondary sources about these primary texts, the Ibid. standard is very good.
Anyways, if anyone knows how I could do this, let me know. Thanks

Hi Enkidu,

Hm, as you have guessed, you can't turn off Ibid. for one Type only. But I guess I don't exactly understand the need. If you have four texts by the same author, Ibid. will only be used if one is cited in two or more consecutive footnotes. Of the citations are not consecutive, the secondary order (and title) will be used. But in any case, I'm sorry but there are no variations on the way Ibid. can be applied.

Jon
Sonny Software

I suppose the only case where it would matter would be a situation where I quote something, and then have a lengthy discussion of several texts without any quotations for several pages. Then if I quote something, I either have to mention its source before the quotation, or the reader has to flip back several pages to find the previous quotation. Which text the quotation comes from is very important for understanding my writing, if, for instance, I am arguing about a change in an author's viewpoint from one text to another.
This is not generally an issue for secondary sources, because this kind of inter-textual analysis of secondary sources is less common, and generally speaking the source is irrelevant: only what is said is important. But for primary texts it's an (admittedly mild) irritation (for me, at least), and can actually hinder easy comprehension.
Anyways, I know you have plenty of other features to implement, and this will hardly rise to the top of your list. Just thought I'd explain my reasoning.

E

Thanks, I now understand. FWIW, if you are aware of a particular situation, you can insert a citation in it's final formatted form in the document with Copy Formatted. If you want the secondary order used, hold the Shift key down while you do this. In this way you can "force" the secondary citation to be used in a footnote, and it will not be replaced during a scan. This may not be ideal, but it should work...

Jon
Sonny Software