Merging aux files

Question

The aux file basically consists of tex commands which are read and expanded at the begining of the document. The command

\AtBeginDocument{\makeatletter\input{test2.aux}\makeatother}

will have pretty much the same effect, at least in terms of \newlabel commands. OTOH, \@writefile{toc} commands don't fare as well. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that the \@starttoc{toc} command is the one which actually writes the toc.

Anyway, I am trying to merge the table of contents without actually repeating the entire document each time. The following was used to create test2.aux:

\documentclass{book}
\begin{document}
\frontmatter
\tableofcontents
\mainmatter
\setcounter{part}{1}
\setcounter{page}{11}% this you will have to do manually
\part{Volume 2}
\chapter{v2 first}\label{test}
\chapter{v2 second}
\end{document}

which is read by

\documentclass{book}
\AtBeginDocument{\makeatletter\input{test2.aux}\makeatother}
\begin{document}
\frontmatter
\tableofcontents
\mainmatter
\part{Volume 1}
\chapter{v1 first}\pageref{test}%\newlabel{test} from test2.aux
\chapter{v1 second}
\end{document}

Note that \pageref{test} works.

isn't it easier to input the toc from the other document rather than the aux ? (xr.sty use \read to selectively pick labels (only) from another aux file exactly to avoid problems with other things that are there) — David Carlisle, Aug 26 '15 at 14:38
@David Carlisle - Well, you certainly wouldn't want to use this with hyperref, and you may want to use custom \label and \ref macros to handle the volume numbers (see http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/263015/abbreviate-ref-within-same-section/263142#263142), but for printed documents, yes. — John Kormylo, Aug 26 '15 at 18:50

score 1 · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-26T15:17:42.867

I would use an \input statement literally written to the .aux file at the end of the document. The key is not to use \immediate\write but \write only.

\makeatletter
\AtEndDocument{%
    \write\@auxout{%
       \string\input{test2.aux}
      % Other \string\input{test3.aux} etc. here 
     }%
 }
\makeatother

will write \input{test2.aux} at the document end and not somewhere in between. Other files to be included can be added with \string\input{test3.aux} etc.

For better checks, \InputIfFileExists{}{}{} should be used, but I've omitted this feature for simplicity right now.

\documentclass{book}


\makeatletter

\AtEndDocument{%
    \write\@auxout{%
      \string\input{test2.aux}
      % Other \string\input{test3.aux} etc. here 
    }%
 }
\makeatother

%\AtBeginDocument{\makeatletter\input{test2.aux}\makeatother}
\begin{document}
\frontmatter
\tableofcontents
\mainmatter
\part{Volume 1}
\chapter{v1 first}\pageref{test}%\newlabel{test} from test2.aux
\chapter{v1 second}

\end{document}

This is the content of foo.aux (the merging document):

\relax 
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline {part}{I\hspace  {1em}Volume 1}{1}}
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline {chapter}{\numberline {1}v1 first}{3}}
\@writefile{lof}{\addvspace {10\p@ }}
\@writefile{lot}{\addvspace {10\p@ }}
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline {chapter}{\numberline {2}v1 second}{5}}
\@writefile{lof}{\addvspace {10\p@ }}
\@writefile{lot}{\addvspace {10\p@ }}
\input{test2.aux}

a \write at end of document isn't guaranteed to happen (it happens at the next page shipout but there may not be any further pages). — David Carlisle, Aug 26 '15 at 15:30
@DavidCarlisle: Yes, I am aware of the possible breakdown with '\write. It might fail. An \immediate\write did not work — , Aug 27 '15 at 08:15

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 26 '15 at 19:42

A slight variation of Hupfer's solution which allows all the projects to share aux files. Project test:

\documentclass{book}
\newif\iffirstaux
\firstauxtrue
\makeatletter
\AtEndDocument{%
  \write\@auxout{\string\iffirstaux
     \string\firstauxfalse
     \string\InputIfFileExists{test2.aux}{}{}%
     \string\firstauxtrue
     \string\fi}%
 }
\makeatother
\begin{document}
\frontmatter
\tableofcontents
\mainmatter
\part{Volume 1}
\chapter{v1 first}\pageref{test}%\newlabel{test} from test2.aux
\chapter{v1 second}
\end{document}

Project test2:

\documentclass{book}
\newif\iffirstaux
\firstauxtrue
\makeatletter
\AtBeginDocument{%
  \write\@auxout{\string\iffirstaux
     \string\firstauxfalse
     \string\InputIfFileExists{test.aux}{}{}%
     \string\firstauxtrue
     \string\fi}%
 }
\makeatother
\begin{document}
\frontmatter
\tableofcontents
\mainmatter
\setcounter{part}{1}
\setcounter{page}{11}% this you will have to do manually
\part{Volume 2}
\chapter{v2 first}\label{test}
\chapter{v2 second}
\end{document}

Note that the aux files have to be \input in order, some at the beginning and some at the end.

Merging aux files

2 Answers2

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