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I want to build a publication list for myself using biblatex-publist. I follow the instruction in the doc version 1.11 but I get the error message

Undefined control sequence. l.4 \plauthorname {Frank} The control sequence at the end of the top line of your error message was never \def'ed.

My trivial small example is:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[bibstyle=publist]{biblatex}

\plauthorname{Frank}
\addbibresource{AFcleanarticles.bib}

\begin{document}

\title{Andrew U. Frank's publications}
\date{\today}
\maketitle


\section{Articles}
\newrefsection[AFcleanarticles]
\nocite{*}
\printbibliography[heading=none] 

\end{document}

the log file - following the suggestion - says:

(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex/blx-dm.def)
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load biblatex bibstyle data model...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'publist.dbx' not found.
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load biblatex custom data model...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'biblatex-dm.cfg' not found.

and indeed I have no biblatex-dm.cfg and have /usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex-publist/publist.cbx and the correspoinding dbx.

More from the log:

Package biblatex Info: Trying to load bibliography style 'publist'...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'publist.bbx' found.

(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex-publist/publist.bbx
File: publist.bbx 2016/08/06 v.1.3 biblatex bibliography style (JSP)
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load bibliography style 'authoryear'...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'authoryear.bbx' found.

(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex/bbx/authoryear.bbx
File: authoryear.bbx 2016/12/05 v3.7 biblatex bibliography style (PK/JW/AB)
Package biblatex Info: Trying to load bibliography style 'standard'...
Package biblatex Info: ... file 'standard.bbx' found.

(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/biblatex/bbx/standard.bbx
File: standard.bbx 2016/12/05 v3.7 biblatex bibliography style (PK/JW/AB)
\c@bbx:relatedcount=\count271
\c@bbx:relatedtotal=\count272
))
\extralabelnumberwidth=\skip57
)

The installation is with debian packages on a linux-debian(stretch) system.

what am I doing wrong? Help appreciated!

lfba
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user855443
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    The MWE compiles without error for me. Can you double check in the .log that LaTeX really loads the version of biblatex-publist you think it loads. – moewe Nov 22 '18 at 19:29
  • Following the suggestion of #moeve, I have pasted the relevant (?) part of the log file and checked where the requested files are. They seem not to be at the right place. Why? How to fix? – user855443 Nov 22 '18 at 19:43
  • publist.bbx 2016/08/06 v.1.3 biblatex bibliography style is definitely not version 1.11. Not sure if the macro was renamed in the meantime or just did not exist back in 2016. You may have better luck following the instructions for your outdated version 1.3. You can get the documentation of your installed version with texdoc biblatex-publist. – moewe Nov 22 '18 at 21:13
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    Aha! According to https://github.com/jspitz/biblatex-publist/tree/0dae8f681c61524aa6c492d926b1b9062af30d26 \plauthorname was called \omitname in version 1.3. Try that or consider updating your TeX distribution. – moewe Nov 22 '18 at 21:16
  • I added more from the log file - probably only the first couple of lines are relevent. They seem to indicate that the version loaded is 1.3 from 2016. I cannot find a documentation of this version. How can I load the current version from CTAN? is it enough to download and put into the same place where pbulist.bbx is now? – user855443 Nov 22 '18 at 21:34
  • I tried /omitname but then other errors occur. I will try to update my installation. Thanks a lot for identifying the cause! – user855443 Nov 22 '18 at 21:48
  • What other errors do you get? – moewe Nov 22 '18 at 21:50

1 Answers1

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The .log snippets show that your TeX distribution has version 1.3 of biblatex-publist, that version dates back to August 2016.

According to https://github.com/jspitz/biblatex-publist/tree/0dae8f681c61524aa6c492d926b1b9062af30d26 the macro that is now called \plauthorname was called \omitname back then. So you may have more luck when you replace \plauthorname with \omitname in the above example.

Usually you can access the documentation of the package version installed on your machine by typing texdoc <package> in the command line. In your case texdoc biblatex-publist should bring up the documentation of version 1.3. It is generally safer to consult the documentation of the version you have installed rather than the documentation of the newest version on CTAN (though I will admit that I am so used to googling everything that reading the documentation on CTAN happens more naturally than going to a command line and calling texdoc, but I'm trying to get better).

If you want to update your TeX system, have a look at How do I update my TeX distribution?. If you are running a TeX live that was installed via the package repositories of your Linux distribution, chances are you can not update. In that case you have to install a vanilla TeX live from TUG if you want to live on the bleeding edge of development (see How to install "vanilla" TeXLive on Debian or Ubuntu?). It is usually a very, very bad idea to manually update packages from CTAN. Especially with biblatex and Biber you can easily run into incompatibilities.

moewe
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    You're a MSWindows user, I see. ;) Here, "Alt+F2" gives me an execute command prompt in which texdoc fits perfectly. – gusbrs Nov 23 '18 at 11:00
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    @gusbrs My cover is blown! I guess I could use Win+R and type in texdoc --view <package> (MikTeX otherwise sends me to a HTML selection screen, which I hate) and would be about as quick. But old habits ... – moewe Nov 23 '18 at 11:07
  • hahaha Yes it is! Btw, the "Win" key is called "Super" elsewhere. In a Xfce distro I'm playing with, it is even nicer. The menu lets you put a command directly in the search, so "Super + texdoc biblatex + RET" takes you straight to the sweet spot. – gusbrs Nov 23 '18 at 11:16