Using the biblatex styles in the CTAN contrib

Question

I know how to use biblatex and compile it with pdflatex -> bibtex -> pdflatex in TeXworks or TeXShop.

\usepackage[options]{biblatex}
\bibliography{bib-file}

\begin{document}
  \autocite{einstein01}
  \autocite{feynman47}
\end{document}

How do I start using the different biblatex styles in the CTAN contrib? I want to know how to do it in terms of:

1. Installation
2. Usage in the source code

Solutions for MiKTeX or TeX Live are preferred.

Answer 1

Most of the CTAN biblatex styles are part of TeXLive, so if you update all the packages using tlmgr (or TeXLive Utility on a Mac), they should be available automatically.

Generally the styles are called by

\usepackage[style=<name>]{biblatex}

or with separate bib and cite styles:

\usepackage[bibstyle=..., citestyle=...]

You can use texdoc to find the documentation for how to use the particular styles.

If in the unlikely event that the style you want isn't part of TeXLive, you can install extra biblatex packages into the latex folder of your local texmf folder just like you would install any other latex package. It's helpful to keep them in separate folders (or even in one biblatex folder within the latex folder.)

If you put the documentation into a folder corresponding to the style name in the local texmf/doc/ folder it will also be found with texdoc.

Answer 2

As Alan says, many of the contributed styles are available in TeX Live and MiKTeX. If not, the style files themselves (.bbx and .cbx) need to be installed like any other locally-installed files. Taking the example of my own biblatex-chem bundle, I'd need to create a local installation folder which is operating system dependent:

• ~/texmf/tex/latex/biblatex-chem on Linux (~ = your home folder)
• ~/Library/texmf/tex/latex/biblatex-chem on Mac OS X (~ = your home folder)
• <USERPROFILE>\texmf\tex\latex\biblatex-chem on Windows (<USERPROFILE> = your home folder)

You might already find the texmf folder and some subfolders, or you might have to create it. You'd then put all of the .bbx and /cbx files from CTAN in this new folder. If you are using MiKTeX on Windows, you then need to make sure it has <USERPROFILE>\texmf set as a 'root' in the MiKTeX Options.

It is not necessary to subdivide the biblatex-chem folder into folders bbx and cbx, although you can if you like (biblatex itself does this).

Optionally, you might install the documentation files (PDFs, .tex and .bib sources) in texmf/doc/latex/biblatex-chem. However, that's only necessary if you want texdoc biblatex-chem to work.

For other biblatex styles, the same applies and all you need to do is modify the folder name.

Answer 3

If you want to use the full power of biblatex then you should also install the program biber which can be done by the TeXLive package manager (and MikTeX's as well). It can also be installed via http://biblatex-biber.sourceforge.net/.

Running biber instead of bibtex with (Any)tex->biber->(Any)tex gives you full UTF support for the bibliography, which isn't possible with bibtex or bibtex8.

Using biber needs a

\usepackage[backend=biber,style=...]{biblatex}

You should also consider, that pdflatex can handle only a subset of UTF-8. Only XeTeX or LuaTeX have full UTF support.