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I have an author called Jörg Geißler, whom I want to include in my BibTeX database.

I tried to use

Gei\ssler, J\"{o}rg

but this doesn't work correctly. I can't generate the PDF anymore. How do I type in the name correctly?

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Did you try having \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} and then simple write the name Jörg Geißler? – Dror Aug 23 '11 at 13:18
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@Dror this isn't a good idea, since bibtex doesn't deal with UTF8. In the same way that you put \"{o} you should put {\ss}. (Otherwise how does TeX know whether the macro is \ss or ssler?) – Alan Munn Aug 23 '11 at 13:21
Yes. Then the ß works but the ö is causing problem. – RoflcoptrException Aug 23 '11 at 13:26
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Alan Munn thanks, this is the solution – RoflcoptrException Aug 23 '11 at 13:27
In general, you shouldn't use an acute accent ´ as an apostrophe, but an actual apostrophe '. Assuming you have a German keyboard, press [Shift]+[#]. Wrong: doesn´t or doesn`t. Right: doesn't. This applies to German and English apostrophes alike. – doncherry Aug 23 '11 at 15:46
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1 Answer

up vote 23 down vote accepted

You need to enclose the \ss macro in braces: (it's also a good idea to enclose the \" within the braces of the 'o'.)

Gei{\ss}ler, J{\"o}rg

Otherwise, TeX can't tell whether the macro is \ss or \ssler. Usually macros can also be delimited by spaces in LaTeX, but this won't work in your bib file because the space is used by BibTeX to delimit parts of names.

So within your document

Gei\ss ler, J{\"o}rg

would render correctly as:

Geißler, Jörg,

but used within your bib file the same input would be rendered by BibTeX as:

Geiß ler, Jörg

assuming you were using a lastname-firstname bibliography format.

Furthermore, if you used the form

J{\"o}rg Gei\ss ler

in your bib file, it would be rendered as:

ler, Jörg Geiß

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I'm surprised about the last sentence: Does Gei\ss ler not work? Spaces after macros are ignored. Of course Gei\ssler will not work. Anyway, braces around special stuff is never a bad idea with BibTeX. – Martin Scharrer♦ Aug 23 '11 at 16:08
@AlanMunn: The surrounding braces are necessary to tell bibtex that it should leave the content (in this case a LaTeX command, but it could also be an uppercase word which shouldn't be made lowercase) as it is. For the same reason, it would be safer to replace J\"{o}rg by J{\"o}rg. – mhp Aug 23 '11 at 16:43
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@Martin In bibtex the space will not work because it will interpret the space as separating two parts of the name. So Gei\ss ler, J{\"o}rg will be output as "ler, Geiß Jörg"! I'll add this to the answer. – Alan Munn Aug 23 '11 at 21:00
Thanks. That is exactly what I was looking for. – RoflcoptrException Aug 24 '11 at 6:48
@Alan, using your Solution still doesnt solve my Problem. In my Bibtex file i name the Author: author={R{\"o}{\ss}ler, Irene and Ungerer, Albrecht}, but in the Literature it strangely outputs this: > [Röß ler und Ungerer 2012] RÖSS LER, Irene; UNGERER, Albrecht:... also the citations in the text are incorrect: > (Röß ler und Ungerer, 2012, S.100) – Sid May 13 at 17:59

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