How to use @STRING variables in the note field of a .bib file?

Question

I defined a @STRING in my .bib file as follows:

@STRING{mytext = {Last accessed: }}

This is an entry in the bibliography.

@ARTICLE{knuth:1974,
  author = {Knuth, Donald E.},
  title = {{C}omputer {P}rogramming as an {A}rt},
  journal = {Communications of the ACM},
  year = {1974},
  volume = {17},
  pages = {667--673},
  number = {12},
  month = {December },
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  publisher = {ACM Press},
  note = {Last accessed: 09/20/12}
}

I want to use mytext as a template so I can easily change it. The note field however contains more then the template text.
How can I use the mytext variable in the note field?

Answer 1

I'd do this:

@string{mytext = "This is the text"}

and then in the .bib entry:

@ARTICLE{knuth:1974,
  author = {Knuth, Donald E.},
  title = {{C}omputer {P}rogramming as an {A}rt},
  journal = {Communications of the ACM},
  year = {1974},
  volume = {17},
  pages = {667--673},
  number = {12},
  month = {December },
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  publisher = {ACM Press},
  note = mytext
}

However, this won't work if the note field contains more than just the @string text. Instead you could use @preamble (if you want to keep such commands in your .bib file):

@preamble{ "\newcommand{\mytext}{Last accessed:}" }

@ARTICLE{knuth:1974,
  author = {Knuth, Donald E.},
  title = {{C}omputer {P}rogramming as an {A}rt},
  journal = {Communications of the ACM},
  year = {1974},
  volume = {17},
  pages = {667--673},
  number = {12},
  month = {December },
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  publisher = {ACM Press},
  note = {\mytext{} 09/20/12}
}

For further details, one can always turn to 'Tame the BeaST' by Nicholas Markey: texdoc ttb.