Getting duplicate call to my define that writes to a aux file

Question

I have the following:

\newif\ifabrvused
\abrvusedfalse

\def\abrv#1#2{%
  \ifabrvused\else%
    \newwrite\@loa%
    \immediate\openout\@loa=\jobname.loa%
    \write0{    Test}
    \abrvusedtrue%
  \fi%

  \@ifundefined{abrv@#1}{%
    \expandafter\def\csname abrv@#1\endcsname{#2}%
    \immediate\write\@loa{\unexpanded{\item[\textbf{#1}]#2}}%
    {#2 (\textbf{#1})}%
  }{%
  {\textbf{#1}}%
  }%
}

The intention is that the first time its called it opens the aux file for writing. My problem is, that the open part (ifabrvused\else) is getting called twice. I was able to find out that its getting called for the first use within my begin{abstract} and the rest of the document? What am I missing. If its intended to do so, how can i code around it?

Answer 1

Inside the environment abstract you are inside a group. \abrvusedtrue is a local assignment (\let\ifabrvused\iftrue). The switch is reset to false after the environment. Use \global\abrvusedtrue instead.