Accents in BibTeX [duplicate]

Question

When using BibTeX, I am happy enough adding accents where appropriate. For example

@article{key,
author="Th{\'e}venaz, Jacques",
title={Permutation Representations Arising from Simplicial Complexes},
journal={Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series A},
year={1987},
}

However, if the above is an entry in my bib file and I use the option

\bibliographystyle{alpha}

in a LaTeX file, then this creates an error, as BibTeX naturally creates the key [Th\87] for this entry. Obviously I can go back to my bbl file and change the key here, but are there more general ways of solving this problem?

Answer 1

The correct way, as far as BibTeX is concerned, is Th{\'{e}}venaz

\begin{filecontents*}{\jobname.bib}
@article{key,
author="Th{\'{e}}venaz, Jacques",
title={Permutation Representations Arising from Simplicial Complexes},
journal={Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series A},
year={1987},
}
\end{filecontents*}
\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\cite{key}
\bibliographystyle{alpha}
\bibliography{\jobname}
\end{document}

You can read in Tame the BeaST about this: texdoc tamethebeast