Professional LaTeX Document Conversion

From Hard-coded Numbers to Dynamic References

Pre-Conversion Checklist

WarningImportant

Before starting any replacements, ensure you have proper backups!

Essential Steps

• Create a backup of your entire project
• Use version control (git commit before changes)
• Test compile to ensure document builds correctly
• Document your current numbering scheme

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Advanced Regex Patterns

Citations - Multiple Scenarios

Basic single citations

Find:

\[(\d+)\]

Replace:

\\cite{$1-key}

Range citations [1-3] or [1–3]

Find:

\[(\d+)[-–](\d+)\]

Replace:

\\cite{$1-key,$2-key}

Manual cleanup needed for intermediate references

Multiple citations [1, 2, 5]

Find:

\[(\d+(?:,\s*\d+)*)\]

Replace:

\\cite{process-this-manually}

Citations with pages [1, p. 15]

Find:

\[(\d+),\s*p\.\s*(\d+)\]

Replace:

\\cite[$2]{$1-key}

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Figures - Context-Aware Patterns

Standard references

Find:

(?i)(figure|fig\.?)\s+(\d+)

Replace:

Figure~\\ref{fig:$2}

With parentheses (Figure 1) or (Fig. 1)

Find:

\((?i)(figure|fig\.?)\s+(\d+)\)

Replace:

(Figure~\\ref{fig:$2})

Beginning of sentences

Find:

^(Figure|Fig\.?)\s+(\d+)

Replace:

Figure~\\ref{fig:$2}

Plural figures

Find:

(?i)(figures)\s+(\d+)[-–](\d+)

Replace:

Figures~\\ref{fig:$2}--\\ref{fig:$3}

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Tables - Enhanced Patterns

Standard references

Find:

(?i)(table)\s+(\d+)

Replace:

Table~\\ref{tab:$2}

Multiple tables

Find:

(?i)(tables)\s+(\d+)\s+and\s+(\d+)

Replace:

Tables~\\ref{tab:$2} and~\\ref{tab:$3}

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Automated Label Generation

Smart Label Insertion

For figures with meaningful captions

Find:

(\\caption\{([^}]{1,50})[^}]*\})

Replace:

$1\n\\label{fig:auto-generated-from-caption}

For tables

Find:

(\\caption\{([^}]{1,50})[^}]*\})

Replace:

$1\n\\label{tab:auto-generated-from-caption}

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Advanced Workflow

Phase 1: Analysis and Preparation

Count occurrences to estimate scope:

# Count citation occurrences
grep -o '\[\d\+\]' document.tex | sort | uniq -c

# Count figure references
grep -o -i 'figure \d\+' document.tex | sort | uniq -c

# Count table references
grep -o -i 'table \d\+' document.tex | sort | uniq -c

Phase 2: Systematic Replacement

WarningOrder matters!

Follow this sequence for best results.

1. Handle special cases first:
   • Citations with page numbers
   • Figure/table ranges
   • Parenthetical references
2. Standard replacements:
   • Single citations
   • Single figure/table references
3. Add labels systematically

Phase 3: Quality Control

# Find unreferenced labels
grep '\\label{' *.tex | cut -d':' -f2 | sort > labels.txt
grep '\\ref{' *.tex | cut -d':' -f2 | sort > refs.txt
comm -23 labels.txt refs.txt  # Shows unused labels

# Find broken references (compile and check log)
pdflatex document.tex 2>&1 | grep -i "reference.*undefined"

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Professional Citation Management

Smart Bibliography Generation

import re

# Extract all citation numbers from your document
with open('document.tex', 'r') as f:
    content = f.read()
    
citations = re.findall(r'\[(\d+)\]', content)
unique_citations = sorted(set(map(int, citations)))

# Generate template .bib entries
for num in unique_citations:
    print(f"""
@article{{ref{num},
  author = {{Author, First}},
  title = {{Title from reference {num}}},
  journal = {{Journal Name}},
  year = {{Year}},
  volume = {{Vol}},
  pages = {{Pages}}
}}""")

TipPro Tip

Use the cleveref package for smart references that automatically determine the reference type (Figure, Table, etc.).

% In preamble, add consistent reference formatting
\usepackage{cleveref}  % Smart references
\crefname{figure}{Figure}{Figures}
\crefname{table}{Table}{Tables}

% Then use \cref{fig:label} instead of Figure~\ref{fig:label}

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Troubleshooting Common Issues

Issue	Solution
Multiple replacements on same line	Use global flag in your editor: /g
LaTeX special characters in regex	Escape backslashes: \\ in find/replace
Reference ordering after conversion	Run: pdflatex → bibtex → pdflatex → pdflatex
Overlapping patterns	Process from most specific to most general

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Final Verification Checklist

• All [number] citations converted
• All hardcoded figure/table numbers converted
• All figures have \label{fig:...}
• All tables have \label{tab:...}
• Bibliography file created with matching keys
• Document compiles without undefined reference errors
• Cross-reference numbering is logical
• No orphaned or duplicate labels

TipFinal Pro Tip

Use a LaTeX-aware editor (TeXstudio, VS Code with LaTeX Workshop) that can highlight undefined references and provide auto-completion for labels.

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NoteReady to Transform Your LaTeX Documents?

Follow this guide systematically for professional, maintainable LaTeX documents with dynamic cross-references!