Checking TeX files for cite-errors

Today I had to TeX a longer file with numerous \cite[somestuff]{citekey} sequences, of which some had hard-to-spot errors (some ‚]‘ were missing). The following Python script checks if each \cite command has matching '[]' and '{}' sequences. I’ll probably extend this script to accept simple \cite{citekey} sequences that have no optional parameter.

#!/usr/bin/python
import re
 
with open('filetocheck.tex') as f:
	content = f.readlines()
 
index = 0
 
for a in content:
	index = index + 1
	if "cite"  in a: # check only lines that contain 'cite'
		matches = re.search(r'(.*)\[(.*)\]\{(.*)\}',a) # search for <sometext>[<sometext>]{<sometext>}
		if not matches:
			print (">>> Fail in row" , str(index), a)

Uwe

Uwe Ziegenhagen likes LaTeX and Python, sometimes even combined. Do you like my content and would like to thank me for it? Consider making a small donation to my local fablab, the Dingfabrik Köln. Details on how to donate can be found here Spenden für die Dingfabrik.

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