Problem with data file variable name: "bad character U+002D"

1

I am working on a shortcode to list a bibliography.

The JSON data file is converted from a BibTeX file. One of the standard fields is “container-title”

When I try to read that file, Hugo throws an error as dashes are not allowed in variable names.

I read the solutions using the index function for parameters. How can I fix this issue when reading a JSON file?

My workaround is to rename the variable in the script after export.

2

Hello @danderzei

The error log is pretty clear, you can’t use space in a variable name. you can use urlize if possible.

3

Thanks for responding. urlize cleans the contents of variables, not names.

I understand the naming conventions. Is there a way to escape the banned symbols, like in many other programming languages?

4

You can use replaceRE to escape any character or symbols

5

Indeed, that replaces the content of the variable, but not the name.

I have a variable in a JSON file named container-title. I cannot display this variable with {{ .container-title }} because it throws the error. replaceRE or urlize only work with the output of the variable, not the name.

In other languages, I can escape the dash by, for example, using quotation marks. Does Hugo have a similar option?

6

That makes little sense. JavaScript (and by extension JSON) does not allow dashes in variable names: JavaScript.com | Variables
So what does your JSON really look like?

7

The JSON is a BibTeX file converted to JSON. One entry in the file looks like this (note the container-title variable):

  {
    "DOI": "10.1016/j.shpsa.2009.10.006",
    "author": [
      {
        "family": "Al-Gailani",
        "given": "Salim"
      }
    ],
    "container-title": "Studies In History and Philosophy of Science",
    "id": "al-gailani_magic_2009",
    "issue": "4",
    "issued": {
      "date-parts": [
        [
          2009
        ]
      ]
    },
    "keyword": "Gender, Conjuring",
    "page": "372-381",
    "title": "Magic, science and masculinity: Marketing toy chemistry sets",
    "title-short": "Magic, science and masculinity",
    "type": "article-journal",
    "volume": "40"
  },

This is part of the Hugo code I am working on:

{{ $kwd := .Get 0 }}

<div class ="box">
  {{ range .Site.Data.bibliography }}
  {{ if in (lower .keyword) (lower $kwd) }}

  <p>    
    {{ if or (eq .type "book") (eq .type "thesis") }}
    <i>{{title .title }}</i> ({{ .publisher }}).
    {{ else }}
    {{ .title }}. <i>{{ title .container-title }}</i>{{ if .volume }}, {{ .volume }}{{ end }}{{ if .issue }}({{ .issue }}){{ end }}{{ if .page }}, {{ .page }}{{end}}.
    {{ end}}
    
    {{ if .DOI }}doi: <a href = "https://doi.org/{{ .DOI }}" target="_blank">{{ .DOI }}</a>.{{ end }}
    {{ if .URL }}<a href = "{{ .URL }}" target="_blank">{{ trim .URL "https://" }}</a>.{{ end }}
  </p>

  {{ end }}

  {{ end }}
</div>

I do a lot of R programming, in that language I can escape variable names with backticks so that very character is allowed.

If that is impossible in Hugo, than that is fine. I wrote a script to clean the variable names. But ideally, I would do it in Hugo instead of Bash.

8

This (container-title) is not a variable name. It is the name of a property. Also, your error description is lacking a bit. Apparently, the problem does not when you read the JSON file but when you try to access the property (which has been converted to a key in a map by Hugo when it read the file). Obviously, a dash in a variable name is not allowed in Hugo.

However, index . "container-title" might give you what you want, provided that . contains the map.

1 Like
9

U+002D is not a space.

10

Thanks for the solution chrillek

Your solution works a treat and I have learnt something :slight_smile:

1 Like
11

This topic was automatically closed 2 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.