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Convert CSL JSON (file or directory) via Pandoc

Source: R/csljson_convert_pandoc.R
csljson_convert_pandoc.Rd

Converts CSL JSON with Pandoc into one of: BibTeX, BibLaTeX, Docx, Markdown, LaTeX, or PDF. Behavior depends on to:

  • bibtex/biblatex: creates bibliography files. For a directory of chunks, writes chunk_*.bib into the directory given by output. For a single file, writes the specified output (appends .bib if missing).

  • docx/markdown/latex/pdf: renders a formatted references document using citeproc. For a directory of chunks, writes references.<ext> inside output. For a single file, writes to output (appends extension if missing).

Usage

csljson_convert_pandoc(
  csljson,
  output,
  to = c("biblatex", "bibtex", "docx", "markdown", "latex", "html", "pdf"),
  from = "csljson",
  overwrite = FALSE,
  verbose = TRUE,
  references_csl = NULL,
  pdf_engine = "xelatex",
  pdf_mainfont = NULL,
  pdf_sansfont = NULL,
  pdf_monofont = NULL,
  pdf_cjk_mainfont = NULL,
  pdf_cjk_options = NULL
)

Arguments

csljson

Path to a CSL JSON file (array) or a directory created by corpus_to_csljson() containing chunk_*.json files.

output

Output path. For bib* with a file input, this is the target .bib file (extension added if missing). For bib* with a directory input, this is the output directory. For formatted references (docx, markdown, latex, pdf), this is the output file (file input) or the output directory (dir input; file will be references.<ext> within).

to

One of "biblatex", "bibtex", "docx", "markdown", "latex", "html", or "pdf".

from

Source format; defaults to "csljson".

overwrite

Logical; overwrite existing output file(s). Defaults to FALSE.

verbose

Print progress messages.

references_csl

Optional path to a CSL style file (e.g., apa.csl). If NULL, Pandoc's default style is used.

pdf_engine

LaTeX engine used when to = "pdf". Common values are "xelatex" (default, good Unicode support), "lualatex", or "pdflatex". Passed to Pandoc as --pdf-engine.

pdf_mainfont

Main text font name for PDF output (used with XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX). Sets Pandoc variable mainfont (e.g., -V mainfont=Source Serif Pro).

pdf_sansfont

Sans‑serif font name for PDF output. Sets Pandoc variable sansfont.

pdf_monofont

Monospace font name for PDF output. Sets Pandoc variable monofont.

pdf_cjk_mainfont

Main CJK font name for PDF output. Sets Pandoc variable CJKmainfont for better East‑Asian typography.

pdf_cjk_options

Additional CJK options passed via Pandoc variable CJKoptions (e.g., feature flags accepted by xeCJK).

Value

Invisibly returns the created file path(s).

Details

Requires Pandoc to be available. In RStudio, a bundled Pandoc is usually available; otherwise install Pandoc and ensure it is on PATH.

When rendering to = "pdf", this function maps the supplied PDF options to Pandoc command line flags and variables as follows:

  • pdf_engine → --pdf-engine=<engine>

  • pdf_mainfont, pdf_sansfont, pdf_monofont → -V mainfont=..., -V sansfont=..., -V monofont=...

  • pdf_cjk_mainfont, pdf_cjk_options → -V CJKmainfont=..., -V CJKoptions=...

Use these to ensure Unicode coverage and consistent typography, especially for multilingual bibliographies.