How to use a main bib file with the Isabelle document preparation system?

Question

I have a main .bib file in a git repository and I would like to use it for all my Isabelle proof documents.

However, isabelle build refuses a .bib file that is outside the document root directory. I tried to use a symlink but that is not transferred through git -- I would use the same document on another machine.

Is there a solution to this problem?

Answer 1

I can't say anything about git and symlinks.

Concerning Isabelle document preparation, see The Isabelle System Manual about the ROOT file syntax, concerning document_files in particular. The collective document files are copied into the document output directory, before invoking latex or bibtex jobs. You can specify a base directory there to pick things from a different directory hierarchy. E.g. like this:

document_files (in "/home/joe/some/where")
  "root.bib"