How to update a cross-reference?

[calchas]

I’ve created a list of references, and now I need to update the actual references, i.e. switch the last and the first name around. However, I am unable to find how to update an already created reference.

For example. I have the following reference in my document:

Gadele, S., & Sazs, Jeffrey D. (1998). The Diagnosis. Hamilton Papers on Political Activity : 1-90.

I’ve set just the arthurs names and date, ie, Gadele, S., & Sazs, Jeffrey D. (1998), as the cross-reference in the document, so that, when I want to citate it, only that part of it will appear in the citate. It would like like this in the document.

Sazs has emphasized the adverse effect of the public rhetoric (Gadele, S., & Sazs, Jeffrey D. (1998)).

When you click on the above reference, it brings you to the appropriate reference in full at the end of the document. So everything is fine.

Now, what I want to do is change the format of the names in the original reference.
Instead of, Gadele, S., & Sazs, Jeffrey D. (1998), I want it now to read, Gadele, S., & D. J. Sazs. (1998).

However, I’m unable to edit the references. The only solution I’ve found is to create a new reference and replace it. However, with hundreds of them in my document, this is not really feasible and could lead to mistakes.

I hope I have made this clearer to understand.

[ajlittoz]

Be more specific: edit your question to give an example of what you’re trying to do.

[ajlittoz]

As described, it looks like a bibliographic reference to a list at the end of the article.

Cross-references will not give you what you want since they insert the page number or section number of the bookmark, eventually the content of the bookmark, but this is a “complimentary” possibility since a bookmark can point to an “empty” location (location of the cursor when the bookmark is created without text selection). Text associated with the bookmark is implicit and cannot be customised as you noticed.

Bibliography entry content is entirely under your control, though fields are chosen from a fixed set (resulting however from general consensus in the scientific community). There many advantages to using them, amongst which it is automatically sorted on a freely selected field, what appears in the list can be customised, …

Usually, reference to a bibliographic entry is in the form [something]. something is set from the Short Name field. [ ] cannot be changed because it is the usual convention for references.

By default, LO Writer includes an example bibliography database you can access through Insert → Index and Tables → Bibliography Entry.... You can have a look to what can be done by clicking on Edit after selecting an entry. Your entries can be stored in the From document content cabinet.

I’m afraid you’ll have to reformat your document to using bibliography references but it is much safer and more versatile than the cross-reference feature. You must first create the bibliography database. You replace your list by Insert → Index and Tables → Index and Tables... choosing Bibliography instead of Table of Contents.

The bulk of the work is to chase the cross-references in the text (but they are shaded gray if you select View → Field Shadings or Ctrl+F8) to replace them with Insert → Index and Tables → Bibliography Entry.... It is time-consuming, yes, but it is worth it because document maintenance will then be easier and less error-prone.

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[calchas]

Thank you very much, that was very helpful of you. Best regards.

[ajlittoz]

You’re welcome. Please close the question to indicate to others that the answer is satisfactory.