Modification on how biblatex was handled

Classes/PhDThesisPSnPDF.cls

@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ supported!}
 % ******************************* Bibliography *********************************
 \ifPHD@authoryear
 \ifPHD@biblatex
-\RequirePackage[backend=bibtex8, style=authoryear, citestyle=alphabetic, sorting=nty, natbib=true]{biblatex}
+\RequirePackage[backend=biber, style=authoryear, citestyle=alphabetic, sorting=nty, natbib=true]{biblatex}
 \setBiBLaTeXtrue
 \else
 \RequirePackage[round, sort, numbers, authoryear]{natbib} %author year
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ supported!}
 \else
      \ifPHD@numbered
      \ifPHD@biblatex
-     \RequirePackage[backend=bibtex8, style=numeric-comp, citestyle=numeric, sorting=none, natbib=true]{biblatex}
+     \RequirePackage[backend=biber, style=numeric-comp, citestyle=numeric, sorting=none, natbib=true]{biblatex}
      \setBiBLaTeXtrue
      \else
      \RequirePackage[numbers,sort&compress]{natbib} % numbered citation
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ supported!}
          \fi
          \else
              \ifPHD@biblatex
-                 \RequirePackage[backend=bibtex8, style=numeric-comp, citestyle=numeric, sorting=none, natbib=true]{biblatex}
+                 \RequirePackage[backend=biber, style=numeric-comp, citestyle=numeric, sorting=none, natbib=true]{biblatex}
                  \setBiBLaTeXtrue
              \else
                  \RequirePackage[numbers,sort&compress]{natbib} % Default - numbered
@@ -328,9 +328,6 @@ and define the natbib package or biblatex package with required style in the Pre
 
 % *********************** To copy ligatures and Fonts **************************
 \RequirePackage{textcomp}
- %[utf8] was used - removed for biblatex - biber backend required
-\RequirePackage{inputenc}
-\RequirePackage[T1]{fontenc}
 
 % Font Selection
 \ifPHD@times
@@ -354,6 +351,9 @@ font in the preamble.tex file by specifying `customfont' in the class options}
     \fi
 \fi
 
+\RequirePackage[utf8]{inputenc}
+\RequirePackage[T1]{fontenc}
+
 \input{glyphtounicode}
 \pdfglyphtounicode{f_f}{FB00}
 \pdfglyphtounicode{f_i}{FB01}

Preamble/preamble.tex

@@ -32,13 +32,17 @@
 % Add `custombib' in the document class option to use this section
 \ifsetBib % True, Bibliography option is chosen in class options
 \else % If custom bibliography style chosen then load bibstyle here
-      \ifsetBiBLaTeX
-           \RequirePackage[backend=bitex8, style=numeric-comp, citestyle=numeric, sorting=nty, natbib=true]{biblatex}
-      \else
-            \RequirePackage[square, sort, numbers, authoryear]{natbib} % CustomBib
-     \fi
+
+   \RequirePackage[square, sort, numbers, authoryear]{natbib} % CustomBib
+
+% If you are using biblatex for your reference management, pass option `custombib` in the document class. Comment out the previous line to make sure you don't load the natbib package. Uncomment the following lines and specify the location of references.bib file
+
+% \RequirePackage[backend=biber, style=numeric-comp, citestyle=numeric, sorting=nty, natbib=true]{biblatex}
+% \bibliography{References/references} %Location of references.bib only for biblatex
+
 \fi
 
+
 % changes the default name `Bibliography` -> `References'
 \renewcommand{\bibname}{References}
 

README.md

@@ -51,8 +51,6 @@ THE SOFTWARE.
 
 *   Option to generate only specific chapters and references without the frontmatter and title page. Useful for review and corrections.
 
-*   BibLaTeX support for Bibliography
-
 *   A LyX Template is now available at [https://github.com/kks32/PhDThesisLyX/](https://github.com/kks32/PhDThesisLyX/)
 
 
@@ -189,8 +187,6 @@ It supports the following custom options in the documentclass in thesis.tex:
 
 `PhDThesisPSnPDF` currently supports two styles `authoryear` and `numbered (default)`. Citation style has to be set. You can also specify `custombib` style and customise the bibliography.
 
-* BibLaTeX support has been added and can be invoked using `biblatex` in the documentclass. Bibtex is used as the backend for `biblatex` at the moment. Will be replaced with biber when Makefile support is added.
-
 * `authoryear`: For author-year citation eg., Krishna (2013)
 
 * `numbered`: (Default Option) For numbered and sorted citation e.g., [1,5,2]
@@ -201,6 +197,8 @@ It supports the following custom options in the documentclass in thesis.tex:
 
 * (Overview of Bibtex-Styles with preview)[http://nodonn.tipido.net/bibstyle.php?]
 
+* If you would like to use biblatex instead of natbib. Pass the option `custombib` in the documentclass. In the `preamble.tex` file, edit the custombib section. Make sure you don't load the natbib package and you can specify the layout of your references in `thesis.tex` in the reference section. If you are using `biber` as backend, run `pdflatex thesis.tex >> biber thesis >> pdflatex thesis.tex >> biber thesis >> pdflatex thesis.tex`.
+
 ### Choosing the Page Style
 
 `PhDThesisPSnPDF` defines 3 different page styles (header and footer). The following definition is for `twoside` layout.

thesis-info.tex

@@ -31,10 +31,5 @@
 
 %% Meta information
 \subject{LaTeX} \keywords{{LaTeX} {PhD Thesis} {Engineering} {University of
-Cambridge}} 
-
-% ***************************** BiBLaTeX Reference *****************************
-\ifsetBiBLaTeX    
-\bibliography{References/references}
-\fi
+Cambridge}}
 

thesis.tex

@@ -39,10 +39,11 @@
 %
 % *********************** Choosing the Fonts in Class Options ******************
 %
-% `times' : Times font with math support. ( The Cambridge University guidelines
+% `times' : Times font with math support. (The Cambridge University guidelines
 % recommend using times)
 %
-% `fourier': Utopia Font with Fourier Math font
+% `fourier': Utopia Font with Fourier Math font (Font has to be installed) 
+%            It's a free font.
 %
 % `customfont': Use `customfont' option in the document class and load the
 % package in the preamble.tex
@@ -51,14 +52,14 @@
 %
 % ********************** Choosing the Bibliography style ***********************
 %
-% `biblatex`: To enable BibLaTeX Support with bibtex backend
-%
 % `authoryear': For author-year citation eg., Krishna (2013)
 %
 % `numbered': (Default Option) For numbered and sorted citation e.g., [1,5,2]
 %
 % `custombib': Define your own bibliography style in the `preamble.tex' file.
-% `\RequirePackage[square, sort, numbers, authoryear]{natbib}'
+%              `\RequirePackage[square, sort, numbers, authoryear]{natbib}'. 
+%              This can be also used to load biblatex instead of natbib 
+%              (See Preamble) 
 %
 % **************************** Choosing the Page Style *************************
 %
@@ -147,22 +148,22 @@
 % ********************************** Bibliography ******************************
 \begin{spacing}{0.9}
 
-% To use BibLaTeX for your references, use `biblatex' in the document class
-% Bibfile (reference.bib) is specified in Line 38 in thesis-info.tex '\ifsetBiBLaTeX    \bibliography{References/references} \fi'
-
-\ifsetBiBLaTeX                   % BiBLaTeX
-    \printbibliography[heading=bibintoc, title={References}]
-
 % To use the conventional natbib style referencing
 % Bibliography style previews: http://nodonn.tipido.net/bibstyle.php
-\else                            % NatBiB
 
-    \bibliographystyle{apalike}
-    %\bibliographystyle{plainnat} % use this to have URLs listed in References
-    \cleardoublepage
-    \bibliography{References/references} % Path to your References.bib file
+\bibliographystyle{apalike}
+%%\bibliographystyle{plainnat} % use this to have URLs listed in References
+\cleardoublepage
+\bibliography{References/references} % Path to your References.bib file
+
+
+% If you would like to use BibLaTeX for your references, pass `custombib' as 
+% an option in the document class. The location of 'reference.bib' should be 
+% specified in the preamble.tex file in the custombib section. 
+% Comment out the lines related to natbib above and uncomment the following line.
+
+% \printbibliography[heading=bibintoc, title={References}]
 
-\fi
 
 \end{spacing}