A Pandoc Lua filter that removes Spaces before Cite elements

remove-spaces-before-citations.lua

local function remove_citation_space(para)
    local table elements = {}
    i = 0
    local function logel(el)
        i = i + 1
        elements[i] = el.t
    end
    pandoc.walk_block(para, {Inline = logel})

    -- See which Space elements should be deleted. It
    -- is those that follow a Cite element.
    local table todelete = {}
    local post_cite = false
    for i = #elements, 1, -1 do
        el = elements[i]
        if el == "Space" or el == "SoftBreak" then
            if post_cite then
                todelete[i] = true
            end
        elseif el == "Cite" then
            post_cite = true
        else 
            post_cite = false
        end
    end
    j = 0
    local function delete(el)
        j = j + 1
        if todelete[j] == true then
            return {}
        end
    end
    return pandoc.walk_block(para, {Inline = delete})
end

return {
    {Para = remove_citation_space}
}