JabRef development version

This version is a development version. Features may not work as expected.

JabRef is a graphical Java application for editing bibtex (.bib) databases. JabRef lets you organize your entries into overlapping logical groups, and with a single click limit your view to a single group or an intersection or union of several groups. You can customize the entry information shown in the main window, and sort by any of the standard Bibtex fields. JabRef can autogenerate bibtex keys for your entries. JabRef also lets you easily link to PDF or web sources for your reference entries.

JabRef can import from and export to several formats, and you can customize export filters. JabRef can be run as a command line application to convert from any import format to any export format.

• Homepage: http://jabref.sourceforge.net/
• Development page: https://github.com/JabRef
• Main git repository: https://github.com/JabRef/jabref
• CI Server: https://travis-ci.org/JabRef/jabref
• Open HUB page: https://www.openhub.net/p/jabref

The main git repository has been generated out of the old git repository at sourceforge. The folder jabref of the old repository is now the main repository. Although that changed all git commit ids, the advantage is to have a clean separation between plugins, the homepage and the code of JabRef.

Bug reports, suggestions, other feedback

We are thankful for any bug reports or other feedback. If there are features you want included in JabRef, tell us!

The "old" trackers at sourceforge still remain intact:

• Bugs: https://sourceforge.net/p/jabref/bugs/
• Feature Requests: https://sourceforge.net/p/jabref/feature-requests/

Do not file patches using https://sourceforge.net/p/jabref/patches/. Just fork JabRef and create a pull request.

For newcomers, FLOSS Coach might be helpful. It contains steps to get start with JabRef development.

Next Steps

• Completely change build system from ant to gradle to get rid of the binaries in the repository.
• Migrate the sourceforge wiki to github
• Fix bugs listed at https://sourceforge.net/p/jabref/bugs/.

Requirements

JabRef runs on any system equipped with the Java Virtual Machine (1.6 or newer), which can be downloaded at no cost from http://java.sun.com. If you do not plan to compile JabRef, the Java Runtime Environment may be a better choice than the Java Development Kit.

Installing and running, Windows:

JabRef is available in Windows Installer (.msi) format. To install, double-click the .msi file. A shortcut to JabRef will be added to your start menu.

The Windows installation was made by Dale Visser, using the following open-source tools: JSmooth (.exe wrapper for Java apps), available at http://jsmooth.sf.net/ Wix (tool for compiling MSI files from an XML specification), available at http://wix.sf.net/

Installing and running, general:

JabRef can be downloaded as an executable .jar file. Run the program as follows: If you are using the Java Development Kit: java -jar <path to jar> or, if you are using the Java Runtime Environment: jre -new -jar <path to jar> or jrew -new -jar <path to jar>

If you run JabRef under Java 1.5, you can add the option -Dswing.aatext=true before the -jar option, to activate antialiased text throughout the application.

The jar file containing JabRef can be unpacked with the command: jar xf <path to jar> or jar xf <path to jar> <list of files to extract>. Unpacking the jar file is not necessary to run the program.

Documentation

JabRef comes with an online help function, accessed by pressing F1 or clicking on a question mark icon. The help files are probably not exhaustive enough to satisfy everyone yet, but they should help sort out the most important issues about using the program. The help files can also be viewed outside the program with a standard HTML browser. If you choose languages other than English, some or all help pages may appear in your chosen languages.

Building JabRef from source:

If you want a step-by-step tutorial, please check this guideline

To compile JabRef from source, you need a Java compiler supporting Java 1.6 and JAVA_HOME pointing to this JDK.

To run it, just execute gradlew run. When you want to develop, it is necessary to generate additional sources using gradlew generateSource and then generate the Eclipse gradlew eclipse or IntelliJ IDEA gradlew idea project files.

Release Process

Requires

• launch4j
• NSIS with the WinShell plug-in.

Replace ANY_ANT_TARGET with the Ant Target of your choice, and the system will build your binaries. To get a list of all targets, use gradlew tasks.

gradlew generateSource antTargets.ANY_ANT_TARGET

To compile, use the command gradlew generateSource antTargets.jars. After the build is finished, you can find the executable jar file named JabRef-$VERSION.jar (where $VERSION is the current version of the source tree) in the buildant\lib directory. Enjoy! The setup files are created by invoking the command gradlew generateSource antTargets.release.

On Mac OS X you should include the targets osx and osxjar, making the correct command gradlew generateSource antTargets.compile antTargets.unjarlib antTargets.osx antTargets.jars antTargets.osxjar. After the build is finished, you will find the OS X application JabRef.app in the buildant/lib directory along with the executable jar.

Releasing on Windows

Run gradlew antTargets.release

All binaries (including OSX) and the installer are generated in the directory buildant/lib.

License

JabRef is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. See the enclosed text files 'gpl3.txt' for full details.

JabRef also uses libraries distributed by other parties; see the About box for details.