Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. The format is based on Keep a Changelog. We refer to GitHub issues by using #NUM. In case, there is no issue present, the pull request implementing the feature is linked.

Note that this project does not adhere to Semantic Versioning.

Unreleased

Added

In case a backup is found, the filename of the backup is shown.
On startup, JabRef notifies the user if there were parsing errors during opening.
We integrated a new three-way merge UI for merging entries in the Entries Merger Dialog, the Duplicate Resolver Dialog, the Entry Importer Dialog, and the External Changes Resolver Dialog. #8945
We added the ability to merge groups, keywords, comments and files when merging entries. #9022
We added a warning message next to the authors field in the merge dialog to warn users when the authors are the same but formatted differently. #8745
The properties of an existing systematic literature review can be edited. koppor#604
An SLR can now be started from the SLR itself. #9131, koppor#601
Implement a new ISBN Fetcher (doi-to-bibtex-converter.herokuapp.com as source). #9145
We added support for the Ukrainian and Arabic languages. #9236, #9243
The default file directory of a library is used as default directory for unlinked file lookup. koppor#546

Changed

We disabled the "change case" menu for empty fields #9214
We disabled the conversion menu for empty fields #9200
We upgraded to Lucene 9.4 for the fulltext search. Thus, the now created search index cannot be read from older versions of JabRef anylonger. ⚠️ JabRef will recreate the index in a new folder for new files and this will take a long time for a huge library. Moreover, switching back and forth JabRef versions and meanwhile adding PDFs also requires rebuilding the index now and then. #9213
Genres are now mapped correctly to entry types when importing MODS files. #9185
We improved the Citavi Importer to also import so called Knowledge-items into the field comment of the corresponding entry #9025
We removed wrapping of string constants when writing to a .bib file.
We call backup files .bak and temporary writing files now .sav.
JabRef keeps 10 older versions of a .bib file in the user data dir (instead of a single .sav (now: .bak) file in the directory of the .bib file)
We changed the button label from "Return to JabRef" to "Return to library" to better indicate the purpose of the action.
A user can now add arbitrary data into study.yml. JabRef just ignores this data. #9124
We reworked the External Changes Resolver dialog. #9021
The fallback directory of the file folder now is the general file directory. In case there was a directory configured for a library and this directory was not found, JabRef placed the PDF next to the .bib file and not into the general file directory.
The global default directory for storing PDFs is now the documents folder in the user's home.
We reworked the Define study parameters dialog. #9123
We simplified the actions to fast-resolve duplicates to 'Keep Left', 'Keep Right', 'Keep Both' and 'Keep Merged'. #9056
We fixed an issue where a message about changed metadata would occur on saving although nothing changed. #9159
When adding or editing a subgroup it is placed w.r.t. to alphabetical ordering rather than at the end. koppor#577
We modified the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) fetcher so that it will now also fetch the ISBN when possible. #8708
Groups context menu now shows appropriate options depending on number of subgroups. koppor#579
We changed the color of found text from red to high-contrast colors (background: yellow; font color: purple). koppor#552
We modified the "Delete file" dialog and add the full file path to the dialog text. The file path in the title was changed to file name only. koppor#534
Download from URL now automatically fills with URL from clipboard. koppor#535
We added HTML and Markdown files to Find Unlinked Files and removed BibTeX.koppor#547
We changed the messages after importing unlinked local files to past tense. koppor#548
We fixed an issue where the wrong icon for a successful import of a bib entry was shown #9308

Fixed

We fixed the readability of the file field in the dark dark theme #9340
We fixed that sorting of entries in the maintable by special fields is updated immediately #9334
We fixed the Cleanup entries dialog is partially visible #9223
We fixed the display of the "Customize Entry Types" dialogue title #9198
We fixed an issue where author names with tilde accents (for example ñ) were marked as "Names are not in the standard BibTex format" #8071
We fixed an issue where the possibility to generate a subdatabase from an aux file was writing empty files when called from the commandline #9115, forum#3516
We fixed the display of issue, number, eid and pages fields in the entry preview. #8607, #8372, Koppor#514, forum#2390, forum#3462
We fixed the page ranges checker to detect article numbers in the pages field (used at Check Integrity). #8607
The HtmlToLaTeXFormatter keeps single < characters.
We fixed a performance regression when opening large libraries #9041
We fixed a bug where spaces are trimmed when highlighting differences in the Entries merge dialog. koppor#371
We fixed some visual glitches with the linked files editor field in the entry editor and increased its height. #8823
We fixed some visual inconsistencies (round corners of highlighted buttons). #8806
We fixed several bugs regarding the manual and the autosave of library files that sometimes lead to exceptions or data loss. #9067, #8448, #8746, #6684, #6644, #6102, #6002
We fixed an issue where applied save actions on saving the library file would lead to the dialog "The library has been modified by another program" popping up #4877
We fixed issues with save actions not correctly loaded when opening the library. #9122
We fixed an issue where title case didn't capitalize words after en-dash characters and skip capitalization of conjunctions that comes after en-dash characters. #9068,#9142
We fixed an issue where JabRef would not exit when a connection to a LibreOffice document was established previously and the document is still open. #9075
We fixed an issue about selecting the save order in the preferences. #9175
We fixed an issue where the CSS styles are missing in some dialogs. #9150
We fixed an issue where pdfs were re-indexed on each startup. #9166
We fixed an issue where Capitalize didn't capitalize words after hyphen characters. #9157
We fixed an issue with the message that is displayed when fetcher returns an empty list of entries for given query. #9195
We fixed an issue where an exception was not logged correctly. koppor#627
We fixed an issue where hitting enter on the search field within the preferences dialog closed the dialog. koppor#630
We fixed a typo within a connection error message. koppor#625
We fixed an issue where the 'close dialog' key binding was not closing the Preferences dialog. #8888
We fixed an issue where editing entry's "date" field in library mode "biblatex" causes an uncaught exception. [#8747][JabRef#8747]
We fixed an issue where journal abbreviations would not abbreviate journal titles with escaped ampersands (\&). #8948
We fixed an issue where font size preferences did not apply correctly to preference dialog window and the menu bar. #8386 and #9279
We fixed an issue when using an unsafe character in the citation key, the auto-linking feature fails to link files. #9267

Removed

We removed "last-search-date" from the SLR feature, because the last-search-date can be deducted from the git logs. #9116

5.7 - 2022-08-05

Added

We added a fetcher for Biodiversity Heritage Library. 8539
We added support for multiple messages in the snackbar. #7340
We added an extra option in the 'Find Unlinked Files' dialog view to ignore unnecessary files like Thumbs.db, DS_Store, etc. koppor#373
JabRef now writes log files. Linux: $home/.cache/jabref/logs/version, Windows: %APPDATA%\..\Local\harawata\jabref\version\logs, Mac: Users/.../Library/Logs/jabref/version
We added an importer for Citavi backup files, support ".ctv5bak" and ".ctv6bak" file formats. #8322
We added a feature to drag selected entries and drop them to other opened inactive library tabs koppor521.
We added support for the biblatex-apa legal entry types Legislation, Legadminmaterial, Jurisdiction, Constitution and Legal #8931

Changed

The file column in the main table now shows the corresponding defined icon for the linked file 8930.
We improved the color of the selected entries and the color of the summary in the Import Entries Dialog in the dark theme. #7927
We upgraded to Lucene 9.2 for the fulltext search. Thus, the now created search index cannot be read from older versions of JabRef anylonger. ⚠️ JabRef will recreate the index in a new folder for new files and this will take a long time for a huge library. Moreover, switching back and forth JabRef versions and meanwhile adding PDFs also requires rebuilding the index now and then. #8868
We improved the Latex2Unicode conversion #8639
Writing BibTeX data into a PDF (XMP) removes braces. #8452
Writing BibTeX data into a PDF (XMP) does not write the file field.
Writing BibTeX data into a PDF (XMP) considers the configured keyword separator (and does not use "," as default any more)
The Medline/Pubmed search now also supports the default fields and operators for searching. forum#3554
We improved group expansion arrow that prevent it from activating group when expanding or collapsing. #7982, #3176
When configured SSL certificates changed, JabRef warns the user to restart to apply the configuration.
We improved the appearances and logic of the "Manage field names & content" dialog, and renamed it to "Automatic field editor". #6536
We improved the message explaining the options when modifying an automatic keyword group #8911
We moved the preferences option "Warn about duplicates on import" option from the tab "File" to the tab "Import and Export". koppor#570
When JabRef encounters % Encoding: UTF-8 header, it is kept during writing (and not removed). #8964
We replace characters which cannot be decoded using the specified encoding by a (probably another) valid character. This happens if JabRef detects the wrong charset (e.g., UTF-8 instead of Windows 1252). One can use the Integrity Check to find those characters.

Fixed

We fixed an issue where linked fails containing parts of the main file directory could not be opened. #8991
Linked files with an absolute path can be opened again. #8991
We fixed an issue where the user could not rate an entry in the main table when an entry was not yet ranked. #5842
We fixed an issue that caused JabRef to sometimes open multiple instances when "Remote Operation" is enabled. #8653
We fixed an issue where linked files with the filetype "application/pdf" in an entry were not shown with the correct PDF-Icon in the main table 8930
We fixed an issue where "open folder" for linked files did not open the folder and did not select the file unter certain Linux desktop environments #8679, #8849
We fixed an issue where the content of a big shared database library is not shown #8788
We fixed the unnecessary horizontal scroll bar in group panel #8467
We fixed an issue where the notification bar message, icon and actions appeared to be invisible. #8761
We fixed an issue where deprecated fields tab is shown when the fields don't contain any values. #8396
We fixed an issue where an exception for DOI search occurred when the DOI contained urlencoded characters. #8787
We fixed an issue which allow us to select and open identifiers from a popup list in the maintable #8758, 8802
We fixed an issue where the escape button had no functionality within the "Filter groups" textfield. koppor#562
We fixed an issue where the exception that there are invalid characters in filename. #8786
When the proxy configuration removed the proxy user/password, this change is applied immediately.
We fixed an issue where removing several groups deletes only one of them. #8390
We fixed an issue where the Sidepane (groups, web search and open office) width is not remembered after restarting JabRef. #8907
We fixed a bug where switching between themes will cause an error/exception. #8939
We fixed a bug where files that were deleted in the source bibtex file were kept in the index. #8962
We fixed "Error while sending to JabRef" when the browser extension interacts with JabRef. JabRef-Browser-Extension#479
We fixed a bug where updating group view mode (intersection or union) requires re-selecting groups to take effect. #6998
We fixed a bug that prevented external group metadata changes from being merged. #8873
We fixed the shared database opening dialog to remember autosave folder and tick. #7516
We fixed an issue where name formatter could not be saved. #9120

Removed

We removed the social media buttons for our Twitter and Facebook pages. #8774

5.6 - 2022-04-25

Added

We enabled the user to customize the API Key for some fetchers. #6877
We added an extra option when right-clicking an entry in the Entry List to copy either the DOI or the DOI url.
We added a fetcher for Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) 8576
We added an extra option to ask the user whether they want to open to reveal the folder holding the saved file with the file selected. #8195
We added a new section to network preferences to allow using custom SSL certificates. #8126
We improved the version check to take also beta version into account and now redirect to the right changelog for the version.
We added two new web and fulltext fetchers: SemanticScholar and ResearchGate.
We added notifications on success and failure when writing metadata to a PDF-file. #8276
We added a cleanup action that escapes $ (by adding a backslash in front). #8673

Changed

We upgraded to Lucene 9.1 for the fulltext search. Thus, the now created search index cannot be read from older versions of JabRef any longer. ⚠️ JabRef will recreate the index in a new folder for new files and this will take a long time for a huge library. Moreover, switching back and forth JabRef versions and meanwhile adding PDFs also requires rebuilding the index now and then. #8362
We changed the list of CSL styles to those that support formatting bibliographies. #8421 citeproc-java#116
The CSL preview styles now also support displaying data from cross references entries that are linked via the crossref field. #7378
We made the Search button in Web Search wider. We also skewed the panel titles to the left. #8397
We introduced a preference to disable fulltext indexing. #8468
When exporting entries, the encoding is always UTF-8.
When embedding BibTeX data into a PDF, the encoding is always UTF-8.
We replaced the OttoBib fetcher by a fetcher by OpenLibrary. #8652
We first fetch ISBN data from OpenLibrary, if nothing found, ebook.de is tried.
We now only show a warning when exiting for tasks that will not be recovered automatically upon relaunch of JabRef. #8468

Fixed

We fixed an issue where right clicking multiple entries and pressing "Change entry type" would only change one entry. #8654
We fixed an issue where it was no longer possible to add or delete multiple files in the file field in the entry editor. #8659
We fixed an issue where the author's lastname was not used for the citation key generation if it started with a lowercase letter. #8601
We fixed an issue where custom "Protected terms" files were missing after a restart of JabRef. #8608
We fixed an issue where JabRef could not start due to a missing directory for the fulltex index. #8579
We fixed an issue where long article numbers in the pages field would cause an exception and preventing the citation style to display. #8381, citeproc-java
We fixed an issue where online links in the file field were not detected correctly and could produce an exception. #8150
We fixed an issue where an exception could occur when saving the preferences #7614
We fixed an issue where "Copy DOI url" in the right-click menu of the Entry List would just copy the DOI and not the DOI url. #8389
We fixed an issue where opening the console from the drop-down menu would cause an exception. #8466
We fixed an issue when reading non-UTF-8 encoded. When no encoding header is present, the encoding is now detected from the file content (and the preference option is disregarded). #8417
We fixed an issue where pasting a URL was replacing + signs by spaces making the URL unreachable. #8448
We fixed an issue where creating subsidiary files from aux files created with some versions of biblatex would produce incorrect results. #8513
We fixed an issue where opening the changelog from withing JabRef led to a 404 error. #8563
We fixed an issue where not all found unlinked local files were imported correctly due to some race condition. #8444
We fixed an issue where Merge entries dialog exceeds screen boundaries.
We fixed an issue where the app lags when selecting an entry after a fresh start. #8446
We fixed an issue where no citationkey was generated on import, pasting a doi or an entry on the main table. 8406, koppor#553
We fixed an issue where accent search does not perform consistently. #6815
We fixed an issue where the incorrect entry was selected when "New Article" is pressed while search filters are active. #8674
We fixed an issue where "Write BibTeXEntry metadata to PDF" button remains enabled while writing to PDF is in-progress. #8691

Removed

We removed the option to copy CSL Citation styles data as XSL_FO, ASCIIDOC, and RTF as these have not been working since a long time and are no longer supported in the external library used for processing the styles. #7378
We removed the option to configure the default encoding. The default encoding is now hard-coded to the modern UTF-8 encoding.

5.5 - 2022-01-17

Changed

We integrated the external file types dialog directly inside the preferences. #8341
We disabled the add group button color change after adding 10 new groups. #8051
We inverted the logic for resolving BibTeX strings. This helps to keep # chars. By default String resolving is only activated for a couple of standard fields. The list of fields can be modified in the preferences. #7010, #7102, #8303
We moved the search box in preview preferences closer to the available citation styles list. #8370
Changing the preference to show the preview panel as a separate tab now has effect without restarting JabRef. #8370
We enabled switching themes in JabRef without the need to restart JabRef. #7335
We added support for the field day, rights, coverage and language when reading XMP data in Dublin Core format. #8491

Fixed

We fixed an issue where the preferences for "Search and store files relative to library file location" where ignored when the "Main file directory" field was not empty #8385
We fixed an issue where #chars in certain fields would be interpreted as BibTeX strings #7010, #7102, #8303
We fixed an issue where the fulltext search on an empty library with no documents would lead to an exception koppor#522
We fixed an issue where clicking on "Accept changes" in the merge dialog would lead to an exception forum#2418
We fixed an issue where clicking on headings in the entry preview could lead to an exception. #8292
We fixed an issue where IntegrityCheck used the system's character encoding instead of the one set by the library or in preferences #8022
We fixed an issue about empty metadata in library properties when called from the right click menu. #8358
We fixed an issue where someone could add a duplicate field in the customize entry type dialog. #8194
We fixed a typo in the library properties tab: "String constants". There, one can configure BibTeX string constants.
We fixed an issue when writing a non-UTF-8 encoded file: The header is written again. #8417
We fixed an issue where folder creation during systemic literature review failed due to an illegal fetcher name. #8552

5.4 - 2021-12-20

Added

We added confirmation dialog when user wants to close a library where any empty entires are detected. #8096
We added import support for CFF files. #7945
We added the option to copy the DOI of an entry directly from the context menu copy submenu. #7826
We added a fulltext search feature. #2838
We improved the deduction of bib-entries from imported fulltext pdfs. #7947
We added unprotect_terms to the list of bracketed pattern modifiers #7826
We added a dialog that allows to parse metadata from linked pdfs. #7929
We added an icon picker in group edit dialog. #6142
We added a preference to Opt-In to JabRef's online metadata extraction service (Grobid) usage. #8002
We readded the possibility to display the search results of all databases ("Global Search"). It is shown in a separate window. #4096
We readded the possibility to keep the search string when switching tabs. It is implemented by a toggle button. #4096
We allowed the user to also preview the available citation styles in the preferences besides the selected ones #8108
We added an option to search the available citation styles by name in the preferences #8108
We added an option to generate bib-entries from ID through a popover in the toolbar. #4183
We added a menu option in the right click menu of the main table tabs to display the library properties. #6527
When a .bib file ("library") was saved successfully, a notification is shown

Changed

Local library settings may overwrite the setting "Search and store files relative to library file location" #8179
The option "Fit table horizontally on screen" in the "Entry table" preferences is now disabled by default #8148
We improved the preferences and descriptions in the "Linked files" preferences tab #8148
We slightly changed the layout of the Journal tab in the preferences for ui consistency. #7937
The JabRefHost on Windows now writes a temporary file and calls -importToOpen instead of passing the bibtex via -importBibtex. #7374, JabRef Browser Ext #274
We reordered some entries in the right-click menu of the main table. #6099
We merged the barely used ImportSettingsTab and the CustomizationTab in the preferences into one single tab and moved the option to allow Integers in Edition Fields in Bibtex-Mode to the EntryEditor tab. #7849
We moved the export order in the preferences from File to Import and Export. #7935
We reworked the export order in the preferences and the save order in the library preferences. You can now set more than three sort criteria in your library preferences. #7935
The metadata-to-pdf actions now also embeds the bibfile to the PDF. #8037
The snap was updated to use the core20 base and to use lzo compression for better startup performance #8109
We moved the union/intersection view button in the group sidepane to the left of the other controls. #8202
We improved the Drag and Drop behavior in the "Customize Entry Types" Dialog #6338
When determining the URL of an ArXiV eprint, the URL now points to the version #8149
We Included all standard fields with citation key when exporting to Old OpenOffice/LibreOffice Calc Format #8176
In case the database is encoded with UTF8, the % Encoding marker is not written anymore
The written .bib file has the same line endings #390
The written .bib file always has a final line break
The written .bib file keeps the newline separator of the loaded .bib file
We present options to manually enter an article or return to the New Entry menu when the fetcher DOI fails to find an entry for an ID #7870
We trim white space and non-ASCII characters from DOI #8127
The duplicate checker now inspects other fields in case no difference in the required and optional fields are found.
We reworked the library properties dialog and integrated the Library > Preamble, Library > Citation key pattern and Library > String constants dialogs #8264
We improved the startup time of JabRef by switching from the logging library log4j2 to tinylog #8007

Fixed

We fixed an issue where an exception occurred when pasting an entry with a publication date-range of the form 1910/1917 #7864
We fixed an issue where an exception occured when a preview style was edited and afterwards another preview style selected. #8280
We fixed an issue where the actions to move a file to a directory were incorrectly disabled. #7908
We fixed an issue where an exception occurred when a linked online file was edited in the entry editor #8008
We fixed an issue when checking for a new version when JabRef is used behind a corporate proxy. #7884
We fixed some icons that were drawn in the wrong color when JabRef used a custom theme. #7853
We fixed an issue where the Aux file on Edit group doesn't support relative sub-directories path to import. #7719.
We fixed an issue where it was impossible to add or modify groups. #7912
We fixed an issue about the visible side pane components being out of sync with the view menu. #8115
We fixed an issue where the side pane would not close when all its components were closed. #8082
We fixed an issue where exported entries from a Citavi bib containing URLs could not be imported #7892
We fixed an issue where the icons in the search bar had the same color, toggled as well as untoggled. #8014
We fixed an issue where typing an invalid UNC path into the "Main file directory" text field caused an error. #8107
We fixed an issue where "Open Folder" didn't select the file on macOS in Finder #8130
We fixed an issue where importing PDFs resulted in an uncaught exception #8143
We fixed "The library has been modified by another program" showing up when line breaks change #4877
The default directory of the "LaTeX Citations" tab is now the directory of the currently opened database (and not the directory chosen at the last open file dialog or the last database save) koppor#538
When writing a bib file, the NegativeArraySizeException should not occur #8231 #8265
We fixed an issue where some menu entries were available without entries selected. #4795
We fixed an issue where right-clicking on a tab and selecting close will close the focused tab even if it is not the tab we right-clicked #8193
We fixed an issue where selecting a citation style in the preferences would sometimes produce an exception #7860
We fixed an issue where an exception would occur when clicking on a DOI link in the preview pane #7706
We fixed an issue where XMP and embedded BibTeX export would not work #8278
We fixed an issue where the XMP and embedded BibTeX import of a file containing multiple schemas failed #8278
We fixed an issue where writing embedded BibTeX import fails due to write protection or bibtex already being present #8332
We fixed an issue where pdf-paths and the pdf-indexer could get out of sync #8182
We fixed an issue where Status-Logger error messages appeared during the startup of JabRef #5475

Removed

We removed two orphaned preferences options #8164
We removed the functionality of the --debug commandline options. Use the java command line switch -Dtinylog.level=debug for debug output instead. #8226

5.3 – 2021-07-05

Added

We added a progress counter to the title bar in Possible Duplicates dialog window. #7366
We added new "Customization" tab to the preferences which includes option to choose a custom address for DOI access. #7337
We added zbmath to the public databases from which the bibliographic information of an existing entry can be updated. #7437
We showed to the find Unlinked Files Dialog the date of the files' most recent modification. #4652
We added to the find Unlinked Files function a filter to show only files based on date of last modification (Last Year, Last Month, Last Week, Last Day). #4652
We added to the find Unlinked Files function a filter that sorts the files based on the date of last modification(Sort by Newest, Sort by Oldest First). #4652
We added the possibility to add a new entry via its zbMath ID (zbMATH can be chosen as ID type in the "Select entry type" window). #7202
We added the extension support and the external application support (For Texshow, Texmaker and LyX) to the flatpak #7248
We added some symbols and keybindings to the context menu in the entry editor. #7268
We added keybindings for setting and clearing the read status. #7264
We added two new fields to track the creation and most recent modification date and time for each entry. koppor#130
We added a feature that allows the user to copy highlighted text in the preview window. #6962
We added a feature that allows you to create new BibEntry via paste arxivId #2292
We added support for conducting automated and systematic literature search across libraries and git support for persistence #369
We added a add group functionality at the bottom of the side pane. #4682
We added a feature that allows the user to choose whether to trust the target site when unable to find a valid certification path from the file download site. #7616
We added a feature that allows the user to open all linked files of multiple selected entries by "Open file" option. #6966
We added a keybinding preset for new entries. #7705
We added a select all button for the library import function. #7786
We added a search feature for journal abbreviations. #7804
We added auto-key-generation progress to the background task list. #7267
We added the option to write XMP metadata to pdfs from the CLI. 7814

Changed

The export to MS Office XML now exports the author field as Inventor if the bibtex entry type is patent #7830
We changed the EndNote importer to import the field label to the corresponding bibtex field endnote-label forum#2734
The keywords added via "Manage content selectors" are now displayed in alphabetical order. #3791
We improved the "Find unlinked files" dialog to show import results for each file. #7209
The content of the field timestamp is migrated to creationdate. In case one configured "udpate timestampe", it is migrated to modificationdate. koppor#130
The JabRef specific meta-data content in the main field such as priorities (prio1, prio2, ...) are migrated to their respective fields. They are removed from the keywords. #6840
We fixed an issue where groups generated from authors' last names did not include all entries of the authors' #5833
The export to MS Office XML now uses the month name for the field MonthAcessed instead of the two digit number #7354
We included some standalone dialogs from the options menu in the main preference dialog and fixed some visual issues in the preferences dialog. #7384
We improved the linking of the python3 interpreter via the shebang to dynamically use the systems default Python. Related to JabRef-Browser-Extension #177
Automatically found pdf files now have the linking button to the far left and uses a link icon with a plus instead of a briefcase. The file name also has lowered opacity(70%) until added. #3607
We simplified the select entry type form by splitting it into two parts ("Recommended" and "Others") based on internal usage data. #6730
We improved the submenu list by merging the'Remove group' having two options, with or without subgroups. #4682
The export to MS Office XML now uses the month name for the field Month instead of the two digit number forum#2685
We reintroduced missing default keybindings for new entries. #7346 #7439
Lists of available fields are now sorted alphabetically. #7716
The tooltip of the search field explaining the search is always shown. #7279
We rewrote the ACM fetcher to adapt to the new interface. #5804
We moved the select/collapse buttons in the unlinked files dialog into a context menu. #7383
We fixed an issue where journal abbreviations containing curly braces were not recognized #7773

Fixed

We fixed an isuse where some texts (e.g. descriptionss) in dialogs could not be translated #7854
We fixed an issue where import hangs for ris files with "ER - " #7737
We fixed an issue where getting bibliograhpic data from DOI or another identifer did not respect the library mode (BibTeX/biblatex)#1018
We fixed an issue where importing entries would not respect the library mode (BibTeX/biblatex)#1018
We fixed an issue where an exception occured when importing entries from a web search #7606
We fixed an issue where the table column sort order was not properly stored and resulted in unsorted eports #7524
We fixed an issue where the value of the field school or institution would be printed twice in the HTML Export forum#2634
We fixed an issue preventing to connect to a shared database. #7570
We fixed an issue preventing files from being dragged & dropped into an empty library. #6851
We fixed an issue where double-click onto PDF in file list under the 'General' tab section should just open the file. #7465
We fixed an issue where the dark theme did not extend to a group's custom color picker. #7481
We fixed an issue where choosing the fields on which autocompletion should not work in "Entry editor" preferences had no effect. #7320
We fixed an issue where the "Normalize page numbers" formatter did not replace en-dashes or em-dashes with a hyphen-minus sign. #7239
We fixed an issue with the style of highlighted check boxes while searching in preferences. #7226
We fixed an issue where the option "Move file to file directory" was disabled in the entry editor for all files #7194
We fixed an issue where application dialogs were opening in the wrong display when using multiple screens #7273
We fixed an issue where the "Find unlinked files" dialog would freeze JabRef on importing. #7205
We fixed an issue where the "Find unlinked files" would stop importing when importing a single file failed. #7206
We fixed an issue where JabRef froze for a few seconds in MacOS when DNS resolution timed out. #7441
We fixed an issue where an exception would be displayed for previewing and preferences when a custom theme has been configured but is missing #7177
We fixed an issue where URLs in file fields could not be handled on Windows. #7359
We fixed an issue where the regex based file search miss-interpreted specific symbols. #4342
We fixed an issue where the Harvard RTF exporter used the wrong default file extension. 4508
We fixed an issue where the Harvard RTF exporter did not use the new authors formatter and therefore did not export "organization" authors correctly. 4508
We fixed an issue where the field urldate was not exported to the corresponding fields YearAccessed, MonthAccessed, DayAccessed in MS Office XML #7354
We fixed an issue where the password for a shared SQL database was only remembered if it was the same as the username #6869
We fixed an issue where some custom exports did not use the new authors formatter and therefore did not export authors correctly #7356
We fixed an issue where alt+keyboard shortcuts do not work #6994
We fixed an issue about the file link editor did not allow to change the file name according to the default pattern after changing an entry. #7525
We fixed an issue where the file path is invisible in dark theme. #7382
We fixed an issue where the secondary sorting is not working for some special fields. #7015
We fixed an issue where changing the font size makes the font size field too small. #7085
We fixed an issue with TexGroups on Linux systems, where the modification of an aux-file did not trigger an auto-update for TexGroups. Furthermore, the detection of file modifications is now more reliable. #7412
We fixed an issue where the Unicode to Latex formatter produced wrong results for characters with a codepoint higher than Character.MAX_VALUE. #7387
We fixed an issue where a non valid value as font size results in an uncaught exception. #7415
We fixed an issue where "Merge citations" in the Openoffice/Libreoffice integration panel did not have a corresponding opposite. #7454
We fixed an issue where drag and drop of bib files for opening resulted in uncaught exceptions #7464
We fixed an issue where columns shrink in width when we try to enlarge JabRef window. #6818
We fixed an issue where Content selector does not seem to work for custom fields. #6819
We fixed an issue where font size of the preferences dialog does not update with the rest of the GUI. #7416
We fixed an issue in which a linked online file consisting of a web page was saved as an invalid pdf file upon being downloaded. The user is now notified when downloading a linked file results in an HTML file. #7452
We fixed an issue where opening BibTex file (doubleclick) from Folder with spaces not working. #6487
We fixed the header title in the Add Group/Subgroup Dialog box. #4682
We fixed an issue with saving large .bib files #7265
We fixed an issue with very large page numbers #7590
We fixed an issue where the file extension is missing on saving the library file on linux #7451
We fixed an issue with opacity of disabled icon-buttons #7195
We fixed an issue where journal abbreviations in UTF-8 were not recognized #5850
We fixed an issue where the article title with curly brackets fails to download the arXiv link (pdf file). #7633
We fixed an issue with toggle of special fields does not work for sorted entries #7016
We fixed an issue with the default path of external application. #7641
We fixed an issue where urls must be embedded in a style tag when importing EndNote style Xml files. Now it can parse url with or without a style tag. #6199
We fixed an issue where the article title with colon fails to download the arXiv link (pdf file). #7660
We fixed an issue where the keybinding for delete entry did not work on the main table 7580
We fixed an issue where the RFC fetcher is not compatible with the draft 7305
We fixed an issue where duplicate files (both file names and contents are the same) is downloaded and add to linked files #6197
We fixed an issue where changing the appearance of the preview tab did not trigger a restart warning. #5464
We fixed an issue where editing "Custom preview style" triggers exception. #7526
We fixed the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System fetcher. #7867
We fixed an issue where a title with multiple applied formattings in EndNote was not imported correctly forum#2734
We fixed an issue where a report in EndNote was imported as article forum#2734
We fixed an issue where the field publisher in EndNote was not imported in JabRef forum#2734

Removed

We removed add group button beside the filter group tab. #4682

5.2 – 2020-12-24

Added

We added a validation to check if the current database location is shared, preventing an exception when Pulling Changes From Shared Database. #6959
We added a query parser and mapping layer to enable conversion of queries formulated in simplified lucene syntax by the user into api queries. #6799
We added some basic functionality to customise the look of JabRef by importing a css theme file. #5790
We added connection check function in network preference setting #6560
We added support for exporting to YAML. #6974
We added a DOI format and organization check to detect American Physical Society journals to copy the article ID to the page field for cases where the page numbers are missing. #7019
We added an error message in the New Entry dialog that is shown in case the fetcher did not find anything . #7000
We added a new formatter to output shorthand month format. #6579
We added support for the new Microsoft Edge browser in all platforms. #7056
We reintroduced emacs/bash-like keybindings. #6017
We added a feature to provide automated cross library search using a cross library query language. This provides support for the search step of systematic literature reviews (SLRs). koppor#369

Changed

We changed the default preferences for OpenOffice/LibreOffice integration to automatically sync the bibliography when inserting new citations in a OpenOffic/LibreOffice document. #6957
We restructured the 'File' tab and extracted some parts into the 'Linked files' tab #6779
JabRef now offers journal lists from https://abbrv.jabref.org. JabRef the lists which use a dot inside the abbreviations. #5749
We removed two useless preferences in the groups preferences dialog. #6836
Synchronization of SpecialFields to keywords is now disabled by default. #6621
JabRef no longer opens the entry editor with the first entry on startup #6855
We completed the rebranding of bibtexkey as citationkey which was started in JabRef 5.1.
JabRef no longer opens the entry editor with the first entry on startup #6855
Fetch by ID: (long) "SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System" replaced by (short) "SAO/NASA ADS" #6876
We changed the title of the window "Manage field names and content" to have the same title as the corresponding menu item #6895
We renamed the menus "View -> Previous citation style" and "View -> Next citation style" into "View -> Previous preview style" and "View -> Next preview style" and renamed the "Preview" style to "Customized preview style". #6899
We changed the default preference option "Search and store files relative to library file location" to on, as this seems to be a more intuitive behaviour. #6863
We changed the title of the window "Manage field names and content": to have the same title as the corresponding menu item #6895
We improved the detection of "short" DOIs 6880
We improved the duplicate detection when identifiers like DOI or arxiv are semantiaclly the same, but just syntactically differ (e.g. with or without http(s):// prefix). #6707
We improved JabRef start up time 6057
We changed in the group interface "Generate groups from keywords in a BibTeX field" by "Generate groups from keywords in the following field". #6983
We changed the name of a group type from "Searching for keywords" to "Searching for a keyword". 6995
We changed the way JabRef displays the title of a tab and of the window. 4161
We changed connect timeouts for server requests to 30 seconds in general and 5 seconds for GROBID server (special) and improved user notifications on connection issues. 7026
We changed the order of the library tab context menu items. #7171
We changed the way linked files are opened on Linux to use the native openFile method, compatible with confined packages. 7037
We refined the entry preview to show the full names of authors and editors, to list the editor only if no author is present, have the year earlier. #7083

Fixed

We fixed an issue changing the icon link_variation_off that is not meaningful. #6834
We fixed an issue where the .sav file was not deleted upon exiting JabRef. #6109
We fixed a linked identifier icon inconsistency. #6705
We fixed the wrong behavior that font size changes are not reflected in dialogs. #6039
We fixed the failure to Copy citation key and link. #5835
We fixed an issue where the sort order of the entry table was reset after a restart of JabRef. #6898
We fixed an issue where no longer a warning was displayed when inserting references into LibreOffice with an invalid "ReferenceParagraphFormat". #6907.
We fixed an issue where a selected field was not removed after the first click in the custom entry types dialog. #6934
We fixed an issue where a remove icon was shown for standard entry types in the custom entry types dialog. #6906
We fixed an issue where it was impossible to connect to OpenOffice/LibreOffice on Mac OSX. #6970
We fixed an issue with the python script used by browser plugins that failed to locate JabRef if not installed in its default location. #6963
We fixed an issue where spaces and newlines in an isbn would generate an exception. #6456
We fixed an issue where identity column header had incorrect foreground color in the Dark theme. #6796
We fixed an issue where the RIS exporter added extra blank lines.#7007
We fixed an issue where clicking on Collapse All button in the Search for Unlinked Local Files expanded the directory structure erroneously #6848
We fixed an issue, when pulling changes from shared database via shortcut caused creation of a new tech report 6867
We fixed an issue where the JabRef GUI does not highlight the "All entries" group on start-up #6691
We fixed an issue where a custom dark theme was not applied to the entry preview tab 7068
We fixed an issue where modifications to the Custom preview layout in the preferences were not saved #6447
We fixed an issue where errors from imports were not shown to the user #7084
We fixed an issue where the EndNote XML Import would fail on empty keywords tags forum#2387
We fixed an issue where the color of groups of type "free search expression" not persisting after restarting the application #6999
We fixed an issue where modifications in the source tab where not saved without switching to another field before saving the library #6622
We fixed an issue where the "Document Viewer" did not show the first page of the opened pdf document and did not show the correct total number of pages #7108
We fixed an issue where the context menu was not updated after a file link was changed. #5777
We fixed an issue where the password for a shared SQL database was not remembered #6869
We fixed an issue where newly added entires were not synced to a shared SQL database #7176
We fixed an issue where the PDF-Content importer threw an exception when no DOI number is present at the first page of the PDF document #7203
We fixed an issue where groups created from aux files did not update on file changes #6394
We fixed an issue where authors that only have last names were incorrectly identified as institutes when generating citation keys #7199
We fixed an issue where institutes were incorrectly identified as universities when generating citation keys #6942

Removed

We removed the Google Scholar fetcher and the ACM fetcher do not work due to traffic limitations #6369
We removed the menu entry "Manage external file types" because it's already in 'Preferences' dialog #6991
We removed the integrity check "Abbreviation detected" for the field journal/journaltitle in the entry editor #3925

5.1 – 2020-08-30

Added

We added a new fetcher to enable users to search mEDRA DOIs #6602
We added a new fetcher to enable users to search "Collection of Computer Science Bibliographies". #6638
We added default values for delimiters in Add Subgroup window #6624
We improved responsiveness of general fields specification dialog window. #6643
We added support for importing ris file and load DOI #6530
We added the Library properties to a context menu on the library tabs #6485
We added a new field in the preferences in 'BibTeX key generator' for unwanted characters that can be user-specified. #6295
We added support for searching ShortScience for an entry through the user's browser. #6018
We updated EditionChecker to permit edition to start with a number. #6144
We added tooltips for most fields in the entry editor containing a short description. #5847
We added support for basic markdown in custom formatted previews #6194
We now show the number of items found and selected to import in the online search dialog. #6248
We created a new install screen for macOS. #5759
We added a new integrity check for duplicate DOIs. koppor#339
We implemented an option to download fulltext files while importing. #6381
We added a progress-indicator showing the average progress of background tasks to the toolbar. Clicking it reveals a pop-over with a list of running background tasks. 6443
We fixed the bug when strike the delete key in the text field. #6421
We added a BibTex key modifier for truncating strings. #3915
We added support for jumping to target entry when typing letter/digit after sorting a column in maintable #6146
We added a new fetcher to enable users to search all available E-Libraries simultaneously. koppor#369
We added the field "entrytype" to the export sort criteria #6531
We added the possibility to change the display order of the fields in the entry editor. The order can now be configured using drag and drop in the "Customize entry types" dialog #6152
We added native support for biblatex-software #6574
We added a missing restart warning for AutoComplete in the preferences dialog. #6351
We added a note to the citation key pattern preferences dialog as a temporary workaround for a JavaFX bug, about committing changes in a table cell, if the focus is lost. #5825
We added support for customized fallback fields in bracketed patterns. #7111

Changed

We improved the arXiv fetcher. Now it should find entries even more reliably and does no longer include the version (e.g v1) in the eprint field. forum#1941
We moved the group search bar and the button "New group" from bottom to top position to make it more prominent. #6112
When JabRef finds a .sav file without changes, there is no dialog asking for acceptance of changes anymore.
We changed the buttons for import/export/show all/reset of preferences to smaller icon buttons in the preferences dialog. #6130
We moved the functionality "Manage field names & content" from the "Library" menu to the "Edit" menu, because it affects the selected entries and not the whole library
We merged the functionality "Append contents from a BibTeX library into the currently viewed library" into the "Import into database" functionality. Fixes #6049.
We changed the directory where fulltext downloads are stored to the directory set in the import-tab in preferences. #6381
We improved the error message for invalid jstyles. #6303
We changed the section name of 'Advanced' to 'Network' in the preferences and removed some obsolete options.#6489
We improved the context menu of the column "Linked identifiers" of the main table, by truncating their texts, if they are too long. #6499
We merged the main table tabs in the preferences dialog. #6518
We changed the command line option 'generateBibtexKeys' to the more generic term 'generateCitationKeys' while the short option remains 'g'.#6545
We improved the "Possible duplicate entries" window to remember its size and position throughout a session. #6582
We divided the toolbar into small parts, so if the application window is to small, only a part of the toolbar is moved into the chevron popup. #6682
We changed the layout for of the buttons in the Open Office side panel to ensure that the button text is always visible, specially when resizing. #6639
We merged the two new library commands in the file menu to one which always creates a new library in the default library mode. #6359

Fixed

We fixed an issue where entry preview tab has no name in drop down list. #6591
We fixed to only search file links in the BIB file location directory when preferences has corresponding checkbox checked. #5891
We fixed wrong button order (Apply and Cancel) in ManageProtectedTermsDialog.
We fixed an issue with incompatible characters at BibTeX key #6257
We fixed an issue where dash (-) was reported as illegal BibTeX key #6295
We greatly improved the performance of the overall application and many operations. #5071
We fixed an issue where sort by priority was broken. #6222
We fixed an issue where opening a library from the recent libraries menu was not possible. #5939
We fixed an issue with inconsistent capitalization of file extensions when downloading files. #6115
We fixed the display of language and encoding in the preferences dialog. #6130
Now the link and/or the link description in the column "linked files" of the main table gets truncated or wrapped, if too long, otherwise display issues arise. #6178
We fixed the issue that groups panel does not keep size when resizing window. #6180
We fixed an error that sometimes occurred when using the context menu. #6085
We fixed an issue where search full-text documents downloaded files with same name, overwriting existing files. #6174
We fixed an issue when importing into current library an erroneous message "import cancelled" is displayed even though import is successful. #6266
We fixed an issue where custom jstyles for Open/LibreOffice where not saved correctly. #6170
We fixed an issue where the INSPIRE fetcher was no longer working #6229
We fixed an issue where custom exports with an uppercase file extension could not be selected for "Copy...-> Export to Clipboard" #6285
We fixed the display of icon both in the main table and linked file editor. #6169
We fixed an issue where the windows installer did not create an entry in the start menu bug report in the forum
We fixed an issue where only the field abstract and comment were declared as multiline fields. Other fields can now be configured in the preferences using "Do not wrap the following fields when saving" 4373
We fixed an issue where JabRef switched to discrete graphics under macOS #5935
We fixed an issue where the Preferences entry preview will be unexpected modified leads to Value too long exception #6198
We fixed an issue where custom jstyles for Open/LibreOffice would only be valid if a layout line for the entry type default was at the end of the layout section #6303
We fixed an issue where a new entry is not shown in the library if a search is active #6297
We fixed an issue where long directory names created from patterns could create an exception. #3915
We fixed an issue where sort on numeric cases was broken. #6349
We fixed an issue where year and month fields were not cleared when converting to biblatex #6224
We fixed an issue where an "Not on FX thread" exception occured when saving on linux #6453
We fixed an issue where the library sort order was lost. #6091
We fixed an issue where brackets in regular expressions were not working. 6469
We fixed an issue where multiple background task popups stacked over each other.. #6472
We fixed an issue where LaTeX citations for specific commands (\autocites) of biblatex-mla were not recognized. #6476
We fixed an issue where drag and drop was not working on empty database. #6487
We fixed an issue where the name fields were not updated after the preferences changed. #6515
We fixed an issue where "null" appeared in generated BibTeX keys. #6459
We fixed an issue where the authors' names were incorrectly displayed in the authors' column when they were bracketed. #6465 #6459
We fixed an issue where importing certain unlinked files would result in an exception #5815
We fixed an issue where downloaded files would be moved to a directory named after the citationkey when no file directory pattern is specified #6589
We fixed an issue with the creation of a group of cited entries which incorrectly showed the message that the library had been modified externally whenever saving the library. #6420
We fixed an issue with the creation of a group of cited entries. Now the file path to an aux file gets validated. #6585
We fixed an issue on Linux systems where the application would crash upon inotify failure. Now, the user is prompted with a warning, and given the choice to continue the session. #6073
We moved the search modifier buttons into the search bar, as they were not accessible, if autocompletion was disabled. #6625
We fixed an issue about duplicated group color indicators #6175
We fixed an issue where entries with the entry type Misc from an imported aux file would not be saved correctly to the bib file on disk #6405
We fixed an issue where percent sign ('%') was not formatted properly by the HTML formatter #6753
We fixed an issue with the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System fetcher where \textbackslash appeared at the end of the abstract.
We fixed an issue with the Science Direct fetcher where PDFs could not be downloaded. Fixes #5860
We fixed an issue with the Library of Congress importer.
We fixed the link to the external libraries listing in the about dialog
We fixed an issue regarding pasting on Linux. #6293

Removed

We removed the option of the "enforce legal key". #6295
We removed the obsolete External programs / Open PDF section in the preferences, as the default application to open PDFs is now set in the Manage external file types dialog. #6130
We removed the option to configure whether a .bib.bak file should be generated upon save. It is now always enabled. Documentation at https://docs.jabref.org/general/autosave. #6092
We removed the built-in list of IEEE journal abbreviations using BibTeX strings. If you still want to use them, you have to download them separately from https://abbrv.jabref.org.

5.0 – 2020-03-06

Changed

Added browser integration to the snap package for firefox/chromium browsers. #6062
We reintroduced the possibility to extract references from plain text (using GROBID). #5614
We changed the open office panel to show buttons in rows of three instead of going straight down to save space as the button expanded out to take up unnecessary horizontal space. #5479
We cleaned up the group add/edit dialog. #5826
We reintroduced the index column. #5844
Filenames of external files can no longer contain curly braces. #5926
We made the filters more easily accessible in the integrity check dialog. #5955
We reimplemented and improved the dialog "Customize entry types". #4719
We added an American Physical Society fetcher. #818
We added possibility to enable/disable items quantity in groups. #6042

Fixed

We fixed an issue where the command line console was always opened in the background. #5474
We fixed and issue where pdf files will not open under some KDE linux distributions when using okular. #5253
We fixed an issue where the Medline fetcher was only working when JabRef was running from source. #5645
We fixed some visual issues in the dark theme. #5764 #5753
We fixed an issue where non-default previews didn't handle unicode characters. #5779
We improved the performance, especially changing field values in the entry should feel smoother now. #5843
We fixed an issue where the ampersand character wasn't rendering correctly on previews. #3840
We fixed an issue where an erroneous "The library has been modified by another program" message was shown when saving. #4877
We fixed an issue where the file extension was missing after downloading a file (we now fall-back to pdf). #5816
We fixed an issue where cleaning up entries broke web URLs, if "Make paths of linked files relative (if possible)" was enabled, which resulted in various other issues subsequently. #5861
We fixed an issue where the tab "Required fields" of the entry editor did not show all required fields, if at least two of the defined required fields are linked with a logical or. #5859
We fixed several issues concerning managing external file types: Now everything is usable and fully functional. Previously, there were problems with the radio buttons, with saving the settings and with loading an input field value. Furthermore, different behavior for Windows and other operating systems was given, which was unified as well. #5846
We fixed an issue where entries containing Unicode charaters were not parsed correctly #5899
We fixed an issue where an entry containing an external filename with curly braces could not be saved. Curly braces are now longer allowed in filenames. #5899
We fixed an issue where changing the type of an entry did not update the main table #5906
We fixed an issue in the optics of the library properties, that cropped the dialog on scaled displays. #5969
We fixed an issue where changing the type of an entry did not update the main table. #5906
We fixed an issue where opening a library from the recent libraries menu was not possible. #5939
We fixed an issue where the most bottom group in the list got lost, if it was dragged on itself. #5983
We fixed an issue where changing entry type doesn't always work when biblatex source is shown. #5905
We fixed an issue where the group and the link column were not updated after changing the entry in the main table. #5985
We fixed an issue where reordering the groups was not possible after inserting an article. #6008
We fixed an issue where citation styles except the default "Preview" could not be used. #56220
We fixed an issue where a warning was displayed when the title content is made up of two sentences. #5832
We fixed an issue where an exception was thrown when adding a save action without a selected formatter in the library properties #6069
We fixed an issue where JabRef's icon was missing in the Export to clipboard Dialog. #6286
We fixed an issue when an "Abstract field" was duplicating text, when importing from RIS file (Neurons) #6065
We fixed an issue where adding the addition of a new entry was not completely validated #6370
We fixed an issue where the blue and red text colors in the Merge entries dialog were not quite visible #6334
We fixed an issue where underscore character was removed from the file name in the Recent Libraries list in File menu #6383
We fixed an issue where few keyboard shortcuts regarding new entries were missing #6403

Removed

Ampersands are no longer escaped by default in the bib file. If you want to keep the current behaviour, you can use the new "Escape Ampersands" formatter as a save action. #5869
The "Merge Entries" entry was removed from the Quality Menu. Users should use the right-click menu instead. #6021

5.0-beta – 2019-12-15

Changed

We added a short DOI field formatter which shortens DOI to more human-readable form. koppor#343
We improved the display of group memberships by adding multiple colored bars if the entry belongs to more than one group. #4574
We added an option to show the preview as an extra tab in the entry editor (instead of in a split view). #5244
A custom Open/LibreOffice jstyle file now requires a layout line for the entry type default #5452
The entry editor is now open by default when JabRef starts up. #5460
Customized entry types are now serialized in alphabetical order in the bib file.
We added a new ADS fetcher to use the new ADS API. #4949
We added support of the X11 primary selection #2389
We added support to switch between biblatex and bibtex library types. #5550
We changed the save action buttons to be easier to understand. #5565
We made the columns for groups, files and uri in the main table reorderable and merged the clickable icon columns for uri, url, doi and eprint. #5544
We reduced the number of write actions performed when autosave is enabled #5679
We made the column sort order in the main table persistent #5730
When an entry is modified on disk, the change dialog now shows the merge dialog to highlight the changes #5688

Fixed

Inherit fields from cross-referenced entries as specified by biblatex. #5045
We fixed an issue where it was no longer possible to connect to LibreOffice. #5261
The "All entries group" is no longer shown when no library is open.
We fixed an exception which occurred when closing JabRef. #5348
We fixed an issue where JabRef reports incorrectly about customized entry types. #5332
We fixed a few problems that prevented JabFox to communicate with JabRef. #4737 #4303
We fixed an error where the groups containing an entry loose their highlight color when scrolling. #5022
We fixed an error where scrollbars were not shown. #5374
We fixed an error where an exception was thrown when merging entries. #5169
We fixed an error where certain metadata items were not serialized alphabetically.
After assigning an entry to a group, the item count is now properly colored to reflect the new membership of the entry. #3112
The group panel is now properly updated when switching between libraries (or when closing/opening one). #3142
We fixed an error where the number of matched entries shown in the group pane was not updated correctly. #4441
We fixed an error where the wrong file is renamed and linked when using the "Copy, rename and link" action. #5653
We fixed a "null" error when writing XMP metadata. #5449
We fixed an issue where empty keywords lead to a strange display of automatic keyword groups. #5333
We fixed an error where the default color of a new group was white instead of dark gray. #4868
We fixed an issue where the first field in the entry editor got the focus while performing a different action (like searching). #5084
We fixed an issue where multiple entries were highlighted in the web search result after scrolling. #5035
We fixed an issue where the hover indication in the web search pane was not working. #5277
We fixed an error mentioning "javafx.controls/com.sun.javafx.scene.control" that was thrown when interacting with the toolbar.
We fixed an error where a cleared search was restored after switching libraries. #4846
We fixed an exception which occurred when trying to open a non-existing file from the "Recent files"-menu #5334
We fixed an issues where the search highlight in the entry preview did not worked. #5069
The context menu for fields in the entry editor is back. #5254
We fixed an exception which occurred when trying to open a non-existing file from the "Recent files"-menu #5334
We fixed a problem where the "editor" information has been duplicated during saving a .bib-Database. #5359
We re-introduced the feature to switch between different preview styles. #5221
We fixed various issues (including #5263) related to copying entries to the clipboard
We fixed some display errors in the preferences dialog and replaced some of the controls #5033 #5047 #5062 #5141 #5185 #5265 #5315 #5360
We fixed an exception which occurred when trying to import entries without an open library. #5447
The "Automatically set file links" feature now follows symbolic links. #5664
After successful import of one or multiple bib entries the main table scrolls to the first imported entry #5383
We fixed an exception which occurred when an invalid jstyle was loaded. #5452
We fixed an issue where the command line arguments importBibtex and importToOpen did not import into the currently open library, but opened a new one. #5537
We fixed an error where the preview theme did not adapt to the "Dark" mode #5463
We fixed an issue where multiple entries were allowed in the "crossref" field #5284
We fixed an issue where the merge dialog showed the wrong text colour in "Dark" mode #5516
We fixed visibility issues with the scrollbar and group selection highlight in "Dark" mode, and enabled "Dark" mode for the OpenOffice preview in the style selection window. #5522
We fixed an issue where the author field was not correctly parsed during bibtex key-generation. #5551
We fixed an issue where notifications where shown during autosave. #5555
We fixed an issue where the side pane was not remembering its position. #5615
We fixed an issue where JabRef could not interact with Oracle XE in the shared SQL database setup.
We fixed an issue where the toolbar icons were hidden on smaller screens.
We fixed an issue where renaming referenced files for bib entries with long titles was not possible. #5603
We fixed an issue where a window which is on an external screen gets unreachable when external screen is removed. #5037
We fixed a bug where the selection of groups was lost after drag and drop. #2868
We fixed an issue where the custom entry types didn't show the correct display name #5651

Removed

We removed some obsolete notifications. #5555
We removed an internal step in the ISBN-to-BibTeX fetcher: The ISBN to BibTeX Converter by @manastungare is not used anymore, because it is offline: "people using this tool have not been generating enough sales for Amazon."
We removed the option to control the default drag and drop behaviour. You can use the modifier keys (like CtrL or Alt) instead.

5.0-alpha – 2019-08-25

Changed

We added eventitle, eventdate and venue fields to @unpublished entry type.
We added @software and @dataSet entry type to biblatex.
All fields are now properly sorted alphabetically (in the subgroups of required/optional fields) when the entry is written to the bib file.
We fixed an issue where some importers used the field pubstatus instead of the standard BibTeX field pubstate.
We changed the latex command removal for docbook exporter. #3838
We changed the location of some fields in the entry editor (you might need to reset your preferences for these changes to come into effect)
- Journal/Year/Month in biblatex mode -> Deprecated (if filled)
- DOI/URL: General -> Optional
- Internal fields like ranking, read status and priority: Other -> General
- Moreover, empty deprecated fields are no longer shown
Added server timezone parameter when connecting to a shared database.
We updated the dialog for setting up general fields.
URL field formatting is updated. All whitespace chars, located at the beginning/ending of the URL, are trimmed automatically
We changed the behavior of the field formatting dialog such that the bibtexkey is not changed when formatting all fields or all text fields.
We added a "Move file to file directory and rename file" option for simultaneously moving and renaming of document file. #4166
Use integrated graphics card instead of discrete on macOS #4070
We added a cleanup operation that detects an arXiv identifier in the note, journal or URL field and moves it to the eprint field. Because of this change, the last-used cleanup operations were reset.
We changed the minimum required version of Java to 1.8.0_171, as this is the latest release for which the automatic Java update works. #4093
The special fields like Printed and Read status now show gray icons when the row is hovered.
We added a button in the tab header which allows you to close the database with one click. #494
Sorting in the main table now takes information from cross-referenced entries into account. #2808
If a group has a color specified, then entries matched by this group have a small colored bar in front of them in the main table.
Change default icon for groups to a circle because a colored version of the old icon was hard to distinguish from its black counterpart.
In the main table, the context menu appears now when you press the "context menu" button on the keyboard. feature request in the forum
We added icons to the group side panel to quickly switch between union and intersection group view mode. #3269.
We use https for fetching from most online bibliographic database.
We changed the default keyboard shortcuts for moving between entries when the entry editor is active to ̀alt + up/down.
Opening a new file now prompts the directory of the currently selected file, instead of the directory of the last opened file.
Window state is saved on close and restored on start.
We made the MathSciNet fetcher more reliable.
We added the ISBN fetcher to the list of fetcher available under "Update with bibliographic information from the web" in the entry editor toolbar.
Files without a defined external file type are now directly opened with the default application of the operating system
We streamlined the process to rename and move files by removing the confirmation dialogs.
We removed the redundant new lines of markings and wrapped the summary in the File annotation tab. #3823
We add auto URL formatting when user paste link to URL field in entry editor. koppor#254
We added a minimum height for the entry editor so that it can no longer be hidden by accident. #4279
We added a new keyboard shortcut so that the entry editor could be closed by Ctrl + E. #4222
We added an option in the preference dialog box, that allows user to pick the dark or light theme option. #4130
We updated the Related Articles tab to accept JSON from the new version of the Mr. DLib service
We added an option in the preference dialog box that allows user to choose behavior after dragging and dropping files in Entry Editor. #4356
We added the ability to have an export preference where previously "File"-->"Export"/"Export selected entries" would not save the user's preference#4495
We optimized the code responsible for connecting to an external database, which should lead to huge improvements in performance.
For automatically created groups, added ability to filter groups by entry type. #4539
We added the ability to add field names from the Preferences Dialog #4546
We added the ability to change the column widths directly in the main table. #4546
We added a description of how recommendations were chosen and better error handling to Related Articles tab
We added the ability to execute default action in dialog by using with Ctrl + Enter combination #4496
We grouped and reordered the Main Menu (File, Edit, Library, Quality, Tools, and View tabs & icons). #4666 #4667 #4668 #4669 #4670 #4671 #4672 #4673
We added additional modifiers (capitalize, titlecase and sentencecase) to the Bibtex key generator. #1506
We have migrated from the mysql jdbc connector to the mariadb one for better authentication scheme support. #4746
We grouped the toolbar icons and changed the Open Library and Copy icons. #4584
We added a browse button next to the path text field for aux-based groups. #4586
We changed the title of Group Dialog to "Add subgroup" from "Edit group" when we select Add subgroup option.
We enable import button only if entries are selected. #4755
We made modifications to improve the contrast of UI elements. #4583
We added a warning for empty BibTeX keys in the entry editor. #4440
We added an option in the settings to set the default action in JabRef when right clicking on any entry in any database and selecting "Open folder". #4763
The Medline fetcher now normalizes the author names according to the BibTeX-Standard #4345
We added an option on the Linked File Viewer to rename the attached file of an entry directly on the JabRef. #4844
We added an option in the preference dialog box that allows user to enable helpful tooltips.#3599
We reworked the functionality for extracting BibTeX entries from plain text, because our used service freecite shut down. #5206
We moved the dropdown menu for selecting the push-application from the toolbar into the external application preferences. #674
We removed the alphabetical ordering of the custom tabs and updated the error message when trying to create a general field with a name containing an illegal character. #5019
We added a context menu to the bib(la)tex-source-editor to copy'n'paste. #5007
We added a tool that allows searching for citations in LaTeX files. It scans directories and shows which entries are used, how many times and where.
We added a 'LaTeX citations' tab to the entry editor, to search for citations to the active entry in the LaTeX file directory. It can be disabled in the preferences dialog.
We added an option in preferences to allow for integers in field "edition" when running database in bibtex mode. #4680
We added the ability to use negation in export filter layouts. #5138
Focus on Name Area instead of 'OK' button whenever user presses 'Add subgroup'. #6307
We changed the behavior of merging that the entry which has "smaller" bibkey will be selected. #7395

Fixed

We fixed an issue where JabRef died silently for the user without enough inotify instances #4874
We fixed an issue where corresponding groups are sometimes not highlighted when clicking on entries #3112
We fixed an issue where custom exports could not be selected in the 'Export (selected) entries' dialog #4013
Italic text is now rendered correctly. #3356
The entry editor no longer gets corrupted after using the source tab. #3532 #3608 #3616
We fixed multiple issues where entries did not show up after import if a search was active. #1513 #3219)
We fixed an issue where the group tree was not updated correctly after an entry was changed. #3618
We fixed an issue where a right-click in the main table selected a wrong entry. #3267
We fixed an issue where in rare cases entries where overlayed in the main table. #3281
We fixed an issue where selecting a group messed up the focus of the main table and the entry editor. #3367
We fixed an issue where composite author names were sorted incorrectly. #2828
We fixed an issue where commands followed by - didn't work. #3805
We fixed an issue where a non-existing aux file in a group made it impossible to open the library. #4735
We fixed an issue where some journal names were wrongly marked as abbreviated. #4115
We fixed an issue where the custom file column were sorted incorrectly. #3119
We improved the parsing of author names whose infix is abbreviated without a dot. #4864
We fixed an issues where the entry losses focus when a field is edited and at the same time used for sorting. #3373
We fixed an issue where the menu on Mac OS was not displayed in the usual Mac-specific way. #3146
We improved the integrity check for page numbers. #4113 and feature request in the forum
We fixed an issue where the order of fields in customized entry types was not saved correctly. #4033
We fixed an issue where renaming a group did not change the group name in the interface. #3189
We fixed an issue where the groups tree of the last database was still shown even after the database was already closed.
We fixed an issue where the "Open file dialog" may disappear behind other windows. #3410
We fixed an issue where the number of entries matched was not updated correctly upon adding or removing an entry. #3537
We fixed an issue where the default icon of a group was not colored correctly.
We fixed an issue where the first field in entry editor was not focused when adding a new entry. #4024
We reworked the "Edit file" dialog to make it resizeable and improved the workflow for adding and editing files #2970
We fixed an issue where custom name formatters were no longer found correctly. #3531
We fixed an issue where the month was not shown in the preview. #3239
Rewritten logic to detect a second jabref instance. #4023
We fixed an issue where the "Convert to BibTeX-Cleanup" moved the content of the file field to the pdf field #4120
We fixed an issue where the preview pane in entry preview in preferences wasn't showing the citation style selected #3849
We fixed an issue where the default entry preview style still contained the field review. The field review in the style is now replaced with comment to be consistent with the entry editor #4098
We fixed an issue where users were vulnerable to XXE attacks during parsing #4229
We fixed an issue where files added via the "Attach file" contextmenu of an entry were not made relative. #4201 and #4241
We fixed an issue where author list parser can't generate bibtex for Chinese author. #4169
We fixed an issue where the list of XMP Exclusion fields in the preferences was not be saved #4072
We fixed an issue where the ArXiv Fetcher did not support HTTP URLs koppor#328
We fixed an issue where only one PDF file could be imported #4422
We fixed an issue where "Move to group" would always move the first entry in the library and not the selected #4414
We fixed an issue where an older dialog appears when downloading full texts from the quality menu. #4489
We fixed an issue where right clicking on any entry in any database and selecting "Open folder" results in the NullPointer exception. #4763
We fixed an issue where option 'open terminal here' with custom command was passing the wrong argument. #4802
We fixed an issue where ranking an entry would generate an IllegalArgumentException. #4754
We fixed an issue where special characters where removed from non-label key generation pattern parts #4767
We fixed an issue where the RIS import would overwite the article date with the value of the acessed date #4816
We fixed an issue where an NullPointer exception was thrown when a referenced entry in an Open/Libre Office document was no longer present in the library. Now an error message with the reference marker of the missing entry is shown. #4932
We fixed an issue where a database exception related to a missing timezone was too big. #4827
We fixed an issue where the IEEE fetcher returned an error if no keywords were present in the result from the IEEE website #4997
We fixed an issue where the command line help text had several errors, and arguments and descriptions have been rewritten to simplify and detail them better. #4932
We fixed an issue where the same menu for changing entry type had two different sizes and weights. #4977
We fixed an issue where the "Attach file" dialog, in the right-click menu for an entry, started on the working directory instead of the user's main directory. #4995
We fixed an issue where the JabRef Icon in the macOS launchpad was not displayed correctly #5003
We fixed an issue where the "Search for unlinked local files" would throw an exception when parsing the content of a PDF-file with missing "series" information #5128
We fixed an issue where the XMP Importer would incorrectly return an empty default entry when importing pdfs #6577
We fixed an issue where opening the menu 'Library properties' marked the library as modified #6451
We fixed an issue when importing resulted in an exception #7343
We fixed an issue where the field in the Field formatter dropdown selection were sorted in random order. #7710

Removed

The feature to "mark entries" was removed and merged with the groups functionality. For migration, a group is created for every value of the __markedentry field and the entry is added to this group.
The number column was removed.
We removed the global search feature.
We removed the coloring of cells in the main table according to whether the field is optional/required.
We removed the feature to find and resolve duplicate BibTeX keys (as this use case is already covered by the integrity check).
We removed a few commands from the right-click menu that are not needed often and thus don't need to be placed that prominently:
- Print entry preview: available through entry preview
- All commands related to marking: marking is not yet reimplemented
- Set/clear/append/rename fields: available through Edit menu
- Manage keywords: available through the Edit menu
- Copy linked files to folder: available through File menu
- Add/move/remove from group: removed completely (functionality still available through group interface)
We removed the option to change the column widths in the preferences dialog. #4546

Older versions

The changelog of JabRef 4.x is available at the v4.3.1 tag. The changelog of JabRef 3.x is available at the v3.8.2 tag. The changelog of JabRef 2.11 and all previous versions is available as text file in the v2.11.1 tag.

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CHANGELOG.md

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Changelog

Unreleased

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5.7 - 2022-08-05

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5.6 - 2022-04-25

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5.5 - 2022-01-17

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5.4 - 2021-12-20

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5.3 – 2021-07-05

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5.2 – 2020-12-24

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5.1 – 2020-08-30

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5.0 – 2020-03-06

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5.0-beta – 2019-12-15

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5.0-alpha – 2019-08-25

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Older versions