# Cannot open bib file

**URL:** <https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-open-bib-file/199>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [September 7, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-open-bib-file/199 "2016-09-07T20:28:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ml115](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@ml115](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/ml115)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-open-bib-file/199/1 "2016-09-07T20:28:26Z")

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After using Jabref 2.9.2 for past several years on Mac OSX 10.7, I migrated to  
Mac OSX 10.11 and Jabref 3.6. I am not sure, how it happened, but I cannot  
open neither database or its backup. In both cases, the error message is  
Error in line 4: Expected { or ( but received 0. I wonder, whether this issue  
that can be fixed, somehow. I still have a one day old backup of this database,  
so I am on safe side, but I will miss a few entries. Thanks.

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**Author:** ![tobiasdiez](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/tobiasdiez/32/340_2.png) [@tobiasdiez](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/tobiasdiez)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-open-bib-file/199/2 "2016-09-07T20:34:44Z")

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Could you please upload your bib-file here or send it to [developers@jabref.org](mailto:developers@jabref.org) so that we can assist you better in fixing your problem. Thanks.

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**Author:** ![ml115](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@ml115](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/ml115)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-open-bib-file/199/3 "2016-09-08T18:56:26Z")

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I opened the “corrupted” bib file in the TexShop. I think, the issue was with invisible character  
preceding %. After I removed this character manually in many, many instances, I was able to open  
this modified file in the Jabref.

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**Author:** ![joerg.lenhard](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/joerg.lenhard/32/9_2.png) [@joerg.lenhard](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/joerg.lenhard)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 8:40am UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-open-bib-file/199/4 "2016-09-09T08:40:21Z")

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“Invisible characters” and the like are a typical indicator for encoding issues. Please make sure that your applications (TexShop, JabRef, etc.) are configured to actually use the same encoding and, more important, that they use the encoding in which the file is actually written.

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**Author:** ![ml115](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@ml115](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/ml115)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-open-bib-file/199/5 "2016-09-09T16:38:42Z")

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I really don’t know what is going on. I imported one or two citations and I  
saved and quit Jabref 3.6.  
When I try to open it, I get the error message Error in line 4: Expected {  
or ( but received 0.  
The database is in the attachment. Thanks​  
Global.bib  
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3bxcC0lxwIcVWE1NDR5dmlGNzA/view?usp=drive\_web](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3bxcC0lxwIcVWE1NDR5dmlGNzA/view?usp=drive_web)  
​

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**Author:** ![joerg.lenhard](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/joerg.lenhard/32/9_2.png) [@joerg.lenhard](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/joerg.lenhard)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-open-bib-file/199/6 "2016-09-09T21:10:03Z")

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I just downloaded your file and opened it with the current development version of JabRef (which is only a tip ahead of the standard 3.6 version). It opens perfectly well on my machine, is searchable, I can add entries, save the file, reopen it, etc. etc.

Sorry, but I cannot help you with this one. From my side, the problem seems to be localized to your system.

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**Author:** ![tobiasdiez](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/tobiasdiez/32/340_2.png) [@tobiasdiez](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/tobiasdiez)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/cannot-open-bib-file/199/7 "2016-09-09T23:03:56Z")

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Same here: I could open / modify / reopen your file without problems on JabRef 3.5 Windows 10. Did you tried open the file on a different system?