# Fields manually filled in .bib-file are empty when opening in JabRef

**URL:** <https://discourse.jabref.org/t/fields-manually-filled-in-bib-file-are-empty-when-opening-in-jabref/2352>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [October 9, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/fields-manually-filled-in-bib-file-are-empty-when-opening-in-jabref/2352 "2020-10-09T13:04:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![eowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@eowyn](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/eowyn)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/fields-manually-filled-in-bib-file-are-empty-when-opening-in-jabref/2352/1 "2020-10-09T13:04:30Z")

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Hi everyone,

for efficiency reasons, I edited my .bib file in a text editor. I took great care to respect JabRefs entry order and syntax (I filled the fields I wanted to edit manually in an exemplary entry in JabRef, exported that entry, opened it in my text editor, and used it as a “style manual”.

But now, when I open the manually edited .bib file in JabRef, the fields “readstatus” and “relevance” are empty even though I filled them with arguments (see screenshots):

 ![Screenshot 2020-10-09 at 15.03.50](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/jabref/original/1X/167c6bfc9a717bc0bee37f05e5a1c2588b016a65.png)

If I do not touch the respective entries in JabRef (e. g. when I just check whether the fields are filled or not, just to find that they are empty), I can open, save, and close the .bib file there and still find the fields when I open the file in the text editor. If however I try to edit the respective entries (does not matter which field), the “invisible” arguments are deleted from the .bib file so that even if I open it in the text editor the fields are gone.

How can I fix this problem? I am using this JabRef version:  
JabRef 5.1–2020-08-30–e023aa0  
Mac OS X 10.15.7 x86\_64  
Java 15

Thank you for your insights and tipps!  
eowyn

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**Author:** ![mlep](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discourse.jabref.org/mlep/32/387_2.png) [@mlep](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/mlep)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/fields-manually-filled-in-bib-file-are-empty-when-opening-in-jabref/2352/2 "2020-10-09T13:17:20Z")

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I guess you have to “Enable special fields” in Options -\> Preferences -\> Entry table

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**Author:** ![eowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@eowyn](https://discourse.jabref.org/u/eowyn)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2020, 1:42pm UTC](https://discourse.jabref.org/t/fields-manually-filled-in-bib-file-are-empty-when-opening-in-jabref/2352/3 "2020-10-09T13:42:28Z")

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Thank you, mlep, that’s a good tip. In my case, it had already been enabled – – –

… _but_: just after I put the post up, I had an idea, which turned out to be correct. I will document here how I solved that problem so that anyone encountering it as well will be able to solve it, too.

I am still quite new to JabRef, so I did not realize that I picked exactly the wrong fields for my custom library organisation keywords:

Situation: “relevance” and “readstatus” are special fields ([see here for User Documentation](https://docs.jabref.org/finding-sorting-and-cleaning-entries/specialfields)), which means, they are linked to the display of graphic elements (readstatus: eye in three different colors, relevance: one to five stars) and therefore have only a limited number of very clearly defined options that JabRef will accept. (At least that is how I interpret this whole issue.)

Complication: Consequently, JabRef gets a problem, if I put my own terms in these particular fields.

Solution: In Options \> Set up general fields I defined a new tab (Database organisation) and two new fields with customized names that were not already used by Jabref (“databasereadstatus” and “databaserelevance”). Then, I opened the .bib file in a text editor and did a search-and-replace for readstatus \> databasereadstatus and relevance \> databaserelevance. And––lo and behold–– it worked and my manually filled-in arguments are back, and I can use them for smart groups.

Thank you anyway for your availability,  
eowyn