How to automate importing a DOI via URL from browser

Features
1

The features to allow automated database import from a DOI are becoming very nice in JabRef.

I wonder how far away we might be from a browser tool/extension that helps to automate this even further?

For example, if I am on a page containing a DOI link, could I have a bookmarklet etc which tells JabRef to import a bibtex record corresponding to that DOI? Perhaps I have to highlight the DOI…?

Is there a way to communicate via a socket connection to JabRef and request addition of a record specified by DOI?

Looks like there would be ways for a Firefox extension to talk to JabRef, potentially… http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17351922/opening-socket-connection-in-firefox-add-on

2

There already is an extension for Firefox called JabFox. Importing new entries is very easy with it: you just click the JabRef icon and everything lands in JabRef.

We are plan to create similar add-ons for other browsers as well, see the github issue. The problem is exactly the communication with JabRef via sockets (“native messaging”). As you seem to have experience with developing addons (or Java?): are you interested in helping us and create an addon for the other browsers?

1 Like
3

Thanks for the heads-up about JabFox – I see you’re the author of that extension. Is there a reason why the whole Zotero extension also needs to be installed, would it be possible for you to just bundle the core bits of Zotero and avoid the whole browser integration stuff of Zotero?

4

The reason is simplicity. It was easier to let users install Zotero and reuse the code in this way instead of extracting the “core” and include it in JabFox. Of course, this is not as user-friendly as it could be and thus I also plan to to follow your suggestion, see https://github.com/JabRef/JabFox/issues/31. It is just not a very high-priority issue.