JabRef 5.1 Release

We are proud to announce the release the next milestone of JabRef. Today we are releasing Jabref 5.1. Just in time for the upcoming annual JabCon!

Notable Changes and New Features

After the release of the previous major milestone 5.0 we intensively focused on performance and bug fixes. We managed to speed up JabRef significantly, especially when used with many groups and/or larger libraries.

We didn’t just focus on performance and bug fixes, but also added a couple of new features: For users using our integrated fetchers we added the option to automatically download the associated fulltext (if available) on import. Related to that is the new support of mEDRA DOIs to retrieve metadata. We improved the integrity check which can now detect duplicated DOIs. This results in a more reliable way to check for duplicates in your library. For LaTeX users, JaRef now supports the entry types and fields of biblatex-software out of the box.

Additionally to these improvements under the hood, we also tweaked the user interface: We added tooltips for nearly all fields in the entry editor to show a description of the fields purpose. The comment field now supports markdown.

A progress indicator in the toolbar provides an overview of running background tasks. Also the toolbar should now scale more nicely in smaller windows. The preferences dialog got some smaller visual improvements and the structure was a bit refined.

A major change affects users of Mac computers running Mac OS Catalina. You will no longer get any warning about insecure software. JabRef for Mac is now completely signed and certified. We also took the opportunity to visually adjust the installer.

And many more! In total, there are over 100 changes since our last official release!

You can get it from FOSShub.

Please report any other issues that you encounter in our bug tracker (in case it was not already reported before).

Special Thanks

The JabRef Developers would like to give special thanks to all new and old contributors. We are very happy to see so many new contributors opening pull requests and making translations. As we all work on JabRef in our free time, we feel honored that people share our enthusiasm for free software and work together to make research easier. Some big news about how to be part of this project will follow soon.

We also want to thank all universities including JabRef in their academic teaching.

Finally, we want to thank all the users who are constantly testing the latest snapshots and giving feedback! In addition, we hope that all of our users stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic! Keep on researching :petri_dish::adult:‍:microscope:!

You like it? Foster JabRef development with Knowledge or Money.

2 Likes

I am really excited to practice it.
However, after I downloaded and installed it, the application fails to open on Win 10 64-bit. It seems to start to open (the mouse turns into a donut) then suddenly closes before opening the window.

I tried to follow some advice such as this one: Unable to start Jabref on Windows 10 And this one: JabRef not opening But it seems that the folder structure is significantly different in the new version.
Could you assist me how to correct this issue? Given that there has been a functioning installation but the new update didn’t work.
Many thanks in advance,
Mazen

@Mazen_094 Thanks for using JabRef!
Can you try to open JabRef using the bat file and report the output of the console window?
The JabRef.bat is located in
C:\Program Files\JabRef\runtime\bin

1 Like

Hi Christoph,
Calling the command in the path you specified, gives the following output:
C:\Program Files\JabRef\runtime\bin>JabRef.bat
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [d]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [d] starting at position 16 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [thread]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [thread] starting at position 25 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [level]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [level] starting at position 35 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [logger]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [logger] starting at position 47 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [msg]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [msg] starting at position 54 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [n]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [n] starting at position 56 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [d]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [d] starting at position 16 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [thread]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [thread] starting at position 25 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [level]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [level] starting at position 35 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [logger]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [logger] starting at position 47 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [msg]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [msg] starting at position 54 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [n]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [n] starting at position 56 in conversion pattern.
However, it seems to start and open the bib files correctly.
How can I link the cmd output to the not being able to open the app directly from its shortcut?
Many thanks,
Mazen

The cmd output is a known issue, but not relevant and not related to the issue.
It would be nice if you could test again with the latest development version:

1 Like

Hi Chrostoph,
Unfortunately, the same problem persists with the new version.
Could it be an AV, SmartScreen, or a certain FW problem?
Anyways, I attach the new cmd output for v5.2:

C:\Program Files\JabRef\runtime\bin>JabRef.bat
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [d]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [d] starting at position 16 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [thread]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [thread] starting at position 25 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [level]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [level] starting at position 35 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [logger]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [logger] starting at position 47 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [msg]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [msg] starting at position 54 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [n]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [n] starting at position 56 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [d]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [d] starting at position 16 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [thread]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [thread] starting at position 25 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [level]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [level] starting at position 35 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [logger]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [logger] starting at position 47 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [msg]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [msg] starting at position 54 in conversion pattern.
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [n]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [n] starting at position 56 in conversion pattern.

Many thanks in advance,
Mazen

Starting from the JabRef.bat file is fine and you can ignore the log output.

We figured out that the JabRef.exe file of the current development version is having problems with Windows Data Execution Prevention. Unfortunately it’s an issue in the JDK itself which we reported and which is now confirmed.

I have the same issue in the command line output for
JabRef 5.2–2020-12-24–6a2a512
Linux 5.4.0-62-generic amd64
Java 15.0.1

I think I’ve installed jabref from a deb .package (Running Xubuntu 20.04.1 LTS). So this ERROR message isn’t limited only to Windows.

@horror-vacui The status messages are a known issue due to an external library. But it does not affect the functionality of JabRef.