Hello everyone,
my JabRef download and installation seems fine and JabRef starts but most of the buttons and menu options are not working (e.g search). I tried different Java installations: the recommended Oracle JRE 1.8.171 and Oracle JDK 10.0.1.
After the installation of Oracle JRE 1.8.171 the path variable is not set. This is the intended behavior according to Oracle:
‘Note: Installing a JRE from Oracle will not update java -version symlinks or add java to your path. To do this, you must install the JDK.’
Source: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/9/install/installation-jdk-and-jre-macos.htm
Running ‘java -version’ in the terminal leads to the error message ‘No Java runtime present, requesting install.’. But at the same time there is an additional error window outside of the terminal appears. This error window has a ‘more infos’ button that redirects to the Oracle Java 10 downloads website:
https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk10-downloads-4416644.html
Installing and running JabRef on a Mac is a PITA because of the fragmentation of the Java environments and the way Oracle and Apple deals with this. There are two open questions:
- How can I get JabRef on a Mac running?
- Is there a way to improve the JabRef-installer for MacOS? Maybe it could find the installed Oracle JRE despite the missing path variable.
Sincerely yours,
Michael