JabRef
v5
v5
  • JabRef Bibliography Management
  • Installation
  • Getting started
  • Collect
    • Add entry manually
    • Add entry using an ID
    • Add entry using reference text
    • Searching externally using Online Services
    • Add entry using PDFs
    • Browser Extension
    • Import
      • Custom import filters
      • Import inspection window
  • Organize
    • Edit an entry
    • Groups
    • Keywords
    • Mark and grade
    • Comment on an entry
    • Searching within the library
    • Complete information using online databases
    • Manage associated files
    • Manage field names and their content
    • Best practices
    • Cleanup entries
    • Check integrity
    • Find duplicates
    • Merge entries
    • Save actions
  • Cite
    • BibTeX and biblatex
    • Pushing to external editor application
    • Export to Microsoft Word
    • OpenOffice/LibreOffice integration
  • Share
    • Sharing a Bib(la)TeX Library
    • Shared SQL Database
      • Migration of pre-3.6 SQL databases into a shared SQL database
    • Export
      • Custom export filters
    • Send as email
  • Configuration
    • Customize the citation key generator
    • Customize entry types
    • Customize general fields
    • Customize key bindings
    • Library properties
    • Entry preview setup
    • Manage external file types
    • Manage protected terms
    • The string editor
  • Advanced information
    • Main Window
    • Entry Editor
      • Links to other entries
      • The Bibtex / Biblatex source tab
      • The 'owner' field
      • Time stamp field
      • LaTeX Citations Tab
    • About BibTeX and its fields
    • Strings
    • Field content selector
    • URL and DOI links in JabRef
    • Command line use and options
    • Automatic Backup (.sav and .bak) and Autosave
    • XMP metadata support in JabRef
    • Remote operation
    • Custom themes
    • Journal abbreviations
    • New subdatabase based on AUX file
    • How to expand first names of an entry
    • Debugging your library file
    • Resources
    • License
    • Knowledge
      • MS Office Bibliography XML format
      • Comparison of the Medline (txt), Medline (xml), and RIS format
      • EndNote Export Filter
  • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Linux
    • Mac OS X
    • Windows
  • Discussion Forum
  • Contribute to JabRef
    • How to Improve the Help Page
    • How to translate the JabRef User Interface
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  1. Configuration

The string editor

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In JabRef you write the contents of all fields the same way as you would in a text editor, with one exception: to reference a string, enclose the name of the string in a set of # characters, e.g.: '#jan# 1997', which will be interpreted as the string named jan followed by 1997.

can be edited by Library → Edit string constants or pressing a button in the toolbar.

Strings are the BibTeX equivalent to constants in a programming language. Each string is defined with a unique name and a content. Elsewhere in the database, the name can be used to represent the content.

For instance, if many entries are from a journal with an abbreviation that may be hard to remember, such as 'J. Theor. Biol.' (Journal of Theoretical Biology), a string named JTB could be defined to represent the journal's name. Instead of repeating the exact journal name in each entry, the characters '#JTB#' (without quotes) are put into the journal field of each, ensuring the journal name is written identically each time.

A string reference can appear anywhere in a field, always by enclosing the string's name in a pair of '#' characters. This syntax is specific for JabRef, and differs slightly from the BibTeX notation that is produced when you save your database. Strings can by default be used for all standard BibTeX fields, and in Options → Preferences → File you can opt to enable strings for non-standard fields as well. In the latter case you can specify a set of fields that are excepted from string resolving, and here it is recommended to include the 'url' field and other fields that may need to contain the '#' character and that may be processed by BibTeX/LaTeX.

A string may in the same way be referred in the content of another string, provided the referred string is defined before the referring one.

While the order of strings in your BibTeX file is important in some cases, you do not have to worry about this when using JabRef. The strings will be displayed in alphabetical order in the string editor, and stored in the same order, except when a different ordering is required by BibTeX.

For a complete description of string syntax, see the .

Strings
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