Database/Library Properties

This section contains the following topics.

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Database Properties

Database properties are saved in the first @COMMENT{} block of the database file. You can modify them by editing the database using a text editor, however, it is not recommended because BibCompanion also remembers those for opened database internally, so that discrepancy may occur between them.

database

File Name (Read Only)

File name of the database. This name is independent from description of the database explained below. In the database list (and also in database selection menus), description is shown but not the file name. You can not modify the file name here, however, you can change it by Finder (be sure to close the database or quit BibCompanion when you change the file name).

Saved Folder (Read Only)

The folder where the database file is saved in. You can not move the file here, however, you can move it by Finder (be sure to close the database or quit BibCompanion when you change the file location).

Database ID (Read Only)

Each database has a unique database ID that is internally used to distinguish databases. This value is saved in the first @COMMENT{} block of the database file. You can edit it using a text editor, however, you SHOULD NOT change this value manually, that causes breaking of links between libraries and databases.

Description

Description of the database or name of the database. BibCompanion uses this as a nominal name in place of its file name. By default the description is the same as file name. You can set any name as you like.

Encoding/Line Ending

Text encoding and line ending code of the database. Be sure that the text encoding should cover all characters in the database. For example, if one of bib field data contains Japanese characters, you can choose Japanese encoding or UTF encoding, but if you choose Western encoding, those characters may disappear or be converted to ‘?’.

Attachments

This section defines what to do when a file or files are dropped on the file link button in the detail information panel under editing mode. There are two cases, one is dropping one item, and another is dropping plural items.

Attachment Action Menu

This menu chooses an action when you drop a file or files onto the file link button. There are two cases as explained above. The first case, when you drop an item from Finder, the item is treated according to the action setting.

Link to an original file:
The item stays as is. ‘file’ field contains the path to the original item.
Copy a file to the following folder:
The item is copied to the attachment folder. ‘file’ field contains the path to the copied item.
Move a file to the following folder:
The item is moved to the attachment folder. ‘file’ field contains the path to the moved item.
Make an alias to the following folder:
An alias of the item is made to the attachment folder. ‘file’ field contains the path to the alias.

In addition, if [Rename a file after bibkey] is checked, linked item is renamed using the bib key of the bib item. Naming rule is explained below.

The second case, when you drop plural items, those items are gathered into a folder and treated according to the action setting. In this case, all dropped files are gathered into a newly created folder.

Link to an original file:
A folder is created in the folder as same as original items, and the items are moved to the folder. ‘file’ field contains the path to the folder.
Copy a file to the following folder:
A folder is created in the attachment folder, and the items are copied to the folder. ‘file’ field contains the path to the folder.
Move a file to the following folder:
A folder is created in the attachment folder, and the items are moved to the folder. ‘file’ field contains the path to the folder.
Make an alias to the following folder:
A folder is created in the attachment folder, and aliases of the items are made to the folder. ‘file’ field contains the path to the folder.

In this case, the newly created folder name is generated from the bib key of the bib item as explained below.

Attachment Folder Path

Attachment folder where attached files, folders and aliases are saved in. By default, it is set to

“<Database Folder>/Attachments/”

<Choose> Button

Click here to change the attachment folder. You can choose only an existing folder, so that you need to create a new folder in Finder before choosing a newly created one. You can choose any folder, however, it is recommended to choose a folder in the database folder, because, if you choose a folder not in the database folder, the attachment path always saved in full path, which reduces database portability.

Rename a File After Bibkey

If this is checked, linked file is renamed using a bib key of the bib item. Punctuation characters etc. in the bib key is replaced by ‘_’. Extension name of the file is kept. For example, if the bib key is “NakaharaH:2004”, file named “downloaded.pdf” is renamed to “NakaharaH_2004.pdf”. If you drop plural files at a time, new folder is created (that has a name explained above) and original files are copied (or move/aliased depending on the action choice) into the new folder without renaming.

Always Keep a Full Path

If this is checked, file link is saved in absolute path (full path) format, otherwise file link is saved as a relative path to the database folder if possible. It is recommended to save attachments in a folder that is a descendant of the database folder and save a link in relative path. Then you can move database folder (that includes database file and its attachment folder) anywhere. If you save file link in an absolute path, you can not move attachment folder which results in breaking of file links. This option should be used only for compatibility between other application that does not support relative path.

Privileged User

A privileged user is an user that holds write permission to the database. If you set a privileged user, you can share the database via network without worrying about overwriting it by other BibCompanion users. However, this is a cheap trick and far from perfect. It can not prevent other users to modify the database using a text editor or other applications. Basically BibCompanion is not designed for database server, please keep the limitation in mind when sharing the database.

Privileged User

If a privileged user is set to the database, “user@host” is shown here.

<Release Privilege> Button

This button only works when a privileged user is set and the user is current user (i.e. yourself). Click here to release the privilege.

<Get Privilege> Button

This button only works when no privilege is set to the database. Click here to make yourself a privileged user.

Suppress Warning Checkbox

This check is enabled when a privileged user is set and the user is not current user (i.e. you don't have the privileged). If this is not checked, a warning message that you have no permission to write is appeared every time you open this database.

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Library Group Properties

Library group properties contains only one item.

group

Description

Description of the group or name of the group.

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Manual Library Properties

Manual library properties contains the following two items.

manual

Library ID (Read Only)

Each manual library has a unique library ID that is internally used to distinguish libraries with the same names. Users can not modify this value.

Description

Description of the manual library or name of the library.

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Smart Library Properties

Smart library properties contains the following items.

smart

Description

Description of the smart library or name of the library.

Target Database

Target databases to search. If you choose [All databases], all opened databases are search targets. If you choose one of the opened database, only chosen database is a target. To choose a database, the database should be opened. If the selected database is not opened when smart library property is editing, selected item will be shown in gray color.

All/Any Choice

If you choose [all], all of the conditions should be match, otherwise ([any]), one of the conditions should be match. This choice has meaning when plural conditions are defined.

Update Condition

You can choose one of three update timings of the library.

Fully automatic update:
Update the smart library dynamically to keep its contents to be new. It is most preferable but requires machine performance.
Automatic update only on launch:
Update the smart library only when BibCompanion is launched. You should choose [Update Smart Library]/[Update All Smart Libraries] menu to update it manually.
Manual update:
BibCompanion does not automatically update the smart library. You should choose [Update Smart Library]/[Update All Smart Libraries] menu to update it manually.

Despite the choice, when items in the library is removed or its database is closed, these items are also removed from the library.

Search Conditions List

Search condition list of the smart library. Here is a example of a condition.

condition

Target Field

Target field of a bib item.

[Any field]
All fields of the item is searched, and if one of them matches the following condition, the condition is judged fulfilled.
[Field name]
Field name itself (i.g. ‘author’) is search target. If one of the field name matches the following condition, the condition is judged fulfilled. Case sensitive check explained later is always ignored.
[Bib type]
Type of the bib item, i.g. ‘ARTICLE’, is search target. Case sensitive check explained later is always ignored.
[Bib key]
Bibkey of the item, i.g. ‘NakaharaH:1995’, is search target.
[Author etc.]
‘author’ and ‘editor’ fields are search targets. The search string explained later should have the same format as those in the author list, i.g. ‘Nakahara, H’ etc. You can also specify a part of the name, but you can not search using a first name such as ‘Jacques’ because first name is always abbreviated in the author list.
[1st author]
The First author and the first editor are search targets. The search string should have the same limitation as explain in the above.
[Title etc.]
‘title’ and ‘booktitle’ fields are search targets.
[Journal etc.]
‘journal’, ‘publisher’, ‘organization’, ‘institution’ and ‘school’ fields are search targets.
[Annote etc.]
‘annote’, ‘note’, ‘memo’ and ‘keywords’ fields are search targets.
[Year]
‘year’ field is a search target.
[Modified]
‘modified’ field is a search target. This field is automatically created/renewed when the item is edited, and it keeps the edited date and time.
[Attached file]
‘file’ field is a search target.
[Contents]
When you choose this target, the condition menu is fixed to [seems to be identical]. This condition is exclusively for searching duplicated items. This condition can not be associated with any other conditions.

Search Condition

Search condition for the target.

[contains]
If the target contains the search string, the condition is judged fulfilled.
[contains a word]
If the target contains the search string as a word, the condition is judged fulfilled. For example, if a target is “Si(111)” and a search string is “Si”, it turns to be true. But if the search string is “Si(”, it returns false, because the target string is split by word separators such as ‘,’, ‘/’, ‘(’ etc. Thus, you can not search a word with word separators.
[doesn't contain]
Negation of [contains].
[doesn't contain a word]
Negation of [contains a word].
[begins with]
If the target begins with the search string, the condition is judged fulfilled.
[ends with]
If the target ends with the search string, the condition is judged fulfilled.
[is equal to]
If the target is exactly the same as the search string, the condition is judged fulfilled.
[is later than]/[is earlier than]
If the target time is later/earlier than the search string, the condition is judged fulfilled. This condition is only enabled when you choose [Year] or [Modified] as a target. Be careful that if the target and search string is the same, the result becomes false. When you choose [Modified] as a target, the search string should have a format like “2005-03-16 14:13:06”. You can omit the latter half such as “2005-03-16” or “2005-03””.
[within days of]/[before days of]
This choice is enabled only when [Modified] is selected as a target. The search string can be integer or floating number such as “2.5” for two and a half days. When searching items, modified time is also taken into account. Therefore if the modified time is “2005-03-16 14:13:06” and current time is “2005-03-17 14:15:06”, the item is judged to be older than a day. If you choose this condition, BibCompanion updates the smart library periodically (except if you choose manual update condition).
[exists]
This choice is enabled only when [Attached file] is selected as a target. If attached file is exists (link is not broken), the condition is judged fulfilled. If you want to search items with attached file no matter how the attachment exists or not, choose [Field name]/[contains a word] and set “file” as a search string.
[doesn't exists]
Negation of [exists]. Items that does not have attached files do not match this condition. Therefore only items with broken links are listed. If you want to search items without attached files (i.e. file field is blank), choose [Field name]/[doesn't contains a word] and set “file” as a search string.
[seems to be identical]
This is an only choice when you choose [Contents] as a target. See the explanation above.

Search String

This is a string to search. Read above explanations for each condition. Note that you can not specify TeX commands in the fields here because searching is done for unicode converted text (displayed string in the detail information panel in locked mode).

Case Sensitive Checkbox

If you checked a [CS] check box, case sensitive search is carried out (there are a few exceptions; see target explanations above).

Remove/Add Buttons

When you press (–) button, the condition is removed. You should have at least one condition. When (+) button is pressed, a new condition is inserted after the condition. At most 16 conditions can be set (except when you choose [Contents] for the first target).

Order of the Conditions

Conditions are evaluated from top to bottom. Therefore, when you choose “meet [all] of the conditions”, it is better to place a condition at the top that is assumed to be least possible to match. While if you choose “meet [any] of the conditions”, it is better to place a condition at the top that is assumed to be most possible to match.

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