[Tex/LaTex] Bibtex “I couldn’t open file name ‘article.tex’ “

bibtex

I have tried getting bibtex to work using the
latex filename
bibtex filename
latex filename
latx filename
commands
I DID NOT USE bibtex mybib
and I still get the error "I couldn't open file name 'blabla'"
Numerous people have posted a similar problem, but I cannot find a single answer that actually addresses the error, instead of just pointing out that bibtex filename should be used and not bibtex mybib.
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Does anybody know a real solution to my problem?
Please…I have been searching the internet for over an hour.

I would like to point out that I usually use Latexila, and I tried the command prompt after Latexila failed to compile bibtex. The error messages were essentially the same in Latexila as the command prompt.
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I also tried putting the tex file name into the /bibliography{filename} command:
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I have also tried a long list of other variations, that would take pages to list and describe here…nothing works.

Best Answer

The input file for the command bibtex is the .aux file. The extension is optional. If the specified file name does not end in .aux, then the extension is appended. The specified file name in the screen shot ends in .tex, thus bibtex has added .aux and the resulted file name does not exist. Solution: Just omit the extension .tex, then bibtex finds the auxiliary file name, written by the LaTeX run.

The next issue is the bibliography database:

The LaTeX run writes the argument of \bibliography{...} into the .aux file as \bibdata{...}. Then bibtex adds the extension .bib and wants to read the file. Usually the file does not contain an absolute path name, often the .bib file is in the same directory as the .tex file. Then bibtex will fail to find the .bib file, if the current directory is different.

Therefore I would first go to the directory with the .tex, .aux and .bib files:

cd /home/ninja/Documents/294/Articles_For_Idea2_Methane

Then the bibtex command becomes:

bibtex 'Chem294_ProjectIdea(2)_16_March_15'

or

bibtex 'Chem294_ProjectIdea(2)_16_March_15.aux'
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