how do I create a .bib file? I am trying to create a master bib file on texshop. When I save the file, it saves as a .tex, not .bib (even when I try to correct it manually).
thanks in advance
[Tex/LaTex] How to create a .bib file for bibtex
biblatexbibtexmac
Related Solutions
By running bibtex, we can find some clues of what is happening:
$ bibtex mydoc
This is BibTeX, Version 0.99d (Web2C 2011)
The top-level auxiliary file: mydoc.aux
The style file: cell.bst
Database file #1: mybib.bib
`volume' is a missing field, not a string, for entry Birukova:2011ys
while executing---line 1461 of file cell.bst
`volume' is a missing field, not a string, for entry Dejana:2012fk
while executing---line 1461 of file cell.bst
`volume' is a missing field, not a string, for entry Giampietro:2012kx
while executing---line 1461 of file cell.bst
`volume' is a missing field, not a string, for entry Sun:2012fk
while executing---line 1461 of file cell.bst
`volume' is a missing field, not a string, for entry Vestweber:2012uq
while executing---line 1461 of file cell.bst
(There were 5 error messages)
The cell style complains about the missing volume field in 5 entries, which causes an unclosed \emph{ entry in the generated myfile.bbl, e.g:
\bibitem[Dejana and Giampietro, 2012]{Dejana:2012fk}
Dejana, E. and Giampietro, C. (2012{\rm{}}).
\newblock Vascular endothelial-cadherin and vascular stability.
\newblock {\rm Curr Opin Hematol } \emph{.
This is the error you pointed out. :)
The standard article data entry has volume as one of the required fields, so we need to declare it, even if we don't have the proper information (it happens sometimes). :)
As Mico pointed out, there are some occurences of words with an Umlaut in your .bib file which require the correct representation, with \"a instead of \a and \"u instead of \u - use J{\"{u}}rgen instead of J{\u}rgen for correct alphabetizing (thanks egreg). And there seems to be an unescaped # symbol in the doi field of the Chretien:1998fk key which will raise an error if not fixed (thanks Mico).
And at last but not least, don't use the β character directly in your .bib file (thankfully, it only appears in the title of two or three entries). Since we are using pdflatex, it will raise an error when you compile your file. Mico also reminds that β appears a lot of times in the abstract fields, but since the cell style does not use this particular field, you are safe for now. :)
I finally managed to solve this problem on my own:
Jabref was encoding the bib-files in 16bit and Bibtex was expecting 8bit-code. After switching to 8bit in the Jabref-options the problem solved itself.
Thank you so much for all your efforts.
Best Answer
Although it's possible to manage
.bibfiles manually with a regular text editor (and TeXShop can do this too), most users prefer to use a dedicated bibliography manager.For the Mac, there is the wonderful BibDesk, which you will find in the TeX folder installed with MacTeX. TeXShop has builtin integration with BibDesk. If your .bib file is open in BibDesk, and you've allowed BibDesk completions in the TeXShop preferences, you can enter in your source
\cite{fooand then hit F5 and a list of all citation keys beginning with "foo" will appear as a drop down list next to the cursor. You then choose the right one and it gets inserted into your source.It is possible to edit a
.bibfile manually with TeXShop. When you save any file in TeXShop there is a dropdown menu in the save dialogue box called File Format that allows you to choose the correct file extension for the file (see image below) Choose.bibfrom that menu to save a manually created.bibfile.