[Tex/LaTex] Problem using bibtex with natbib – “couldn’t open style file natbib.bst”

bibtexnatbib

I am migrating across laptops. In my old laptop I have a .tex file which works just fine. However, when I use the same .tex and compile it in a new laptop in which I just installed the proTeXt system, it does not create the bibliography, and I get the message:

Process started: bibtex.exe "DTAGissues"

This is BibTeX, Version 0.99d (MiKTeX 2.9 64-bit)
The top-level auxiliary file: DTAGissues.aux
I couldn't open style file natbib.bst
---line 37 of file DTAGissues.aux
: \bibstyle{natbib
 :                 }
I'm skipping whatever remains of this command
I found no style file---while reading file DTAGissues.aux
(There were 2 error messages)

Process exited normally

So, there seems to be a problem with natbib, but I don't understand it, as everything was working fine in my previous system. I use the lines below to include the bibliography:

%include the bibliography
\bibliographystyle{natbib}
\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{References}
\bibliography{C:/ctr/MainBibFile}

What might I be doing wrong here?

I actually manege to make it work if I copy file natbib.bst into the folder where my .tex is, but that seems a patch rather than a solution? I tried adding natbib.bst to texmf folder but that does not work.

Best Answer

proTeXt uses MiKTeX, so basically you may follow this answer which shows how to install additional packages "by hand" with MiKTeX. However, because you don't want to install a package file (.sty), but a BibTeX style file (.bst), you should replace the recommended subdirectory tex\latex\misc with bibtex\bst\misc.

A more important caveat (and the the source of your problem): The current version of the natbib package doesn't include a natbib.bst style file anymore. Googling for natbib.bst brings up this file from 1994 (!). It could be that natbib.sty (the package) is backward-compatible with natbib.bst; it could also be that the package and your .bst, even when installed correctly, don't play together well. So: check thoroughly if everything in your bibliography and in-text-citations is working as expected.

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