what is "background export"?

sfdsfsdf

Hello,

Exporting the library to the "bib" file, the "background export" is selected as default. What is "background export" and how does it differentiate the "keep updated"?

Thanks.

dstillman

That's a Better BibTeX option, not a Zotero option.

sfdsfsdf

Okay. Thanks for your kind reply.

emilianoeheyns

BBT exports take relatively long compared to stock bibtex epxorts. Regular Zotero exports happen on the so-called "foreground", meaning for the duration of any export Zotero cannot do anything else -- the UI will freeze, Word cannot communicate with Zotero etc. Background exports happen in the background and do not burden Zotero operation.

For this reason, keep-updated exports are always done in the background, because it would result in frequent UI freezes otherwise; if you check "keep updated", BBT will also check "background" and disable the option so you can't turn it off.

For regular one-off exports, there are pros and cons to background exports. The default is background. For large exports, you'll want background, for a few items it can sometimes be faster to do foreground, although I suspect the difference is hardly noticeable. The main reason I keep foreground export available is that BBT background exports are a kludge that are not really supported in Zotero, so in case it breaks I want normal exports to be available.

sfdsfsdf

Thanks for your detailed explanaiton. I know now.