Better BibTex not showing bib files and message keeps asking about importing my library

pacificgbp

I can't get Better BibTex to show my bib files after exporting my library to my downloads folder in Mac. I keep getting message asking about importing my library

emilianoeheyns

I'm don't understand in what way BetterBibTeX (which is not a standalone program) is supposed to show a bib file? I take it you exported some part of your library to a .bib file in your downloads folder using the BBT translator, but what did you do after that?

pacificgbp

May I email you the screenshots that show the steps I took to export my library to my downloads folder? I hope this will provide you the information you need and can also show you what steps did I miss. Thank you

emilianoeheyns

Are you double-clicking the file expecting to be able to view it, and is Zotero asking to import it? That has nothing to do with BBT or with Zotero, that's just how you have or haven't configured your OS to open .bib files; if Zotero is set up to be the handler for .bib files, and you (implicitly or explicitly) ask your OS to open the .bib file with Zotero, the only thing Zotero can do is try to import it. How you change the default opener for a file extension is OS dependent.

If it's not that, and you think that the problem you are experiencing is BBT releated, please use the github tracker, you can attach images to the issue you can create there. But I don't need screenshots of how you exported your library to the downloads folder, that part is clear to me. What is not clear to me is what you expected to be able to do afterwards, or how BBT is even involved after export.

pacificgbp

Thank you so much for your quick responses. All I am trying to do is just to click open my BBT file named "My Library.bib" in the Downloads folder just to see how the exported bib text files look like. (This is part of the online course I am taking.) When I click open my BBT file - I get the message "Import File - Do you want to import the file "My Library.bib"? Then there is check box that says "Import into New Collections." Problem I am having is I cannot open the BBT file just to see the bib text files. I always get the message about If I want to Import my BBT file.

emilianoeheyns

That is what I tried to explain above -- your system is set up to open .bib files with Zotero. Assuming you are on windows, right-click the .bib file, click "open with", and select anything else than Zotero -- notepad would do.

Again, this has nothing to do with Zotero or BBT. This is about how your OS is set up to open .bib files. Zotero is likely the default program for .bib files, and the only thing that Zotero can do when it is asked to open a .bib file is to import it, so that's what it will do.

pacificgbp

Thank you for your clear explanation and your usual quick response. On my Mac, following your instructions, I right clicked my bib downloads file and selected TextEdit to open it. I can now see the bib text files. The problem I was having was not realizing that I cannot use Zotero to open the bib text file. An important step that was missing in the course I am taking is to "Not Use Zotero To Open The Bib Text File". -- With your help thru this Zotero Support Forum, I am more committed to continue learning about using Zotero for academic and professional writing. Thank you so much.

emilianoeheyns

No problem.

But you can in fact open the .bib file with Zotero. But what would you expect Zotero to do with it, if not import it? A .bib file is recognized by zotero as a source of references. Zotero is not a general file viewer.