BibTeX, biblatex and biber ⇒ Where to put my own *.bib files?

[virsto]

It seems that this topic has come up before. I looked at the postings on this and related problems in both the BiBTeX and Texmaker forums; but, still have not found a solution! Note, I have some recent postings in the Texmaker forum on this problem.

I have installed Texlive 2009 and Texmaker 1.9.9 on Ubuntu 9.10. Texmaker actually works very well with the Texlive 2009 installation. However, there is a basic problem that I have been unable to solve --- Where can I put my own *.bib files so that Texmaker finds them?

I have the following directory structure on my system:

/usr/local/texlive/2009/texmf-dist/bibtex/bib

where, there are many subdirectories containing one or more *.bib files.

Note, I also have another directory structure:

/usr/local/texlive/texmf-local/bibtex/bib

which contains a subdirectory /local and this is empty. I have performed the following experiments in an attempt to solve this problem.

1) I created a test *.tex file and used a citation to an key that was in the report.bib file (in ..../bibtex/bib/spie). I compiled this test file and ran bibtex on it --- this worked fine.

2) I then took by own bib file, OfficeA.bib, and placed it in this same subdirectory (I also placed it in .../bibtex/bib) and then compiled my *.tex file that had a citation for a key in OfficeA.bib --- this fails (citation can not be resolved).

3) I repeated 2) but placed OfficeA.bib in the same directory as my *.tex file and this worked!

4) I repeated 2) but placed OfficeA.bib in ..../texmf-local/bibtex/bib --- this fails (same error).

Where can I put all by own *.bib files so that Texmaker finds them when I run BiBTeX on my *.tex files?

It seems that the only place that Texmaker can find my own *.bib files is in the directory with the *.tex file that is being compiled. Clearly, this is not a good situation.

I hope that someone can help me on this problem

[localghost]

In principle the same solution as in the similar topic you opened [1]. You can create a »personal« folder in your home directory, put the bibliography style files in there and do a refreshment of the file name database (FNDB). I suggest to create the following path.

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/home/<user>/texmf/bibtex/bst/personal

It's important to follow the guidelines of the TeX Directory Structure (TDS). After placing the file there, a texhash on the command line is needed to refresh the FNDB. To check whether the file is found, open a terminal and type in the search command.

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kpsewhich <name>.bst

[1] View topic: Texmaker paths to *.cls, *.sty, *.bib


Best regards and welcome to the board
Thorsten

[virsto]

Joseph Wright solved my problem.

One must execute the cmd texhash which makes LaTeX aware of where things are located!

Here is what he posted:

Don't add anything to the "managed" part of your system. Install the files, as I said, inside your home directory. for example, for a package "mypkg.cls" and "mypkg.bib" on my own system I would put them in

/home/joseph/texmf/tex/latex/mypkg/mypkg.cls
/home/joseph/texmf/bibtex/bib/mypkg/mypkg.bib

(Obviously adjust the user name to suit your system.)

I would then run texhash (at the Terminal, type "texhash" and let it work). TeX should then find the files.

This works!
Finally I can lay this problem to rest!

--V