BibTeX Key Generator: User has to press ENTER before clicking on Save

[jorgman1]

JabRef version 5.0-beta.21 on Windows 7 x64 and Linux Mint 18.1 (Ubuntu 16.04)

• I have tested the latest development version from http://builds.jabref.org/master/ and the problem persists (beta.336)

It is not possible to change the default key pattern. When clicking on it, it is possible to change it, but once the focus of the field is lost, it resets to the old value.

[calixtus]

Does it fail in library properties or in the global preferences?

[jorgman1]

In the global preferences.

I didn't know that one could set it as well in the libary preferences. But it is a good temporary solution. Thanks!

[calixtus]

Thanks. I'm going to take a look.

[calixtus]

Mystery solved: In order to save the changes, you have to press return in the text field after entering the change. Maybe I'm going to implement a focus lost event here, so it gets saved also if you just click somewhere outside the field. But thanks for the tip anyway.

[jorgman1]

Yeah, maybe it is useful to have a focus lost event there saving the last status.

Thank you for your quick response!

[jorgman1]

Something similar happens when editing journal abbreviations. One has to press enter to save the changes in that field.

[Siedlerchr]

Yes this is weird, but it's actually the default standard for tables within the JavaFX gui framework we use
I hate it as well.

[calixtus]

Looks like others had this problem too. At least there are already some hacks around.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/29576577/tableview-doesnt-commit-values-on-focus-lost-event

[jorgman1]

You're right. Apparently there is an eight year old issue in JDK. It doesn't seem that they are going to change this behaviour soon.

Are there tables in Jabref that need to remain unchanged when the focus is lost?

[wujastyk]

JabRef 5.0-beta.491--2020-02-26--0839875
Linux 5.3.0-40-generic amd64
Java 13.0.2

I just had this problem today too and was glad to find the solution here. I suggest documenting it LOUDLY in the help text: https://docs.jabref.org/setup/bibtexkeypatterns

[Siedlerchr]

Feel free to edit the docs, just click on edit at github and you can edit the content

[mikegilchrist]

Even if I hit enter, changes to my BibTeX Key Patterns don't appear to be saved when I revisit the BiBTeX Key Generator tab in the preference . However, if I go to "Show Preferences" they are there. In addition, if I restart JabRef, the changes now appear in the BiBTeX Key Generator tab and are used when I click on the 'generate key' button.

I experienced similar behavior when modifying the Import Filename pattern settings.

Here's my install information. I downloaded the latest .deb version from FOSSHub today.

JabRef 5.0--2020-03-06--2e6f433
Linux 4.15.0-101-generic amd64
Java 13.0.2

[AEgit]

@mikegilchrist Could you try the latest dev version (the one you used is already a bit out of date)? The latest dev version can be downloaded here:
https://builds.jabref.org/master/

Always remember to make a backup of your JabRef library before using developer versions.

[mikegilchrist]

@AEgit Yes, it appears that the failure to update the preference entry and apply it until you restart the program are fixed in the dev version

JabRef 5.1--2020-05-19--fe5eec6
Linux 4.15.0-101-generic amd64
Java 14.0.1

Thanks.

[AEgit]

Cheers.

[Siedlerchr]

Idea for a workaround: Add a hint in the table
#6770 (comment)

[calixtus]

Hint: ControlsFX provides a TableView2 as a drop-in replacement for TableView claiming having solved this issue. However, this issue has had a longer discussion in the jdk bugtracker.
See this discussion on stackoverflow:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24694616/how-to-enable-commit-on-focuslost-for-tableview-treetableview#25291137

[Siedlerchr]

From what I see it should be sufficient to use the TextField2TableCell implementation to achieve this

https://github.com/controlsfx/controlsfx/blob/jfx-13/controlsfx/src/main/java/org/controlsfx/control/tableview2/cell/TextField2TableCell.java

[koppor]

Link to the JDK bug tracker: https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8089514: "[TableView, TreeView, ListView, TreeTableView] Clicking outside of the edited cell, node, or entry should commit the value"