.bib library file in a different directory, how to use? (Mendeley centralised .bib file)

Question

problem

Hello All,

I have the possibility of a centralised, updated .bib file using Mendeley Desktop. This file will stay updated with all the changes I make using my Mendeley citation software.

I want to access this centralised .bib file via biblatex from any .tex scripts from any possible directory

possible solutions

I've read that I can place my .bib file somewhere in the root of my latex install, so it can be found by latex from any tex file, but I'm not sure where to exactly place it?

I don't think it's possible, but perhaps there are options to declare the path in the \bibliography{bibliography} declaration?

note

I would like to use biblatex with biber.exe

Answer 1

You can store your bib file in $LOCALTEXMF/bibtex/bib or any subdirectory of it. Then LaTeX (and BibTeX, biblatex, and biber) will find it. Note that you have to update the filename database whenever you put a new file in this location (but not when the file is only updated). The $LOCALTEXMF part can be any directory which is known to your TeX distribution. For further information about this, see the TeX FAQ:

• Which tree to use
• What is the TDS?
• Installing files “where (La)TeX can find them”

Answer 2

Another possibility is to call bibtex with the --include-directory flag. So, instead of,

bibtex myfile.tex

do

bibtex --include-directory="path/to/bibliography/folder" myfile.tex

This is a particularly easy solution if you're using a dedicated editor such as Texmaker, WinEdt, TeXnic Center or emacs with AUCTex. In Texmaker, you can edit the bibtex command used by the editor by going to Options -> Configure Texmaker -> Commands. Directions for the other editors I mentioned are described in this post.

Answer 3

Since v1.2, biblatex supports remote location of bibliography resources (i.e. resource from a website); this feature requires Biber as backend (and the use of the \addbibresource command which replaces \bibliography). See section 3.7.1 of the biblatex manual for details (http://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/biblatex/doc/biblatex.pdf).

Answer 4

As mentioned in other comments bibliography can have relative pathnames to reference a location:

\usepackage[backend=bibtex]{biblatex}
\bibliography{../../Mendeley/myBibFile}

\begin{document}
This is an example \cite{peter1999}
\end{document}

(Depending on your backend you need instead to use \addbibresource or refence the bib-file including its ending ("myBibFile.bib")

Answer 5

Neither do I, but a few solutions are described over there. I personally like to store all *.bib files in one directory and then to use symbolic links from my paper's directory, but I still need to specify exactly which files I need in the \bibliography command.

Creating a symbolic link in Linux

To create a symbolic link file in your paper's directory to your master bib file you can write

ln -s <path to master bib file> link.bib

then in your latex file refer to link.bib rather than the master bib file. See https://kb.iu.edu/d/abbe

Answer 6

Have you experimented with

bibber.exe --output_directory <d>

?

Files (.bbl and .log) are output to directory instead of the current directory. Input files are also looked for in before current directory.

I just tried that, it works exactly as I need.

Answer 7

How about setting the BIBINPUTS environment variable to include the shared directory that holds your bib file? This gives you complete freedom over where you put it. I use that to specify a directory where we store one shared bib file. Oddly, it doesn't seem to be mentioned at all in the TeX Frequently Asked Questions although I may have just missed it.

Answer 8

\bibliographystyle{plainnat}

\bibliography{/Volumes/cld/Dropbox/Articles/references}  %take care don't write '...  **.bib**'

\end{document}