HyperBibTeX is a HyperCard stack for managing bibliographic databases compatible with BibTeX, the bibliography system used by the TeX typesetting language. HyperBibTeX's features include:
* entering and editing bibliographic entries using BibTeX's entry types
(Book, Article, Proceedings, etc.),
* checking data integrity and consistency against a set of authority lists,
* sorting on various fields,
* searching the database,
* marking cards individually or with the search function,
* importing entries from a BibTeX file,
* exporting cards to a BibTeX file.
System Requirements
HyperBibTeX requires HyperCard version 2. It will run under version 2.0, but version 2.1 is recommended because of its improved error handling. It will also run under HyperCard Player. HyperBibTeX should run fine under system 6, but the Balloon Help facility requires system 7.
Installation
HyperBibTeX stacks use two auxiliary stacks: HyperBibTeX Utils and HyperBibTeX Help. These stacks either should be in the same folder as the main bibliography stack or you should set up the Search Paths in your Home stack so that Hypercard can find them. There should be only one copy of each of these stacks on your system.
Getting Started
To get started, open the sample stack "SIL Computing Bibliography" and browse around. For help, turn on Balloon Help (on the ? menu under system 7) or go to the HyperBibTeX Help stack by choosing Help on the Go menu. Then create your own stack by copying "HyperBibTeX 0.9.8 blank stack". Either enter new entries by hand or import an existing .BIB file. Before trying to import a file, please carefully read the Help Topic on "Importing" in the Help stack.
Upgrading to this version of HyperBibTeX
If you have a bibliography stack created with a previous version, you should upgrade it to version 0.9.8. Do the following.
IMPORTANT: If you are using HyperBibTeX version 0.9.5 (that is, 0.9.5d, 0.9.5e, or 0.9.5f) you must first fix a bug in the Export command (it drops certain non-BibTeX fields, namely ISBN, Location, and Annote). The current release of HyperBibTeX (version 0.9.8 or higher) includes a special stack called “Patch HyperBibTeX 0.9.5”which patches the stack “HyperBibTeX Utils”. Open the patching stack and follow the instructions. If you don't do this you may lose data !
1. After patching the Utils stack (if necessary), open your bibliography stack (say, MyBiblioStack) and go to the Preferences card (choose "Preferences" on the Utilities menu).
2. Ensure that the option "Expand abbreviations" is *NOT* checked. Choose either quotes or braces as field delimiters.
3. Type a file name into the box "BibTeX file name" (optional).
4. Leave the Preferences card (return to the main part of the stack).
5. Choose "Export..." on the Utilities menu.
5a. Select ALL cards.
5b. Select ALL non-BibTeX fields.
5c. Select a file name and click "Save".
6. Close the stack (MyBiblioStack).
7. Make a copy of "HyperBibTeX 0.9.8 blank stack", rename it (MyNewBiblioStack), and open it.
8. Ensure that any user-defined fields you have used in the .BIB file are declared in the box "User-defined field names".
9. Choose whether or not to convert accented characters.
10. Choose "Import..." on the Utilities menu and select the .BIB file you just exported.
11. If you are asked "Import abbreviation definitions?", click "No".
12. When the importing is finished, all that remains is rebuild the authority lists. To do this, open the old stack in a new window and copy and paste each authority list from the old stack to the new stack (there are four lists). (Alternatively, use the Verify Field command to rebuild the lists.)
13. Be sure to delete the old versions of the stacks "HyperBibTeX Utils" and "HyperBibTeX Help" and install the new versions. There should be only one copy of each of these stacks on your system.
Version History
Version 0.9.5d ---> version 0.9.6 changes:
• fixed menu bug affecting HC 2.0
• fixed balloon help bug affecting system 6
• added dialog asking to back up stack
• fixed bug in Export command that dropped certain non-BibTeX fields
• fixed bug in Import command that didn't properly import some user-defined fields
• added option to choose either quotes or braces as default field delimiters
• added index window which shows a list of keys of selected cards; clicking on a key sends you to that card
• improved error handling (especially with HyperCard 2.1)
• numerous minor bug fixes and improvements
Version 0.9.6 ---> version 0.9.7 changes:
• tried to fix sorting problem with non-English versions of HyperCard
• fixed incompatibility problem with HyperCard Player
Version 0.9.7 ---> version 0.9.8 changes:
• data verification against authority lists is now case sensitive
• added option to export BookTitle field for Book and Proceedings entries (used only for certain BibTeX styles that expect a BookTitle field for cross-referenced entries)
• added option to convert Mac accented characters (é) to TeX equivalents (\'{e}) and vice-versa
• added option to export IN* entries before all other entries
• minor changes to accents table and Help stack
• added "Fix sort order" button to fix sorting with non-English versions of HC
Please report any problems or suggested enhancements to me.