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Developer Documentation

Use BibEntry.getId for BibEntries at Indexing

Context and Problem Statement

The BibEntry class has equals and hashCode implemented on the content of the bib entry. Thus, if two bib entries have the same type, the same fields, and the same content, they are equal.

This, however, is not useful in the UI, where equal entries are not the same entries.

Decision Drivers

  • Simple code
  • Not changing much other JabRef code
  • Working Lucene

Considered Options

  • Use BibEntry.getId for indexing BibEntry
  • Use System.identityHashCode for indexing BibEntry
  • Rewrite BibEntry logic

Decision Outcome

Chosen option: “Use BibEntry.getId for indexing BibEntry”, because is the “natural” thing to ensure distinction between two instances of a BibEntry object - regardless of equality.