UX

This page collects general UX requirements.

Generally available buttons and menu items are disabled instead of not shown

req~ux.disabled-vs-hidden~1

When there is functionality generally available but cannot be executed at the present time, it is shown as disabled.

Example: Button to open a link. If there is no link, the button should be shown but not enabled.

Needs: impl

Confirmation dialogs use the action name as the confirm button label

req~ui.dialogs.confirmation.naming~1

In confirmation dialogs, the confirm button must be labeled with the specific action name (e.g., “Download full text documents”) rather than a generic label such as “OK” or “Yes”. This makes the intended action unambiguous and reduces the risk of accidental confirmation.

Needs: impl

Auto close of merge entries dialog

req~ux.auto-close.merge-entries~1

The merge entries dialog collects and merges data from multiple sources. In case there is only one source, it should not be shown. Since some data fetchers take time, we need to open the dialog and wait until all sources are available. As soon as only one source is available, the dialog should be closed to speed up the user’s workflow.

Needs: impl

Main Table Focus

req~maintable.focus~1

Prevents the main table from losing focus when adding a new library or when changing tabs. This provides immediate keyboard interaction capabilities (such as Ctrl+V for pasting operations when changing tabs) without requiring explicit focus via mouse click.

Needs: impl

Main table column headers are user-friendly

req~maintable.column-headers.user-friendly~1

Column headers of the main table show readable names, not raw BibTeX field names. JabRef-internal fields such as the entry type and the citation key are shown as “Entry Type” and “Citation Key”. Headers use Title Case, as an exception to the sentence-case rule for UI text, so they read like the other headers (“Author/Editor”).

Needs: impl

Critical startup failures show an error dialog

req~ux.startup.critical-error-dialog~1

If a critical error occurs before the main window is fully constructed, it must not fail silently. The user needs a visible error dialog, in addition to the log entry, since digging through log files is not accessible to most users.

Needs: impl

Citation style sources are loaded on demand

req~ux.citation-styles.lazy-source-loading~1

JabRef must load built-in citation-style metadata at startup without retaining every CSL source in memory. A style’s source is loaded only when that style is used.

Needs: impl, utest

Merge entries dialog allows selecting empty field values

req~ux.merge-entries.select-empty-field~1

When the merge entries dialog shows a field that is missing in one of the source entries, the user must be able to explicitly select that empty value so the merged entry is cleared for that field.

Needs: impl

Updating an entry via entry data applies the confirmed merge result

req~ux.update-entry-web-info.apply-merge-result~1

When a user chooses Update with bibliographic information via entry data and confirms the merge dialog, the selected merged values must be written back to the original entry as one undoable update.

Needs: impl

Activating large libraries keeps entry previews responsive

req~ux.active-library.preview-responsiveness~1

When a user activates a large library, automatic group construction and group-count evaluation must not delay rendering the selected entry preview.

Needs: impl

Creating a new explicit group can reuse the current selection

req~ux.groups.create-explicit-from-selection~1

When a user creates a new explicit group, JabRef should allow reusing the currently selected entries for that group and should keep the newly created group selected afterwards.

Needs: impl

Pressing Escape when a combo box popup is open closes only the combo box

req~ux.combobox.escape-closes-popup-only~1

When a combobox or drop-down list (such as a CheckComboBox, ComboBox, or ChoiceBox) is open within a dialog and the user presses Escape, only the drop-down popup must be closed. The enclosing dialog must remain open.

Saving keeps external change detection active

req~ux.external-library-changes.after-save~1

When JabRef saves a library, it must keep observing filesystem changes, defer change detection until the save has finished, and then inspect the resulting file for external changes that require conflict resolution. Since inspecting a library file means parsing it completely, the inspection is skipped when the file’s size and modification time show that it has not changed since the last state known to match the in-memory library.

Needs: impl

Deleting many entries keeps the main table responsive

req~ux.large-library.bulk-entry-removal~1

When a user deletes many entries from a large library, JabRef must keep the main table responsive.

Needs: impl

Focus the text field in text dialogs

req~ux.textdialogs.focus~1

When a dialog with text input as a main component is opened, the text field should be focused.

Needs: impl

Text filtering is case-insensitive and separator-aware

req~ux.text-filtering.case-insensitive-separators~1

When users filter textual lists, matching must ignore case and treat punctuation or whitespace separators as equivalent. For example, a search for Springer lecture or SPRINGER LECTURE or springer lecture should match Springer - Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

Needs: impl

Show unsaved changes before closing a library

req~ux.close.show-diff~1

When closing a modified library, the “Save before closing” dialog should offer to show the unsaved changes compared to the file on disk, so the user can decide between saving and discarding on an informed basis.

Needs: impl

Automatically paste clipboard content when useful

req~ux.textdialogs.autopaste~1

When a dialog with text input as a main component is opened, and it is expected that while working with it, the user will paste from clipboard, JabRef should already automatically paste it.

Example: new entry dialog by ID. It is expected that user would copy some paper ID (from browser, PDF, etc.), and then paste it in the dialog. As said above, JabRef automatically pastes the ID into the text field.

Needs: impl

Automatic Identifier Detection and Focus in New Entry Dialog

req~newentry.clipboard.autofocus~1

When the “New Entry” dialog is opened:

• If the clipboard contains a valid identifier (e.g., DOI, ISBN, ArXiv, RFC):

  • The dialog automatically switches to the “Enter Identifier” tab.
  • The identifier input field is automatically filled with the clipboard content.
  • The field receives keyboard focus and its content is selected.
  • The corresponding fetcher (e.g., DOI, ISBN) is automatically selected based on the detected identifier type.

This behavior streamlines the process of creating new entries by allowing users to copy an identifier and open the dialog, without needing to manually select the input field, switch tabs, or choose a fetcher manually.

Needs: impl

Community themes are selectable out of the box

req~ux.themes.bundled-community-themes~1

The themes from https://themes.jabref.org/ that cover both color schemes are bundled with JabRef and appear in the theme selection next to the built-in themes, without the user having to download a CSS file.

Needs: impl

Library tabs show what kind of library they hold

req~ux.tabs.library-kind-icon~1

Every library tab carries an icon: one for a BibTeX library, one for a BibLaTeX library, and one for a shared database. A shared database shows the database icon regardless of its mode.

Needs: impl, utest

Preferences walkthroughs open their settings dialog directly

req~ux.walkthrough.preferences-direct~1

Walkthroughs that require preferences must open the preferences dialog directly, so they can start regardless of the platform menu presentation.

Needs: impl

Groups walkthroughs make required controls and entries available

req~ux.walkthrough.groups-preparation~1

The groups walkthrough must open its bundled example library, display the Groups pane, and clear the current search before guiding the user.

Needs: impl