InterBib: Release Notes for 2007 Overhaul

After operating for 12 years unattended, InterBib was out of commission for a while, because Python had changed so much that a Python upgrade broke the code. I fixed some features, added some new ones, but also left some languishing due to time constraints.

RTF conversion does not work right now. MIF has not been tested in a while. HTML conversion of bibliographies, and addition of bibliographies into HTML documents works.

Interoperability with Endnote has been greatly improved. For local operation there are now endnote2bib and bib2endnote scripts. The refer2bib and bib2refer facility now sticks to 'official' Refer. We now call that format Strict Refer. Note: InterBib's default file extension for bibliography files that conform Endnote's extensions to Refer is .enr (for Endnote Refer). Local operation via the scripts is possible if you download and install InterBib on your own machine (see below).

The LaTeX comment character: '%' is now recognized in BibTeX files as a comment even when it's not at the start of a line. Percentage signs in strings ({...}, "...", '...') are protected.

Fixed a bug that misunderstood "#" signs inside of strings.

Regarding translations to and from Endnote: URLs in a BibTeX 'url' field translate properly to %U, and vice versa. BibTeX keys are preserved via %F for use in Endnote. String macros in BibTeX work. I did my best with the translation of LaTeX special chars to/from Latin1.

To migrate a BibTeX file to Endnote, use InterBib to convert the file to an Endnote .enr (Endnote Refer file), and import the result into Endnote. During this conversion process you can merge BibTeX, Refer, and other Endnote (Refer-exported) bibliographies from local files and locations on the Web into a single BibTeX, Endnote, or Strict Refer file on your local machine.

As an example for using the command line way of doing the BibTeX to Endnote conversion (if you decided to install your local InterBib copy):
bib2endnote myBiblio.bib > myBiblio.enr. You need to remove the few lines of error/warning reports at the end of the resulting .enr file.

Importing the .enr file to Endnote using the application's built-in ReferBibIX input filter works OK. You'll get better results if you use the InterBib import filter that I put together. It matches BibTeX fields to Endnote a bit better than Endnote's standard Refer filter. After downloading the filter file, you place it in the Endnote installation directory's Filters subdirectory.

To migrate an Endnote bibliography to BibTeX, export it from Endnote using the ReferBibIX output style. Then use InterBib to convert to BibTex. See below for a couple of instructions on how best to do the export from Endnote.

You can download a distribution of this InterBib release from the InterBib home page. Gunzip/untar; run make. The system will work both on your local machine in command line mode under Linux or Cygwin, or you can run it over the Web. You'll need Python in either case. Python 2.5.1 under Cygwin works fine; so does Python 2.2.3 under Linux.

If you are a Python programmer and willing to chip in: I'd like to resurrect the ability to add bibliographies into Word documents. A previous InterBib version did this through RTF. Rather than fixing the RTF module, I'd love to have that module modified to work with Word 2007's XML instead. If you are interested, please email me at .

EndNote customization for importing InterBib BibTeX files:

• Get author names right:
  • Edit-->Import Filters-->Open Filter Manager...
  • Select ReferBibIX (or InterBib if you installed the InterBib filter)
  • Click Edit
  • Under Author Parsing, set 'Name Order' to 'First Always Precedes Last'
• Have Endnote use the BibTeX key instead of an internally generated record number:
  • Edit-->Preferences-->Temporary Citations
  • Check Use field instead of record number
  • Select "Label"