An empty entry can still be added without warning message (and lead to an error when compiling)

JabRef version

Latest development branch build (please note build date below)

Operating system

GNU / Linux

Details on version and operating system

JabRef 5.6–2022-04-04–dbf921e Linux 4.19.0-20-amd64 amd64 Java 17.0.2 JavaFX 18+12

Checked with the latest development build

• I made a backup of my libraries before testing the latest development version.
• I have tested the latest development version and the problem persists

Steps to reproduce the behaviour

1. Open a library
2. Add an entry (by clicking on the + button, for example)
3. Save the library
4. Close the library

No warning message is displayed (unlike stated in issue #8096), especially not the message of the PR #8218. And so, the issue #8096 is still present: biber generates an error ([8337] Utils.pm:411> ERROR - BibTeX subsystem: /tmp/biber_tmp_Qtbu/a9e03cb3043b9e2c02591da84105bb68_26801.utf8, line 36978, syntax error: found ",", expected one of: number, name (entry type, key, field, or macro name), end of entry ("}" or ")") or quoted string ({...} or "..."))

My analysis:

1. the current definition of an empty entry is probably too strict. For me, by default, an empty entry is

@Article{,
  creationdate = {2022-04-05T10:41:54},
  owner        = {mlep},
}

So, not really an empty entry. But, since an empty entry key is enough to lead to a biber error, I suggest an empty key should be enough to raise the warning message.

1. Because you can compile your file after saving (i.e. while keeping your library opened), the biber error is generated before the warning message has a chance to be displayed. Hence, the warning message should be displayed on saving (i.e. not on closing).

2. The feature “Generate keys before saving (for entries without a key)” in Options -> Preferences -> Citation key generator is of no help because no key are generated for such an “almost empty entry”.

Appendix

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Log File

Paste an excerpt of your log file here

[mlep]

@ThiloteE Not really: my key pattern is [auth][shortyear]. Since my “almost empty” entry does not have an author or a year, I cannot really blame this feature. 😉

[koppor]

The challenge to work on this issue is to craft test cases.