Skip to content
Draft
Show file tree
Hide file tree
Changes from 2 commits
Commits
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension

Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
Loading
Sorry, something went wrong. Reload?
Sorry, we cannot display this file.
Sorry, this file is invalid so it cannot be displayed.
Loading
Sorry, something went wrong. Reload?
Sorry, we cannot display this file.
Sorry, this file is invalid so it cannot be displayed.
Loading
Sorry, something went wrong. Reload?
Sorry, we cannot display this file.
Sorry, this file is invalid so it cannot be displayed.
Loading
Sorry, something went wrong. Reload?
Sorry, we cannot display this file.
Sorry, this file is invalid so it cannot be displayed.
Loading
Sorry, something went wrong. Reload?
Sorry, we cannot display this file.
Sorry, this file is invalid so it cannot be displayed.
Loading
Sorry, something went wrong. Reload?
Sorry, we cannot display this file.
Sorry, this file is invalid so it cannot be displayed.
Loading
Sorry, something went wrong. Reload?
Sorry, we cannot display this file.
Sorry, this file is invalid so it cannot be displayed.
Loading
Sorry, something went wrong. Reload?
Sorry, we cannot display this file.
Sorry, this file is invalid so it cannot be displayed.
Loading
Sorry, something went wrong. Reload?
Sorry, we cannot display this file.
Sorry, this file is invalid so it cannot be displayed.
35 changes: 27 additions & 8 deletions en/finding-sorting-and-cleaning-entries/groups.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ Just like directories, groups are structured like a tree, with the group _All En

The properties of a group can be defined in the 'Edit group' dialog window (the same window is displayed when creating a new group). To modify the group properties, right-click on the group name in the group pane and select **Edit group** in the context menu.

![Edit group window](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/6931104/188163107-c0e55fd7-51a6-4350-8ded-598aa720dc77.png)
![Edit group window](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-jabref6.0.png>)

### Name

Expand All @@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ A description of the group, to help you remember what it is about. This descript

An icon can be displayed in front of the group name. Choose your favorite icon among the ones available at [https://materialdesignicons.com/](https://materialdesignicons.com), and enter its name of the field _Icon_ (replacing any hyphens (`-`) with underscores (`_`)). The color of the icon can be set in the field _Color_.

![](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-iconcolorhierarchy-jabref5.2 (1).png>)
![](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-iconcolorhierarchy-jabref6.0.png>)

### Hierarchical context

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -105,14 +105,16 @@ JabRef has five types of groups:
* **Searching for a keyword**. The group contain entries in which a certain field (e.g. `author`) contains a certain keyword (e.g. `Smith`). This method does not require manual assignment of entries but uses information that is already present in the database.
* **Free search expression**. Similar to **Searching for a keyword**, but for several keywords in several fields.
* **Specified keywords**. This feature will gather all words found in a specific field of your choice, and create a group for each word.
* **Authors' last names**. Groups can be generated for each author's last name.
* **Authors' last names**. Groups can be generated for each author's last name.
Copy link
Member

@ThiloteE ThiloteE Nov 18, 2025

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Suggested change
* **Authors' last names**. Groups can be generated for each author's last name.

Copy link
Member

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

This explanation should be somewhere else. Probably line 155.

Copy link
Author

@ErwanGou ErwanGou Nov 19, 2025

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

You're right this line wasn't well placed. I moved it to line 157. I also detailled the difference between the two text fields because I didn't find that very clear, I hope this is relevant; please tell me if it isn't.

* **Cited entries**. The group contains the entries cited in a LaTeX document, based on its _.aux_ file.
* **Date**. The group contains all entries that satisfy a certain date criteria.
* **Directory structure**. The group mirrors the local file system structure based on the root directory path specified.

#### Explicit selection

Groups based on explicit selection are populated only by manual assignment of entries.

![Fields for collecting by using an explicit selection](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-typeexplicit-jabref5.2 (1).png>)
![Fields for collecting by using an explicit selection](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-typeexplicit-jabref6.0.png>)
Comment on lines -115 to +116
Copy link
Member

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Please delete the files not linked any more -- these files still exist

image


After creating an explicit-selection group, you select the entries to be assigned to it and use either drag-and-drop or the context menu **Add selected entries to this group** of the group interface.

Expand All @@ -126,7 +128,7 @@ This method of grouping requires that all entries have a unique citation key. In

This method groups entries in which a specified _field_ (e.g. _author_) contains a specified _keyword_ (e.g. _Smith_). The mentioned example will group all entries referring to the author _Smith_.

![Fields for collecting by searching for a keyword](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-typekeyboard-jabref5.2 (1).png>)
![Fields for collecting by searching for a keyword](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-typekeyboard-jabref6.0.png>)

The search can be case-sensitive or not (checkbox 'Case sensitive'). The search can either be done as a plain-text or a regular-expression search (checkbox 'Regular expression').

Expand All @@ -138,7 +140,7 @@ The content of the group is updated dynamically whenever the database changes: J

This is similar to the above, but rather than search for a single search term on a single field, a [search expression syntax](search.md) can be used. It supports logical operators (`AND`, `OR`, `NOT`) and allows searching multiple fields.

![Fields for collecting by a free-form search expression](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-typefreeexpression-jabref5.2 (1).png>)
![Fields for collecting by a free-form search expression](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-typefreeexpression-jabref6.0.png>)

For example, the search expression `keywords=regression and not keywords=linear` groups entries concerned with non-linear regression.

Expand All @@ -150,18 +152,35 @@ With the group type "Specified keywords", you can quickly create a set of groups

You can also specify characters to ignore, for instance, commas used between keywords. These will be treated as separators between words, and not part of them. This step is important for combined keywords such as `laplace distribution` to be recognized as a single semantic unit. (You cannot use this option to remove complete words. Instead, delete the unwanted groups manually after they were created automatically.)

![Fields for collecting by specified keywords](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-typespecifiedkeywords-jabref5.2 (1).png>)
![Fields for collecting by specified keywords](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-typespecifiedkeywords-jabref6.0.png>)

The content of the group is updated dynamically whenever the database changes.

#### Using the cited entries of a LaTeX document

The group contains the entries cited in a LaTeX document, based on its '.aux' file. The .aux file has to be specified.

![Fields for collecting by cited entries](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-typecited-jabref5.2 (1).png>)
![Fields for collecting by cited entries](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-typecited-jabref6.0.png>)

The content of the group is updated dynamically whenever the `.aux` file changes.

#### Using the publication date

This feature groups entries based on the date of a selected field.

![Fields for collecting by date](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-typedate-jabref6.0.png>)

The field _Field to extract date from_ specifies the entry's field from which the date is extracted.
The field _Date grouping option_ specifies how the entries are grouped, either by year, by month or by both year and month.

#### Using the directory structure

This feature mirrors a local structure and imports its PDF files as entries in the library. The group structure is updated dynamically whenever there is a change in the system.

![Fields for collecting by directory structure](<../.gitbook/assets/groups-groupwindow-typedirectorystructure-jabref6.0.png>)

The folder icon at the right of the field _Root path_ allows browsing the file system to select the root directory. When the directory is selected, it automatically fills the field _Name_ with the directory name if it was empty. It also selects _Union_ as hierarchical context by default, since this is the most logical choice for this type of group.

Comment on lines +178 to +185
Copy link
Member

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

I would remove this - and put it into a seperate PR

## Group color bars in the entry table

To see easily to which groups an entry belongs to, the entry table has a column dedicated to groups. For each entry, a set of color bars is displayed. The number of bars and their colors depend on the groups to which the entry belongs to.
Expand Down