JabRef refuses to launch without warning if an illegal character is found in journal abbreviations

[jmmelko]

Hi,

On Windows 10 (but I expect it to happen on other platforms as well) JabRef 5.2--2020-12-24--6a2a512 Windows 10 10.0 amd64 Java 14.0.2

When a double quote character is present in the journal abbrevations file, the app refuses to launch (i.e. it quits just after starting), without any error dialog box.

Launching jabref.bat produces the following output (truncated to 1st error):

ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized format specifier [d]
ERROR StatusLogger Unrecognized conversion specifier [d] starting at position 16 in conversion pattern.

To solve the problem:

• remove illegal character, OR
• rename journal abbreviations file so it cannot be found, OR
• reset preferences by starting JabRef.exe from the command line with the /d option (-d under unix)

Suggested bug fixes for the next release:

• [ ] open an "OK" dialog box with the log output, for the regular user to report their problem
• [ ] create a clearly visible log file somewhere in the user directory, like JabRef_errors.log
• [ ] make the log more explicit, by mentioning in which file the problem occurs
• [ ] avoid crashing and just skip loading this file
• [ ] when uninstalling JabRef, remove Windows registery keys pointing to preference files

This bug is a duplicate of #6917.

I am creating a new issue because:

• the answer provided in #6917 is not satisfactory
• i cannot reopen an issue
• the previous issue title "IOException reading next record" was too vague: I spent 2 hours searching for an answer to my problem on the web and finally found it on a chinese website

Thank you.

[jmmelko]

bug still there in latest:

JabRef 5.3--2021-05-31--edb8df5 Windows 10 10.0 amd64 Java 16.0.1 JavaFX 16+8

[calixtus]

Thanks for reporting this bug. We'll look into this.