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I start with this script:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[backend=bibtex]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{bibtextest.bib}
\begin{document}
See \cite{somebook}
\printbibliography
\end{document}

with bibtextbib.bib:

@book{somebook,
      author        = "Some author",
      publisher     = "Publisher",
      title         = "{Title}",
      year          = "1997",
}

It compiles fine with the output:

enter image description here

However, I see a warning:

Package biblatex Warning: Using fall-back BibTeX(8) backend:
(biblatex)                functionality may be reduced/unavailable.

Warning: "Using fall-back BibTeX(8) backend:(biblatex) functionality may be reduced/unavailable." suggests me to experiment by replacing backend=bibtex with backend=biber. However, this leads to undefined references:

enter image description here

Biblatex with Biber: Configuring my editor to avoid undefined citations is not helpful as I compile by command line arguments pdflatex/xelatex and bibtex.

How to avoid undefined references with biber compiling from the command line?

Viesturs
  • 7,895
  • 2
    You need to run biber instead of bibtex if you change the backend. – Ulrike Fischer Nov 16 '19 at 11:15
  • @UlrikeFischer, using biber I experience this problem INFO - This is Biber 2.9 INFO - Logfile is 'bibtextest.blg' INFO - Reading 'bibtextest.bcf' ERROR - Error: Found biblatex control file version 3.5, expected version 3.4. This means that your biber (2.9) and biblatex (3.12) versions are incompatible. See compat matrix in biblatex or biber PDF documentation. INFO - ERRORS: 1 – Viesturs Nov 16 '19 at 11:21
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    Update your TeX distribution (https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/55437/35864). As the message states your biblatex and Biber versions don't match. What TeX system and OS are you running? Remember that if you use MikTeX you will probably have to run the update in Admin and User mode. – moewe Nov 16 '19 at 11:38
  • Judging by https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/516788/35864 you managed to get things going here. Do you want an answer you can accept or can this be closed as a duplicate of https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/63852/35864 or https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/55437/35864? – moewe Nov 17 '19 at 13:01
  • @moewe better to produce an answer for someone who compiles from the command line and has incompatible version of biber and biblatex. – Viesturs Nov 17 '19 at 13:05
  • @UlrikeFischer Do you want to type up a quick answer here, please? – moewe Nov 17 '19 at 13:06
  • @moewe, I use Ubuntu 18.04 and TexLive 2018 – Viesturs Nov 17 '19 at 13:48
  • @UlrikeFischer I went ahead and wrote a short answer so this question can be marked as answered. If you would like to write an answer now, please give me a ping and I'll remove my answer. – moewe Nov 19 '19 at 20:16

1 Answers1

1

With backend=biber, instead of backend=bibtex, you need to run Biber on your document and not BibTeX. Assuming that your document is called doc.tex you would now run

pdflatex doc
biber doc
pdflatex doc
pdflatex doc

instead of pdflatex doc, bibtex doc, pdflatex doc, pdflatex doc. (Where pdflatex can of course be replaced by your favourite flavour of LaTeX: latex, lualatex, xelatex.).

A common error one gets when running BibTeX instead of Biber is

This is BibTeX, Version 0.99d (MiKTeX 2.9.7250 64-bit)
The top-level auxiliary file: doc.aux
I found no \citation commands---while reading file doc.aux
I found no \bibdata command---while reading file doc.aux
I found no \bibstyle command---while reading file doc.aux
(There were 3 error messages)

The error

ERROR - Error: Found biblatex control file version 3.5, expected version 3.4.
        This means that your biber (2.9) and biblatex (3.12) versions are incompatible.

means exactly what it says: The installed Biber and biblatex versions are incompatible. Remove all temporary files (.aux, .bbl, .bcf, ...) and update your TeX system thoroughly and properly (see How do I update my TeX distribution?).

moewe
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