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BibDesk does not permit parentheses within the Cite Key field even though BibTeX works perfectly well with such parentheses and other BibTeX database programs (such as JabRef) permit it. So I think this qualifies it as a bug in BibDesk.

Question: Until this is fixed, is there a workaround for using BibDesk on an already constructed BibTeX databases that includes parentheses in the Cite Key field without having to change all the entries and \cite commands in documents that use such entries?

Jim M
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  • Hello, Jim, and welcome to tex.stackexchange. There is no workaround to allow BibDesk to accept additional characters in the cite key, and in the case of parentheses, this is unlikely to change, as the underlying parser (libbtparse) chokes on them. For a workaround that may point you in a different direction (should you choose to change your cite keys), you'd have to maintain a mapping: https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/44877/bibtex-with-multiple-aliases-for-the-same-reference – Adam Maxwell Apr 17 '20 at 18:29
  • Many thanks - that's very clear and helpful. I guess it makes sense to use JabRef for this, though the latest version has some incompatibility with my older bib files created with JabRef 3. – Jim M Apr 19 '20 at 08:49
  • I put a note in BibDesk's source code years ago that according to "The LaTeX Companion" (2nd ed.), BibTeX commands are actually TeX commands and subject to the same character restrictions, although this is generally relaxed to include some punctuation. The btparse manual page has some good notes and I strongly recommend that you not use parentheses in cite keys, although BibTeX's grammar is…lacking (see p. 406 of Beebe's TUGBoat article on bibclean). – Adam Maxwell Apr 19 '20 at 18:03
  • Many thanks for taking the trouble to respond. The problem is that I have existing bib files that have parentheses in the keys and I am not wanting to have to edit all those and the corresponding \cite commands in documents. Obviously, I could just start new bib files for new entries that avoid parentheses in cite keys. But, since parentheses in cite keys do not create problems in JabRef, it might just be simpler to use that. – Jim M Apr 21 '20 at 15:04

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