Error: Cannot find control file 'references.bcf'! - did you pass the "backend=biber" option to BibLaTeX?

Question

When I compile my Latex file, I get this error:
ERROR - Cannot find control file 'references.bcf'! - did you pass the "backend=biber" option to BibLaTeX?

Do you have any idea what is the source of this problem ?

P.S.: I have Texstudio as an editor, and in Options\Configure Texstudio\Commands I set biber.exe % and bibtex8.exe % in BibTex and BibTex 8bits boxes, respectively.

Can you answer the question the message asks? Did you pass the option that way? If not, do so. — Johannes_B, Oct 01 '15 at 17:35
your main file is references.tex, right? and your pdflatex run was successful? — , Oct 01 '15 at 17:36
Actually, it works fine for a list of references I was used before. However, it stops working when I add a new citation, meaning that it cites all the old citations but not the new one. — tam, Oct 01 '15 at 17:41
@Johannes_B I don't have biblatex package. I fact, I am using \documentclass[...]{IEEEtran} — tam, Oct 01 '15 at 19:44
@Johannes_B: backend=biber is the default of biblatex. No need to define it. — , Oct 01 '15 at 20:00
@Herbert Yes, but not if some template says backend=bibtex. I have seen many of those. — Johannes_B, Oct 01 '15 at 20:02

score 27 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 23 '16 at 18:31

27

Make sure you are using:

\usepackage[backend=biber]{biblatex}

As well as you are building with the command:

biber filename

And not:

biber filename.aux

answered Feb 23 '16 at 18:31

Bruno Vani

387

1

This is partly covered by the other answer, and seems to be exactly what the OP is doing. – Werner Feb 23 '16 at 18:49
1

backend=biber is not necessary, as this is the default value. – samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz Jan 31 '17 at 15:25

score 16 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 01 '15 at 20:04

16

This example works well with biblatex and biber. Without loading the package, biber cannot work.

\documentclass{IEEEtran} 
\usepackage{biblatex} 
\addbibresource{biblatex-examples.bib}

\begin{document} 

\nocite{*}
\printbibliography
\end{document}

answered Oct 01 '15 at 20:04

Why there is these \nocite{*} there? – Fábio Roberto Teodoro Jan 22 '22 at 23:08
1

@FábioRobertoTeodoro To show all referenced sources in the .bib file. Otherwise only the referenced sources are printed. – finder2 Feb 05 '22 at 17:51

score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 14 '22 at 16:30

6

I also use TeXstudio and I solved the error by going to Options\Configure Texstudio\Built and changing Default Bibliography Tool from Biber to BibTeX.

This is similar to what @Alex suggested.

answered Jul 14 '22 at 16:30

Gabriele _D

61

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered May 18 '18 at 15:09

I am using Texmaker 5.0.2 (compiled with Qt 5.9.1) for Mac, and a "style format" from the AEA (https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/policies/templates).

In my case, the solution was extremely simple: go to TexMaker preferences > Commands > there is a small Bib(la)tex space with a file location. In my case this location used to read: "/usr/local/texlive/2014/bin/x86_64-darwin/biber" %

I changed it to: "/usr/local/texlive/2014/bin/x86_64-darwin/bibtex" %

and it works perfectly fine. You can navigate to the directory to find other Bib compilers.

I hope this is useful for someone else.

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered May 16 '19 at 08:36

I struggled with this for several days as I have been trying to meet the NRC requirements for bibliography formatting with the natbib package. I use TexShop version 3.88 and fixed the problem going to preferences > Engine and changing the BibTex Engine from 'biber' to 'bibtex'. Thanks for the insight :)

Error: Cannot find control file 'references.bcf'! - did you pass the "backend=biber" option to BibLaTeX?

5 Answers5

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