search for key does not always work

[ilippert]

JabRef version

Latest development branch build (please note build date below)

Operating system

GNU / Linux

Details on version and operating system

JabRef 5.16--2024-09-17--ed0e90e Linux 6.10.10-200.fc40.x86_64 amd64 Java 21.0.2 JavaFX 23+29

Checked with the latest development build (copy version output from About dialog)

• I made a backup of my libraries before testing the latest development version.
• I have tested the latest development version and the problem persists

Steps to reproduce the behaviour

Given a library that contains inter alia entries with the keys Law:2009The and acker1990hierarchies

I am puzzled:

1. search for Law:2009The
2. does not deliver results

However

1. search for acker1990hierarchies
2. does deliver results

why is that?

Appendix

No response

[ryan-carpenter]

Try escaping the colon using Law\:2009The

[ilippert]

Try escaping the colon using Law\:2009The

yes, thanks, that works.

But I think still that a user should be able to copy and paste a key into the search field and find the result.

[ryan-carpenter]

But I think still that a user should be able to copy and paste a key into the search field and find the result.

I feel the pain. Most of my group names are structured like Clojure keywords with the form :group/subgroup. Colons and slashes are both special characters in Lucene syntax, so I need to search for \:group\/subgroup.

Also note that according to the documentation, Lucene searches using regular expressions must match the whole field.

[LoayGhreeb]

But I think still that a user should be able to copy and paste a key into the search field and find the result.

The search syntax has been updated to use Lucene syntax.

Searching for Law:2009The is interpreted as searching in the law field for the value 2009The. With the new syntax, : is used instead of =.

To search for the value Law:2009The, you can use either "Law:2009The" or escape the colon with Law\:2009The.