Colors Used for Citations

Citations and bibliographies are generally displayed on screen in blue, but they do not print in blue. The on-screen color indicates that the text was generated by the program rather than typed in by the writer.

Traditionally, Ibidem citations were controlled by a record number that was inserted in a General Citation (GC) command when the record was cited in an open document. The record number corresponded to the record number in the associated Ibidem database. Under the old system, when updating citations in a file, Ibidem would simply output the data for the record number that it found in the GC command. This meant that the record number was essential to producing the correct output. If you used a database on two computers, or shared your database with other Nota Bene users, you needed to be careful to make sure that the databases were in synch with exactly the same record numbers. For example, if you added two new records on one computer, you would need to make sure that those two records got added to your second computer in the same order so that they would have the same record numbers. This would normally be done by copying database files from the first computer to the second computer before adding any records on the second computer.

Now, when Ibidem updates dynamic citations, it checks the record number, and it also checks the Author, Year, and Title information stored in the GC (Generate Citation) command. If the Author, Year and Title in the GC command does not match the data in the database for the record number found in the GC command, then Ibidem uses sophisticated pattern matching rules to locate the proper record.

This new method of record identification means that you can have multiple copies of the same database on different machines, without worrying about keeping them synchronized. You can also more easily share bibliographies with colleague who uses Nota Bene. For example, you can work on the same document on two different computers even if a book you are citing is record number 101 in your database on one computer, and number 123 in the database on your other computer. If you enter a citation for record number 101 on one computer, and later update the citations on your second computer, Ibidem will find the correct record and write the citation and bibliography based on the proper record.

When you update your dynamic citations, Ibidem will report on the status of all records, and the rewritten citations in the file will be identified by a color code as follows:

•Regular dynamic records are shown in blue. All data—year, author, title, and record number—in the GC command in the file matches the information in database.

•Non-dynamic records are shown in green. These are records for which the dynamic link to Ibidem has been turned off. See Dynamic Off/On.

•Exact match records are shown in maroon. The author, title, and year in the GC command match a record in database, but the record has a different record number.

•Close match records are shown in pink. The citation data in the GC command closely matches a record in the database with a different record number.

•Records that are not found in the database are shown in red, with a box. This indicates that you need to add the record to the database.

For more information on updating the citations in a document, see Updating Citations.

While the new method of record identification is the default, you can select the original style in which items in the database were identified by the record numbers only. Click Format, Bibliographic References, Set Reference Style and click on the Advanced Options tab. See Reference Style Advanced Options.