Citations Source Manager Master List empty!

rachetta · #1 04-24-2012, 09:34 AM

Today while working on my doctoral dissertation I wanted to import a bibliographical reference from the master list to the current list (word had previously crashed and the current list was empty).

Much to my surprise and horror, the master list is now also completely empty!! There were HUNDREDS of books, book sections, journal articles etc. listed there and now they have disappeared!!!

Does anyone have any idea where I can find them?? Any ideas would be very appreciated. If I can't find the list I am in big trouble!!

macropod · #2 04-24-2012, 04:28 PM

Hi rachetta,

Word stores your bibliography entries in a file named 'Sources.xml'. On a PC, that file is usually stored in:
C:\Documents and Settings\%Username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Bibliography\
I can't tell you where it's stored on a Mac, though.

Assuming 'Sources.xml' has been corrputed/deleted, you should be able to:
• restore it from one of your regular system backups; or
• re-create it by opening each of the documents that contained the entries it held and adding them to the 'master' list afresh.

rachetta · #3 04-25-2012, 03:06 AM

hi macropod,

thank you for your help! i found the sources.xml file and as it was only 4KB it had obviously been wiped/corrupted. thank goodness i had done a time-machine back up on Sunday--i replaced the sources.xml file and my references returned! hooray! and what a relief! How can the sources.xml file be corrupted? what a nightmare!

anyway, added to the fact that ms word is crashing on me 4 times day, i've decided to switch to LibreOffice and zotero.

macropod · #4 04-25-2012, 03:17 AM

Hi rachetta,

If you need any of the advanced features offered by Word, I think you'll find LibreOffice disappointing. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libreoffice

You might also be interested to know which Word/Excel features are not supported by the ODS & ODT formats used by LibreOffice. See: http://windowssecrets.com/forums/sho...l=1#post839027

rachetta · #5 04-25-2012, 03:36 AM

hi paul,

i have used ms word for years and was really reticent to give it up.

it has always crashed, but recently it has been crashing up to 8 times a day, often when i am saving a document or adding something to the citations list, or when it's autosaving. every time is see the spinning beach ball of death i wait for it to freeze. it's really frustrating and a total waste of time. i've followed the advice of different forums as to how to improve it, but nothing has had a lasting effect.

and now it is corrupting the source.xml file! it's too much! it is also really quite frustrating that the sources.xml is non-exportable and is thus dead and non-back-up-able. i can't copy it into zotero or citavi or any of these reference managers, which are much more user friendly and save a whole lot of time.

i suppose the other option would be to get office for mac 2011, but i am not convinced that 200 dollars is a good investment.

macropod · #6 04-25-2012, 03:59 AM

Hi rachetta,

Maybe, then there is a stability issue with your OS X setup or the Office installation itself.

Have you tried running Office under a 'Safe Boot' to see whether the problem persists? If it doesn't, the implication is that the problem is caused by a background program or service. If it does, you may need to repair your OS and/or reinstall Office. For reinstalling Office, see: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2025907

rachetta · #7 04-25-2012, 07:33 AM

yes i have done a safe boot and it didn't make any difference.
would upgrading to mac office 2011 help?

rachetta · #8 04-25-2012, 07:34 AM

the other problem is that ms office always fails to quit.
i have to force quit every time i shut it down.

macropod · #9 04-25-2012, 02:49 PM

If reinstalling Office doesn't help, I can't see that upgrading would, either. The fact that you're having extensive problems really does suggest there is a stability issue with your OS X setup or the Office installation itself. Until you resolve those issues, whatever you work on is at risk. Changing applications at this stage is rather like changing horses in the middle of a river ...

Paul1969 · #10 05-08-2012, 11:04 AM

Just found this thread. I'm empathizing with rachetta. Same story here. Working on a doctoral dissertation using Word for Mac 2011. Last week Word kept crashing every hour or so. This week all my citations disappeared. Very frustrating and disappointing. In my case, upgrading to Office for Mac 2011 won't help because I'm already using that version.

Paul1969 · #11 05-08-2012, 11:49 AM

Unlike rachetta, I'm unable to restore the master list for my bibliography. Up until yesterday it was working fine. There were hundreds of items on the list. As of yesterday, there is only one item listed (the last one I entered). No matter how far back I go on Time Machine, when I restore sources.xml I get the same result - only one item on the master list. When I open sources.xml with a text editor it is clearly not empty and the one item that shows up in Word does not appear to be there. Is there any chance that Word is somehow using a different file - something apart from sources.xml?

macropod · #12 05-08-2012, 03:25 PM

Hi Paul,

AFAIK, Sources.xml is the only file used for the 'master' list. However, every cited reference in your dissertation should still be in that. You can add those back to the 'master' list from a given document's list via a macro like:

Code:

Sub SourcesRebuild()
Dim oSrc As Source
'Don't throw an error if the source is already present
On Error Resume Next
For Each oSrc In ActiveDocument.Bibliography.Sources
  Application.Bibliography.Sources.Add oSrc.XML
Next
End Sub

For backup/restore purposes, you can also export the 'master' list to a new document from which it can later be restored, using macros like:

Code:

Sub SourcesExport()
Dim oSrc As Source, StrSrc As String
With ActiveDocument
  .Range.Text = vbNullString
  For Each oSrc In Application.Bibliography.Sources
    StrSrc = StrSrc & vbCr & oSrc.XML
  Next
  .Range.InsertAfter StrSrc
  .Paragraphs.First.Range.Delete
End With
End Sub
 
Sub SourcesImport()
Dim i As Long, StrSrc As String
'Don't throw an error if the source is already present
On Error Resume Next
With ActiveDocument
  For i = 0 To UBound(Split(.Range.Text, vbCr))
    Application.Bibliography.Sources.Add Split(.Range.Text, vbCr)(i)
  Next
End With
End Sub

Writing the list to a document, instead of adding them to its bibliography or simply backing up Sources.xml, makes it easier to delete entries that are no longer needed before reimporting the list.

OsmanSG · #13 05-29-2012, 09:07 AM

I am having the exact same problem. However I upgraded from Word 2008 to Word 2011 in Mac OS X Lion.

The sources.xml file is there - with all my citations in there. However it isn't being used by Word 2011 because when I open word and look at my master list... bam! it's empty!

I tried searching for files which have been modified today hoping I might chance upon where Word 2011 stores the master citation list but I haven't had any luck finding it.

Has anybody had any success? I really don't want to start typing in my citations from scratch again.

macropod · #14 05-29-2012, 03:59 PM

If you open the Sources.XML file and copy the content into a Word document, you can then:
• use Find/Replace, where:
Find = <b:Source>
Replace = ^p^&
to separate the entries into separate paragraphs in the Word document
• delete the first two paragraphs from the Word document
• delete the Sources.XML file
• run the 'SourcesImport' import macro from my previous post to recreate the 'master list' and Sources.XML file.

Macpatate · #15 08-07-2012, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OsmanSG

I am having the exact same problem. However I upgraded from Word 2008 to Word 2011 in Mac OS X Lion.

The sources.xml file is there - with all my citations in there. However it isn't being used by Word 2011 because when I open word and look at my master list... bam! it's empty!

I tried searching for files which have been modified today hoping I might chance upon where Word 2011 stores the master citation list but I haven't had any luck finding it.

Has anybody had any success? I really don't want to start typing in my citations from scratch again.

Could you please let me know where the sources.xml file is located on Mac for the 011 version. I encountered the same problem and couldn't find it!
Thanks

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