What about the value of org-ref-pdf-directory. This seems to be where your error is coming from. Your debugger info suggests it is set to nil. Debugger entered--Lisp error: (wrong-type-argument stringp nil) file-name-as-directory(nil) org-ref-open-bibtex-notes() doi-utils-insert-bibtex-entry-fr John ----------------------------------- Professor John Kitchin Doherty Hall A207F Department of Chemical Engineering Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 412-268-7803 @johnkitchin http://kitchingroup.cheme.cmu.edu On Thu, Dec 24, 2015 at 10:16 PM, Andreas Kiermeier < andreas.kiermeier@gmail.com> wrote: > I've set the HOME environment variable to "C:/Users/andre_000/Documents" > and hence need the .. to get into the Dropbox folder. > > Executing (find-file org-ref-bibliography-notes) does find and open the > correct notes file. > > Using an absolute path, as in: > > (setq org-ref-bibliography-notes > "C:/Users/andre_000/Dropbox/_biblio/org-ref/bibnotes.org" > org-ref-default-bibliography > '("C:/Users/andre_000/Dropbox/_biblio/refs.bib")) > > results in the same error. > > After dropping a PDF file into the .bib file I end up with the following > additional entry (for example) in the bibnotes.org file. I thought I'd > include it just to ensure that nothing gets chopped of - this entry > correctly reflect the PDF. > > ** TODO 2007 - Taenia Saginata in Europe > :PROPERTIES: > :Custom_ID: dorny_2007 > :AUTHOR: Dorny \& Praet > :JOURNAL: Veterinary Parasitology > :YEAR: 2007 > :VOLUME: 149 > :PAGES: 22-24 > :DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2007.07.004 > :URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2007.07.004 > :END: > > Does the notes file need a specific set up in terms of headers etc? > > > -- > Dr Andreas Kiermeier | Director > Statistical Process Improvement Consulting and Training Pty Ltd > Mbl: +61 (4)23 028 565 | Email: andreas.kiermeier@gmail.com > Australia > > On 25 December 2015 at 13:17, John Kitchin > wrote: > >> That is an odd looking path. On Mac that would expand to something like >> >> /Users/Dropbox/_biblio/org-ref/bibnotes.org >> >> and on linux >> >> /home/Dropbox/_biblio/org-ref/bibnotes.org >> >> usually you should not have permission for that, and neither make sense >> to me. >> >> Does (file-exists-p org-ref-bibliography-notes) return true? >> >> or alternatively does (find-file org-ref-bibliography-notes) actually >> open a writable file? >> >> I would think this is what you want (unless you have some unusual setup >> and permissions): >> >> (setq org-ref-bibliography-notes "~/Dropbox/_biblio/org-ref/bibnotes.org" >> org-ref-default-bibliography '("~/Dropbox/_biblio/refs.bib")) >> >> i.e. no .. in the path. >> >> Andreas Kiermeier writes: >> >> > Hi John, >> > >> > I've set it at follows (based on your setup) in my init.el file: >> > >> > (setq org-ref-bibliography-notes "~/../Dropbox/_biblio/org-ref/ >> bibnotes.org" >> > org-ref-default-bibliography '("~/../Dropbox/_biblio/refs.bib")) >> > >> > So, non-nil. >> > >> > Andreas >> > >> > On 25 December 2015 at 00:45, John Kitchin >> wrote: >> > >> >> >> >> On Thu, Dec 24, 2015 at 1:04 AM, Andreas Kiermeier < >> >> andreas.kiermeier@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> >> >>> org-ref-open-bibtex-notes() >> >> >> >> >> >> That looks like a different error that occurs in >> org-ref-open-bibtex-notes(). >> >> Up to that point everything looks normal. >> >> >> >> What do you have your org-ref-bibliography-notes variable set to? The >> >> default value is nil which would cause that error. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> John >> >> >> >> ----------------------------------- >> >> Professor John Kitchin >> >> Doherty Hall A207F >> >> Department of Chemical Engineering >> >> Carnegie Mellon University >> >> Pittsburgh, PA 15213 >> >> 412-268-7803 >> >> @johnkitchin >> >> http://kitchingroup.cheme.cmu.edu >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Professor John Kitchin >> Doherty Hall A207F >> Department of Chemical Engineering >> Carnegie Mellon University >> Pittsburgh, PA 15213 >> 412-268-7803 >> @johnkitchin >> http://kitchingroup.cheme.cmu.edu >> > >