On 08/07/2011 04:39 PM, melise heyns wrote:
> To whom it may concern
>
> I am a student learning to use LyX for the first time, without any
> help. I am not familiar with TeX and LaTeX at all.
>
> The user's manual explains that you need to download a program with
> which to create a database to do referencing. I have found a few sites
> where I'm supposed to be able to download these programs, but every
> time I select a 'download' button, either nothing happens and the site
> just uploads itself again, or the app that I downloaded missed a basic
> file. Explanations of how to use the programs on these sites are also
> a bit confusing to me - the authors mostly assume that you are
> familiar with TeX and LaTeX.
>
> I am completely lost! Can somebody please advise me on where to find
> information that explains how to use LyX, or at least how to get going
> with a 'referencing database', in basic terms? Also, can I please be
> referred to a good link where I can obtain such a 'database program'?
> I use Windows.
>
There's a list of such programs here:
http://wiki.lyx.org/Windows/BibTeX
I'd suggest you try JabRef, which you can download here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/jabref/files/jabref/2.6/
You want the one that ends "setup.exe", for Windows. You will also need
to make sure you have Java installed. If not, you can get it here:
http://www.java.com/en/download/
As someone else said, though, these "databases" are just text files. In
principle, you can create and edit them with Notepad. But it's much
easier to use a program like JabRef.
> I have read the tutorial and gone on to the user's manual, but for a
> complete newbie these are still proving to be too cryptic sometimes. I
> am at my wit's end and not even sure of what questions I should be
> asking here... :( I am, however, eager to learn how to use LyX because
> it is such a time-saver.
>
Feel free to ask lots of questions.
Richard
