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Database 2: How does EndNote 8 and later's library format affect compatibility with older versions?

EndNote 8 and later Library Compatibility

With the new features and database structure of EndNote 8 and later, your libraries will not be backwardly compatible with older versions of EndNote. If you work in an environment with multiple versions of EndNote, you can convert your libraries using the instructions below.

Forward Compatibility to EndNote 8 and later

To use libraries created with EndNote 7 and earlier, convert the library through EndNote 8 or later. To do this, in EndNote 8 or later select File / Open / Open Library...and select the old EndNote library file you wish to convert. EndNote 8 or later will create a new library and leave the original library unchanged.

This new library will include a .enl file, images in the .DATA folder if present, and new application-specific files in the new .DATA\rdb subfolder. See the Help files or your EndNote manual for further details on the EndNote 8 and later library structure.

Note: If you are using EndNote X on an Intel Mac, please see this FAQ.

Backward Compatibility with earlier EndNote versions

Due to the Unicode-compliant database structure and other changes with EndNote 8 and later, EndNote 8 and later libraries are not backward compatible with previous versions. Additionally, customization of the filter/style listed below may be necessary if you have data in custom fields or reference types. To use EndNote 8 and later libraries with an older version of EndNote:
 

  1. Export the EndNote 8 or later library to a plain text file (.txt) using the Refer Export format:
    1. Open the library in EndNote 8 or later and make sure all references are showing. Select "Refer Export" as the output style.
    2. Select File / Export..., enter a file name, and save the file to a convenient location such as your desktop.
  2. Import the Refer Export text file into the earlier version of EndNote:
    1. In the older version of EndNote create a new library or open an existing one.Select File / Import. Click the "Choose File" button and select the text file you just created. Under "Import Option" select "Refer/BibIX"
    2. Click the "Import" button.

Compatibility Issues:
 

  • Unicode support is exlusive to EndNote 8 and later. Data corruption may occur when importing Unicode characters into earlier versions of EndNote which did not support Unicode.EndNote 8 and later uses UTF-8 format when exporting to a text file. Earlier versions of EndNote (and Reference Manager and ProCite) import and export files using the ASCII format. Therefore if the text file exported from EndNote 8 or later contains any non-ASCII formatted characters, these characters may not import correctly into earlier versions of EndNote.Reference types new to EndNote 8 or later will import as Generic in earlier versions of EndNote.Record numbers are not preserved when importing from a text file into an EndNote library; EndNote will assign record numbers to the imported records based on their order in the text file.
  • If you use the EndNote 8 or later Cite While You Write (CWYW) tools on a Microsoft Word document, do not use the CWYW tools from an earlier version of EndNote on that document or you may encounter compatibility issues and introduce document corruption.


This page was last modified on: March 13, 2008

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