Weird compile result -- bug?

[Paul A. Rubin]

On 10/16/21 3:14 AM, Jürgen Spitzmüller wrote:
> Am Freitag, dem 15.10.2021 um 17:18 -0400 schrieb Paul A. Rubin:
>> 1. View the document (which compiles correctly), then run 'grep
>> biblatex dev_mwe.tex' in the LyX buffer directory. The relevant
>> output line is "\usepackage[style=authoryear]{biblatex}".
>> 2. Make an arbitrary text change in the document body (anywhere), to
>> force LyX to recompile. Repeat the previous step. The key line in the
>> .tex file is unchanged.
>> 3. In Document > Settings... > LaTeX Preamble, add a space at the end
>> of the preamble and repeat the first step. The line in the .tex file
>> changes to "\usepackage[style=authoryear,backend=bibtex8]{biblatex}"
>> (i.e., the "backend" setting is added).
> I cannot reproduce.
>
>> This also happens if I edit the text in the \lehead{}, \rohead{},
>> \refoot{} or \lofoot{} commands, or if I insert \usepackage{} in the
>> preamble, or basically if I make any non-fatal change to the
>> preamble.
> Neither with this.
>
>> It makes no sense to me that any of those changes would affect
>> bibliography processing.
> Well, here is a possible explanation:
>
> The "bibtex8" backend is only added to the output when bibtex8 is
> indeed used as a bibliography processor. But the document you sent has
> \bibtex_command biber
>
> However, maybe you do not have biber installed on your system. Then,
> biber is not found by configure.py and not available as an option in
> Document > Settings > Bibliography > Bibliography Processor. In such a
> case, the option is reset to default (preferences). This is the only
> way to assure the document compiles successfully on your system.
> This happens if you do any change in document setting (preamble or
> otherwise), as the bibliography processor combo does not have the biber
> choice and is set to default. Check if the document has, after the
> crucial change
> \bibtex_command default
>
> Now default means: Use preference settings. If you have in preferences
> "Automatic" bibliography processor, LyX uses the best one available. If
> biber is not available, this is bibtex8, hence the change.
>
> Of course bibtex8 is much inferior to biber, and it can be expected
> nowadays that people who use biblatex do have biber installed.
>
> Best,
> Jürgen
>
>
Jürgen,

I believe you are correct about biber. When I first encountered the bug, 
I did not have biber installed. So I installed biber and retested, 
finding the bug again ... because I forgot to reconfigure LyX. In both 
those instances, 'biber' was not an option on the processor drop-down 
list, and so LyX changed it to 'Default'. After reconfiguring LyX, 
'biber' is the selected option and the behavior is as it should be.

That still leaves the question of whether what I originally saw was 
unique to my system or would happen to anyone who opened a LyX doc using 
biblatex with biber on a system that does not have biber installed. 
Unfortunately, to test that you would need a biber-less system.

Maybe this is just too unusual to worry about.

Cheers,
Paul

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