#1241 ISBNToBibTex uses invalid URL

[Stex]

I wanted to add a BibTex source from an ISBN today and got the following exception:

java.io.FileNotFoundException: http://manas.tungare.name/software/isbn-to-bibtex/isbn-service?isbn=3442134633
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getInputStream(HttpURLConnection.java:1623)
    at java.net.URL.openStream(URL.java:1037)
    at net.sf.jabref.imports.fetcher.ISBNtoBibTeXFetcher.processQuery(ISBNtoBibTeXFetcher.java:82)
    at net.sf.jabref.imports.GeneralFetcher$4.run(GeneralFetcher.java:270)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:722)

The URL leads indeed to a 404 page.

My version is 2.10b2 (build 0) from the debian wheezy repositories

[Manas Tungare]

Hey,

I was just informed of this breakage by a JabRef user. The URL in question is on my site, utilizing an endpoint that was not explicitly published for third-parties to use. I recently changed URLs unaware that my service was being hard-coded and used in JabRef.

While I am happy to provide such a service, this appears to have been reverse-engineered instead of being implemented with my permission or at least after informing me. There is also no credit or mention of the source of this data in the JabRef app itself.

By doing this, JabRef bypasses the chief source of revenue that allows me to provide this service for free, by not showing the page that hosts the ads.

This also utilizes my API keys to communicate with Amazon, which have a daily limit, making me responsible for any payment once the limit is reached.

For all these reasons, I do not think it is a good idea to simply switch URLs to my new one. Had I been made aware that this would cause a breakage for JabRef users, I would have been happy to work with JabRef authors to mitigate the damage.

The correct way of implementing this is for JabRef to talk to Amazon directly using source code I have already published: https://gist.github.com/manastungare/5165047 and using JabRef's own API keys (or users’ API keys, if that is more appropriate for an open source project).

Or, if JabRef would like to continue to use my version of the service, then I guess a conversation is needed to be had about the proper way of doing so.

Regards,
Manas.

[Oliver Kopp]

I am in contact with Manas to sort things out. Currently, the fetcher does not work.

[Oliver Kopp]

eBook.de was so kind to make an API for JabRef available. This new fetcher will be part of our next release.