Field Groups organize entries based on the contents of a certain field, the `group field,' such as e.g. the `Keywords', `Author', or `Journal' field.
In order to select a field to use as a group field, use the "Group Field" menu from the "View" menu, or the contextual menu of the field group header item. Add a new BibTeX field name to this menu, or use one of the existing options. When you choose a group field from the "Group Field" menu, a list of all possible groups is automatically constructed and updated, using the contents of the selected field for all entries in your file.
Suppose you use the `Keywords' field to group entries. If you
have an entry with `Keywords = {models, constitutive relation, cohesion}'
and another entry with `Keywords = {Models, constitutive, stress, cohesion}',
your group list will show 6 groups:
`models, constitutive relation, cohesion, Models, constitutive, stress'.
A few points to note: groups are case-sensitive, and partial matches are not accepted, and
one group (cohesion) will have two entries visible when it is selected in the group list.
Separators that are recognized for groups are `;:,' and `and', at present.
`and' will be ignored as separator when the entry contains any of the separator characters.
The separator characters can be changed with a hidden preference using Terminal.app.
To change it to, say, `;,', quit BibDesk and enter the following command in Terminal (exclude double quotes):
"defaults write -app BibDesk BDSKGroupFieldSeparatorCharactersKey ';,'"
then hit return.
You can add entries or files to a group via drag-and-drop by dragging the selected files to a particular group's icon. New items created in BibDesk are added to the presently selected group, but items dragged into the main publications list are not added to a group (think of the danger of using `Journal' as a group, and adding publications to that group!).
The default group separator is a semicolon followed by a single space `; ', but this can be
changed with a hidden preference using Terminal.app. To change the separator to a comma
followed by a single space, quit BibDesk and enter the following command in Terminal (exclude double quotes):
"defaults write -app BibDesk BDSKDefaultGroupFieldSeparatorKey ', '"
then hit return.
Field groups can be edited: Changing the name of the group, will change the current value of the current group field for all the items in the group. In the case of authors, they will be matched using fuzzy logic, so be sure that you really want to change the author name for all items in the group!
For authors, you can get more info about the author using the command "Get Info" (⌘I) from the "File" menu.
Using the "delete" key to delete an item while a group is selected will result in the removal of that item from the present group. To delete the item from the database while a group is selected, use ⌥-delete. To see the group equivalents for "Edit" menu commands, hold down the ⌥ key while the "Edit" menu is displayed.