Rec No

Is there anyway to change the rec no’s in end note? I deleted some of my references and i want to keep track of how many articles are in my library. Is there anyway i can do it in bulk in serial order, say from 1 - 2000 or whatsoever.

Nope, not without copying them to a new library (with the associated - can’t use with older papers issue).  

If you wanted- you could export to a file with a numbered style.  

But it tells you how many records are in the library? In X3 it shows you that number following the “All References” selection.  In older versions it still showed it in the status line at the bottom, when all refs are showing.  Otherwise it shows what number are showing out of the total number in the library (after a search, for example).

The record number is the main way the library record is tied to the record in your manuscripts.  That is why it needs to be static.  This ensures that Smith’s other paper published in the same year isn’t listed by mistake.

Thanks for the reply. I got the point. The problem is, until now i was downloading the citations directly to endnote and things were fine. I had to create one reference on my own because i couldn’t download the citation. Endnote started numbering the newly created one as Rec no 2005 instead of 1972, which was supposed to be the next no in order, and subsequently numbering the following articles, 2006, 2007 etc. I dont want this to happen everytime i create a new reference on my own. You have any solution for this one?

Did you delete some old references that started at number 1972?  If so, I don’t think you’ll be able to get EN to reassign those record numbers.  In my experience, if I have a reference that’s record number 16 and I delete it, even though #16 is gone, EN begins numbering at #17.  This even happens when I have not used the references in a document at all.   Weird, I know.

As Leanne pointed out, record number needs to be static, which means each record is tagged with a unique number as soon as it is created. The number is serially created, and deletion of record results in the discontinuity of record numbers. You are not able to “insert” a record that fills in the discontinuity.

My question is, why do you want your hand-typed reference to have certain record number? I don’t think it is necessary. Maybe just sort your library with title -> year ??

Thank you all of you for your inputs. I will let endnote to keep its own log of the articles and dont meddle with it. Appreciate your help in this one. Have a good day all of you.