Check browser extension from within JabRef

[tobiasdiez]

Is your suggestion for improvement related to a problem? Please describe.
Currently, the browser extension stuff is installed during the installation of JabRef. But sometimes things go wrong, or people use the .dmg file which cannot install anything. In these cases, it is hard to figure out what went wrong, and how to fix it. Moreover, the manual installation instructions are somewhat involved.

Describe the solution you'd like
@LyzardKing proposed to add a install button in the preference dialog, which let users select their browser and then install the necessary files. Moreover, it would be nice to have a "check installation" functionality that checks if something is wrong with the setup (e.g. tries calling the python file etc).

Additional context
JabRef/JabRef-Browser-Extension#390 (comment) and following comments

[LyzardKing]

The check could be similar to the one done by the browser.
It could look for the native extension json, see if it points to the correct python script, then try running that script.
This could also be useful if the extension stops working after being modified (the json or the python files) by the user or an update.

[Zlisch]

Hi, could you assign this issue to me?

[Zlisch]

Sorry, our team decided to work on other issues. I've unassigned this issue.

[bhatiaa]

Hi, I just tried the latest version of JabRef on OSX as following and the import functionality from the Edge browser is still broken. Can someone please advise on temporary workaround to make the browser import functionality work again until the bug is fixed?

Thanks.

JabRef 5.15--2024-07-10--1eb3493
Mac OS X 14.5 x86_64
Java 21.0.2
JavaFX 22.0.1+7

[LyzardKing]

@bhatiaa
You can try the manual setup described here: https://docs.jabref.org/collect/jabref-browser-extension

[koppor]

Installation issue: #6076. Since that is solved (OK, only for Chrome, but Firefox seems to be difficult) - I change the title of this one to "Check".