Auto relativize PDF file paths when selecting "Search for unlinked local files"

src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/externalfiles/ImportHandler.java

@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import org.jabref.logic.importer.ImportFormatReader;
 import org.jabref.logic.importer.ImportFormatReader.UnknownFormatImport;
 import org.jabref.logic.importer.ParseException;
+import org.jabref.logic.importer.ParserResult;
 import org.jabref.logic.importer.fileformat.BibtexParser;
 import org.jabref.logic.l10n.Localization;
 import org.jabref.logic.util.BackgroundTask;
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ public List<ImportFilesResultItemViewModel> call() {
 
                     try {
                         if (FileUtil.isPDFFile(file)) {
-                            var pdfImporterResult = contentImporter.importPDFContent(file);
+                            ParserResult pdfImporterResult = contentImporter.importPDFContent(file, bibDatabaseContext, filePreferences);
                             List<BibEntry> pdfEntriesInFile = pdfImporterResult.getDatabase().getEntries();
 
                             if (pdfImporterResult.hasWarnings()) {

src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/externalfiles/ExternalFilesContentImporter.java

@@ -3,10 +3,12 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 
+import org.jabref.logic.FilePreferences;
 import org.jabref.logic.importer.ImportFormatPreferences;
 import org.jabref.logic.importer.OpenDatabase;
 import org.jabref.logic.importer.ParserResult;
 import org.jabref.logic.importer.fileformat.PdfMergeMetadataImporter;
+import org.jabref.model.database.BibDatabaseContext;
 import org.jabref.model.util.FileUpdateMonitor;
 
 public class ExternalFilesContentImporter {
@@ -17,9 +19,9 @@ public ExternalFilesContentImporter(ImportFormatPreferences importFormatPreferen
         this.importFormatPreferences = importFormatPreferences;
     }
 
-    public ParserResult importPDFContent(Path file) {
+    public ParserResult importPDFContent(Path file, BibDatabaseContext context, FilePreferences preferences) {
         try {
-            return new PdfMergeMetadataImporter(importFormatPreferences).importDatabase(file);
+            return new PdfMergeMetadataImporter(importFormatPreferences).importDatabase(file, context, preferences);
         } catch (IOException e) {
            return ParserResult.fromError(e);
         }

src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/importer/fileformat/PdfMergeMetadataImporter.java

@@ -136,6 +136,27 @@ public ParserResult importDatabase(Path filePath) throws IOException {
         return new ParserResult(List.of(entry));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * A modified version of {@link PdfMergeMetadataImporter#importDatabase(Path)}, but it
+     * relativizes the {@code filePath} if there are working directories before parsing it
+     * into {@link PdfMergeMetadataImporter#importDatabase}
+     * (Otherwise no path modification happens).
+     *
+     * @param filePath    The unrelativized {@code filePath}.
+     */
+    public ParserResult importDatabase(Path filePath, BibDatabaseContext context, FilePreferences preferences) throws IOException {
+        Objects.requireNonNull(context);
+        Objects.requireNonNull(preferences);
+
+        List<Path> directories = context.getFileDirectories(preferences);
+
+        if (!directories.isEmpty()) {
+            filePath = FileUtil.relativize(filePath, directories);
+        }
+
+        return importDatabase(filePath);
+    }
+
     @Override
     public String getName() {
         return "PDF meta data merger";

src/test/java/org/jabref/logic/importer/fileformat/PdfMergeMetadataImporterTest.java

@@ -6,9 +6,11 @@
 
 import javafx.collections.FXCollections;
 
+import org.jabref.logic.FilePreferences;
 import org.jabref.logic.importer.ImportFormatPreferences;
 import org.jabref.logic.importer.util.GrobidPreferences;
 import org.jabref.logic.util.StandardFileType;
+import org.jabref.model.database.BibDatabaseContext;
 import org.jabref.model.entry.BibEntry;
 import org.jabref.model.entry.LinkedFile;
 import org.jabref.model.entry.field.StandardField;
@@ -84,4 +86,26 @@ void importWorksAsExpected() throws Exception {
 
         assertEquals(Collections.singletonList(expected), result);
     }
+
+    @Test
+    void importRelativizesFilePath() throws Exception {
+        // Initialize database and preferences
+        FilePreferences preferences = mock(FilePreferences.class);
+        BibDatabaseContext database = new BibDatabaseContext();
+
+        // Initialize file and working directory
+        Path file = Path.of(PdfMergeMetadataImporter.class.getResource("/pdfs/minimal.pdf").toURI());
+        Path directory = Path.of(PdfMergeMetadataImporter.class.getResource("/pdfs/").toURI());
+        preferences.setWorkingDirectory(directory);
+
+        List<BibEntry> result = importer.importDatabase(file, database, preferences).getDatabase().getEntries();
+
+        BibEntry expected = new BibEntry(StandardEntryType.InProceedings)
+                .withField(StandardField.AUTHOR, "1 ")
+                .withField(StandardField.TITLE, "Hello World")
+                // Expecting relative path
+                .withField(StandardField.FILE, ":minimal.pdf:PDF");
+
+        assertEquals(List.of(expected), result);
+    }
 }