How does \cite fetch its items?

[Atcold]

I understand that \cite looks at the presence of \bibliography{} to autocomplete its argument and highlight in green correct options.
I've been using a macro which contains the two commands \bibliographystyle{alpha}\bibliography{main}, since I'm adding them to each chapter of my book. Doing this, \cite will (obviously) fail to perform any check. Is there a workaround for informing \cite where to source its info?

Also, how to open \cite's autocompletion list before typing anything?

[sunderme]

Txs looks for the files in the command bibliography. I am not aware of alternatives.

[Atcold]

But such file needs to be already processed by BibTeX, correct?
I'm adding sources, and they don't appear right away on the autocompletion list.
Also, is there a way to open the autocompletion without typing a character first?

[muzimuzhi]

Also, is there a way to open the autocompletion without typing a character first?

Menu "Idefix - Complete - Normal" with default shortcut Meta + Space which can be configured in "Configuration - Shortcuts".

[sunderme]

txs reads bib files, no preprocessing required.

[Atcold]

I'm trying to issue the "Idefix - Complete - Normal" command after tpying \cite⏎.
This gets completed with \cite{bibid}.
Now, pressing ^␣ does nothing, because it tries to complete bibid.
Is there a workaround? Do I have to manually erase bibid?

[sunderme]

I am at a loss what you are doing.
With default configuration, \cite{bibid}is the result of completion and bibidis selected. Hence bibidis replaced with whatever you enter and the completer opens automatically to suggest matching ids.
If you want to start to see all bibids, pressing "del" removes the selection and you can open the completer with ctrl+space (or meta+space)
Furthermore while completing \cite, variants with \cite{specific ids} are offered.

[Atcold]

Right right.

If you want to start to see all bibids, pressing "del" removes the selection and you can open the completer with ctrl+space (or meta+space)

Three keys need to be pressed. Just double checking.

Furthermore while completing \cite, variants with \cite{specific ids} are offered.

I didn’t understand this statement.