2.1b1 bug in citing multiple same authors, year citations (doesn't update with proper letters)

verity

I'm exploring Zotero 2.1b1 and Word 2011 for Mac since Endnote is going to be broken for a long time and I need to write my dissertation (Papers isn't enough).

I'm using Cell Journal citation style.

In a simple test to make sure it would work when I have no time to think about citations while focusing on writing, I have two references with the same authors and year. In Word the bibliography gets correctly updated with the two citations, first one gets an "a" and second a "b". But the first in-text citation remains not updated (no "a") and the second one does not get the correct "b", but an "a":

Document body: (Grignon and Sentenac, 1991) and (Grignon and Sentenac, 1991b).

Generated bibliography:
Grignon, C., and Sentenac, H. (1991a). ...
Grignon, C., and Sentenac, H. (1991b). ...

Even if I click to update Zotero bibliography within Word, the situation doesn't change. It seems to be updating the bibliography fields only, not the in-text citations.

Is this behavior strictly due to the implementation of Cell Journal (dev) style, or is it a limitation of Zotero?

fbennett

I can confirm this. It's a bug in the citeproc-js CSL processor that Zotero uses to format citations. I've identified the source of the problem, and a fix is in the works. Thanks for reporting this error.

verity

Awesome, thanks! I just checked the situation some more today with removal of such references, and that's somewhat buggy too.

(1) If the second reference is deleted (with a "b" in text and bibliography), updating the bibliography works fine - it's removed, "a" dissapears from the first reference in bibliography.

(2) If the first reference is deleted from the text (without a letter), BOTH references stay in the bibliography after an update, and keep their letters in the list.
P.S. The second reference loses the "b" in text, properly. Selecting "Set Document Preferences" fixes the issue.

I was also randomly running into a problem where the Add/Edit Citation window would not disappear when clicking OK (active button, nothing happens). I'm finding that "Set Document Preferences" can reset such hang-ups. I hope it's a beta thing, and that it will stabilize soon, so I can use and recommend Zotero to any other grad student. Time to do some searching through the forums on this :)

fbennett

When the Add/Edit Citation window will not disappear when clicking the OK button (or when two clicks are required instead of one), that means a processor crash behind the scenes. That should never happen, so if you find a way of reproducing it (it won't be truly random -- there will be some set of steps that always cause it to happen), please let us know.

[Edit:

(2) If the first reference is deleted from the text (without a letter), BOTH references stay in the bibliography after an update, and keep their letters in the list.

The fix that's coming in the processor will fix this as well.]

dstillman

And provide a Report ID.

verity

I just reproduced it. It followed right after another error (Report ID 326050794) where I have a simple starting document with 2 in-text citations, no bibliography. I left it in the background, then went back to Word and pressed ctrl-alt-A. Got the Zotero general error.

After posting about that first report in the general 2011 thread (http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/14381/office-mac-2011/#Item_19), I went back to Word to try again. This time I got a citation window where I couldn't click OK (localized buttons), but I could Cancel. Report ID 2120181348.

Here is a screenshot of the Firefox page I got after the error. Seems to be Firefox locale-related: http://db.tt/Sah5uOL I hope to not have to reset Firefox to English.

dstillman

Zotero doesn't have a Lithuanian locale.

If Zotero itself works (in English, I assume), you might be able to get around this by explicitly setting the bibliography language to en-US. The current bibliography code might currently not properly handle cases where the Firefox locale doesn't exist.

verity

I ended up downloading EN (US) Firefox and now I'm not getting the Zotero error.

Ideally, I would have liked to keep Firefox in whichever of the languages it's offered, and Zotero happily in English (or the corresponding locale, if available). Didn't realize Firefox languages could create a conflict in Zotero. I haven't changed any hidden preferences or anything to cause this, just default installations.

Thanks for the help.

dstillman

You don't need to use English Firefox. Just adjust the bibliography locale.

verity

Oh, now I get it. Thank you, I'll try that!