How does Zotero choose the file manager?

rutyggi
edited December 19, 2022
I have my xdg-open set up to open folders with a specific file manager.

However, when I right click on a item and select "Show File", Zotero opens the folder with another file manager.

It uses nautilus to open the folder, and I would like to know who told him to do that.

How is the file manager chosen?

I want to use my own.

I think Zotero should ask xdg-open to open the folder.

He knows the right file manager to use.
  • dstillman
    edited December 20, 2022
    The relevant code is here:

    https://github.com/zotero/zotero/blob/da392518ed22ead04c1c7cb617fee9bfdba87ec3/chrome/content/zotero/zoteroPane.js#L4668-L4677

    https://github.com/zotero/zotero/blob/da392518ed22ead04c1c7cb617fee9bfdba87ec3/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/zotero.js#L954-L993

    https://github.com/zotero/zotero/blob/da392518ed22ead04c1c7cb617fee9bfdba87ec3/defaults/preferences/zotero.js#L194

    Zotero tries to use the Mozilla platform's file.reveal() method. If that isn't available (as on Linux), it tries to launch the parent directory via the OS, and if that fails it falls back to xdg-open. But this all depends entirely on your system.

    You can view the debug output view Tools → Developer → View Output to see exactly what it's doing for you.
  • rutyggi
    I have Arch Linux.

    So it's not mozilla file.reveal() as it is not available on linux.

    What does it mean "launch the parent directory via the OS"?

    And what does this `file.launch()` (https://github.com/zotero/zotero/blob/da392518ed22ead04c1c7cb617fee9bfdba87ec3/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/zotero.js#L961) do? Where does it come from?

    I have `extensions.zotero.fallbackLauncher.unix` set to the default `/usr/bin/xdg-open`, which in turn knows how to open the folder.

    Under linux you call xdg-open directly, without Mozilla's file.reveal() or that file.launch() that I don't know what it does.



  • dstillman
    We can't help with this — it's entirely dependent on your system. Again, you can view the debug output to see what it's doing. This just works on macOS and Windows, but there's no unified method of file revealing/launching on Linux, so you'd have to dig into your system settings to see what's specifying Nautilus. You can see a similar discussion for PDFs here:

    https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/file_handling_issues#pdfs_opening_in_wrong_application_on_linux_systems
  • rutyggi
    Sorry, this is the debug output.

    It only says "Notifier.trigger('open', 'file', [3520])".

    What I'm supposed to do with this?

    > there's no unified method of file revealing/launching on Linux

    Just calling `xdg-open` would work on most systems.

    > you'd have to dig into your system settings to see what's specifying Nautilus

    Zotero is calling something that opens the directory.

    My system is not opening the folder on its own.

    So what system function is Zotero calling?

    What is this `file.launch()`?



    ```
    (3)(+12712849): Zotero.Items.keepParents() is deprecated -- use Zotero.Items.keepTopLevel() instead

    (4)(+0000004): SELECT IA.itemID FROM itemAttachments IA NATURAL JOIN items I LEFT JOIN itemData ID ON (IA.itemID=ID.itemID AND fieldID=13) LEFT JOIN itemDataValues IDV ON (ID.valueID=IDV.valueID) WHERE parentItemID=? AND linkMode NOT IN (3) AND IA.itemID NOT IN (SELECT itemID FROM deletedItems) ORDER BY contentType='application/pdf' DESC, value=? DESC, dateAdded ASC [3521, '']

    (4)(+0000016): SELECT IA.itemID FROM itemAttachments IA NATURAL JOIN items I LEFT JOIN itemData ID ON (IA.itemID=ID.itemID AND fieldID=13) LEFT JOIN itemDataValues IDV ON (ID.valueID=IDV.valueID) WHERE parentItemID=? AND linkMode NOT IN (3) AND IA.itemID NOT IN (SELECT itemID FROM deletedItems) ORDER BY contentType='application/pdf' DESC, value=? DESC, dateAdded ASC [3521, '']

    (4)(+0000003): SELECT IA.itemID FROM itemAttachments IA NATURAL JOIN items I LEFT JOIN itemData ID ON (IA.itemID=ID.itemID AND fieldID=13) LEFT JOIN itemDataValues IDV ON (ID.valueID=IDV.valueID) WHERE parentItemID=? AND linkMode NOT IN (3) AND IA.itemID NOT IN (SELECT itemID FROM deletedItems) ORDER BY contentType='application/pdf' DESC, value=? DESC, dateAdded ASC [3521, '']

    (4)(+0000003): SELECT IA.itemID FROM itemAttachments IA NATURAL JOIN items I LEFT JOIN itemData ID ON (IA.itemID=ID.itemID AND fieldID=13) LEFT JOIN itemDataValues IDV ON (ID.valueID=IDV.valueID) WHERE parentItemID=? AND linkMode NOT IN (3) AND IA.itemID NOT IN (SELECT itemID FROM deletedItems) ORDER BY contentType='application/pdf' DESC, value=? DESC, dateAdded ASC [3521, '']

    (3)(+0000003): MIME type application/pdf cannot be handled internally

    (4)(+0000001): SELECT IA.itemID FROM itemAttachments IA NATURAL JOIN items I LEFT JOIN itemData ID ON (IA.itemID=ID.itemID AND fieldID=13) LEFT JOIN itemDataValues IDV ON (ID.valueID=IDV.valueID) WHERE parentItemID=? AND linkMode NOT IN (3) AND IA.itemID NOT IN (SELECT itemID FROM deletedItems) ORDER BY contentType='application/pdf' DESC, value=? DESC, dateAdded ASC [3521, '']

    (4)(+0001360): SELECT IA.itemID FROM itemAttachments IA NATURAL JOIN items I LEFT JOIN itemData ID ON (IA.itemID=ID.itemID AND fieldID=13) LEFT JOIN itemDataValues IDV ON (ID.valueID=IDV.valueID) WHERE parentItemID=? AND linkMode NOT IN (3) AND IA.itemID NOT IN (SELECT itemID FROM deletedItems) ORDER BY contentType='application/pdf' DESC, value=? DESC, dateAdded ASC [3521, '']

    (3)(+0000002): Revealing /home/[ABRIDGED]/Zotero/storage/VA8CWAWX/Grennan et al. - GIANT The 1-Billion Annotated Synthetic Bibliogra.pdf

    (3)(+0000444): Notifier.trigger('open', 'file', [3520]) called [observers: 4]

    (3)(+0000341): itemTree.render(). Displaying Item Tree

    (3)(+0000357): itemTree.render(). Displaying Item Tree

    (3)(+0001507): itemTree.render(). Displaying Item Tree
    ```
  • dstillman
    edited December 20, 2022
    launch() is a Mozilla function. Zotero doesn't specify Nautilus or any other program, so it's by definition something on your system. You'll have to figure out where in your system settings that's specified. I linked above to an example of doing that for PDFs. I can't help you further with this.
  • Arjan
    This is actually an old Firefox bug/issue, by default it doesn't use the system's file picker. If you go to Zotero's Advanced settings about:config and add a setting widget.use-xdg-desktop-portal: true, Zotero will use your XDG setting (you also need to have e.g. xdg-desktop-portal-kde installed).
  • JackieMe
    @Arjan I added the setting you mentioned and confirmed xdg-desktop-portal-gtk and xdg-desktop-portal-kde are installed, but Zotero still opens the wrong file manager for me. I set my default file manager to Caja on a Debian Linux machine and Zotero always opens Thunar file manager.
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