Zotero 7 Beta: How to link to an entry or a file from another app?

sojusnik
Is it currently possible to quickly copy the link to an entry or a file in Zotero 7 Beta without using plugins?

My aim is to create a link to an entry in Zotero in another text editor, like Obsidian or Zim Wiki.
  • adamsmith
    Only by writing custom export translators, which wouldn't be hard, but it is, of course, coding. There is also a Zotero 7 branch in Zutilo you could test
  • drsb
    As a workaround, you could open the entry in the pdf viewer and select an annotation there (or create a new one). Then you can do a copy-and-paste with control-C. This yields two links: one to the annotation and one to the pdf.
  • sojusnik
    @drsb this works, thanks!

    As you said, I get two links now:

    zotero://select/library/items/RRVBGNDY
    zotero://open-pdf/library/items/JAI9BBFJ?page=1&annotation=TSU6I2A3

    But when clicking on them, Zim Wiki shows that the links can't be opened, although Zim is assigned properly to open such links.

    I'm using Ubuntu 23.04 and done the following to assign Zim to open "zotero://" links:

    update-mime-database ~/.local/share/mime
    update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications

    and

    gio mime x-scheme-handler/zotero

    which shows:

    Default application for »x-scheme-handler/zotero«: zotero.desktop
    Registered applications:
    zotero.desktop
    Recommended applications:
    zotero.desktop

    So according to the following instructions, everything is assigned properly, see https://github.com/shivams/zim-zotero-plugin#handling-zotero-links

    But my zotero.desktop looks differently from the recommendations in the link above, since I've followed the official instructions: https://www.zotero.org/support/installation#how_do_i_install_zotero

    This is the content of my zotero.desktop (which is a symlink in /home/sojusnik/.local/share/applications/zotero.desktop):

    [Desktop Entry]
    Name=Zotero
    Exec=bash -c "$(dirname $(realpath $(echo %k | sed -e 's/^file:\/\///')))/zotero -url %U"
    Icon=/home/sojusnik/Apps/Zotero/chrome/icons/default/default256.png
    Type=Application
    Terminal=false
    Categories=Office;
    MimeType=text/plain;x-scheme-handler/zotero;application/x-research-info-systems;text/x-research-info-systems;text/ris;application/x-endnote-refer;application/x-inst-for-Scientific-info;application/mods+xml;application/rdf+xml;application/x-bibtex;text/x-bibtex;application/marc;application/vnd.citationstyles.style+xml
    X-GNOME-SingleWindow=true

    For additional information, when launching Zim with "zim -D" in the terminal for debugging purposes, the relevant output when clicking on a "zotero://" link shows:

    …
    DEBUG: Activate link: zotero://select/library/items/RRVBGNDY
    DEBUG: open_url(zotero://select/library/items/RRVBGNDY)
    DEBUG: Got type "x-scheme-handler/zotero" for "zotero://select/library/items/RRVBGNDY"
    DEBUG: Loading config from: /home/sojusnik/.local/share/applications/zotero.desktop
    INFO: Spawning: ('bash', '-c', "$(dirname $(realpath $(echo /home/sojusnik/.local/share/applications/zotero.desktop | sed -e 's/^file:////')))/zotero -url %U", 'zotero://select/library/items/RRVBGNDY') (cwd: /home/sojusnik)
    DEBUG: Process started with PID: 68907
    sed: -e Ausdruck #1, Zeichen 11: Unbekannte Option für »s«
    realpath: fehlender Operand
    „realpath --help“ liefert weitere Informationen.
    dirname: fehlender Operand
    „dirname --help“ liefert weitere Informationen.
    zotero://select/library/items/RRVBGNDY: Zeile 1: /zotero: Datei oder Verzeichnis nicht gefunden
    DEBUG: Running ErrorDialog
    DEBUG: zotero://select/library/items/RRVBGNDY kann nicht geöffnet werden
    NoneType: None
    ERROR: zotero://select/library/items/RRVBGNDY kann nicht geöffnet werden
    DEBUG: BackgroundCheck finished

    So I guess something is wrong with my zotero.desktop?
  • drsb
    This belongs probably to a different thread, nevertheless here my zotero.desktop (though on Opensuse Leap 15.4 and KDE), with the relevant lines as simple as that:
    ...
    Exec=/home/myusername/myzoteroprogramdir/zotero -url %U
    ...
    MimeType=x-scheme-handler/zotero
    ...
    So (at least for me) no need here to fiddle with the bash extra step.
  • sojusnik
    edited September 11, 2023
    Can confirm that with

    Exec=/home/myusername/myzoteroprogramdir/zotero -url %U

    it finally works, thanks!

    Will create another thread about the proper content of zotero.desktop, see https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/107692/zotero-7-beta-linking-doesnt-work-on-linux-with-recommended-zotero-desktop
  • sojusnik
    @drsb

    Just one more question.

    It seems that Zotero must run in the background in order to open the proper entry/file, if it's not running and you click on a link, then it just opens Zotero, without selecting the linked entry/file.

    Can you confirm that?

    Is this by design or a bug?
  • adamsmith
    That's certainly known behavior, yes -- not sure if it qualifies as a bug. It'd obviously be nice if it opened and selected the item specified, but that's never been the case across operating systems.
  • sojusnik
    That's so frustrating...

    After doing the steps described in this post (https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/443441/#Comment_443441), now, after restoring the Zotero 7 Beta installation with all folders and tweaks so that linking should work, clicking on a Zotero link does nothing at all when Zotero isn't running. Only after manually starting Zotero, clicking on the link will select the linked entry. So before the steps mentioned in the link, at least Zotero was starting when clicking on the link, but now not any more.

    What could be the reason?
  • sojusnik
    With the latest Zotero 7 Beta pdfs are now opened even when Zotero isn't running in the background, great!

    But now the link always opens not the specified page, but the following, f.i. when clicking on zotero://open-pdf/library/items/GTW2HVPE?page=36, then page 37 is opened, although 36 is linked.
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