Why should zotfile rename files?

tomasrei

Hi! Basic noob question. Just installed Zotfile to use the tablet feature to copy PDFs into a Dropbox folder. The goal is just to make a copy of PDFs (and other documents), not to annotate on a tablet (but I might do that later).

But why should Zotfile rename documents at all? Won't that just cause problems with duplicates and such?

adamsmith

It renames files because people like that functionality (and no, that doesn't cause any issues, typically), but you can also just disable it and it doesn't rename files when you just use the send to tablet functionality.

tomasrei

Thanks! But why do they like it? :) i.e what's it for?

I'm asking because I did turn my renaming thing off, but I'm concerned that it will cause problems with syncing (or whatever).

adamsmith

Turning it off is fine, no concerns.

People like having specific filenames for their attachments -- e.g. when they send their files to someone else or, when storing linked files, to more easily see what they are. ZotFile helps make that consistent (ZotFile's rename feature can also move _all_ attachments, but that's a different topic). Zotero has its own rename function, which (prior to Zotero 7) had a lot fewer options. In the Zotero 7 beta it's quite similar.

tomasrei

Ok, now I understand. Does it rename the original file at the same time, such that the original file and the one you send to the tablet-folder?

Thanks for the help by the way.

adamsmith

The rename function operates completely separately from send to tablet: send to tablet doesn't trigger a rename.
Rename happens automatically when adding an item (same as Zotero) or manually from the right-click menu.