Zip files and indexing

mkostura
I just noticed that a Zip file of documents is being treated as a PDF file. Previously the zip files could be opened directly with the file viewer. Now the file must first be accessed in "Show file" then opened from there. Any way to reset so that zip files can be opened directly.
  • tim820
    edited 4 days ago
    Attachment files with a .ZIP extension still open in the OS file manager for me (Windows 11, Zotero 8.0.3). What OS/Zotero are you using ?
  • mkostura
    That is the version that I am using. Zotero is now treating the zip file as a PDF. I checked throughout my library. Older references that contained zip documents have now all be remapped as a PDF. So it seems a generic problem.

    The files are clearly saved in Zotero storage as a zip file. The file association has been changed.
  • adamsmith
    which operating system?
  • mkostura
    Windows 11. I have looked at the file associations in Windows and the default app for a zip file is file explorer. Not sure how it is mapped to a PDF file in Zotero.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    What do you mean by "being treated as a PDF file"?
  • mkostura
    Ordinarily, a zip file indexed in the Zotero library had its own icon and if clicked on it opened in file explorer, as it should. Now the icon is for a PDF and if the file is opened, Zotero attempts to open it as a PDF. Nothing happens. If the file is accessed in its folder through Zotero, it is clearly associated with Windows Explorer not for a PDF viewer. Seems that Zotero is not making the correct file-app association.
  • mkostura
    PS. I opened Zotero in troubleshoot mode and the behavior persisted.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Can you provide a screenshot and a Debug ID for trying to open the file?
  • mkostura
    The first file is an image of the error log. Its states that the file is not a PDF file (correct!)
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u362607/3kypo0bjnu54uy3ylby9.png

    The second an image of the indexed record in the database
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u362607/xkhyf256jqn0h800ud1u.png

    The third an image of the folder and file showing that it is recognized as a zip file.
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u362607/trd7tm6qerncsxavmsx7.png

    The Debug ID is D576437788
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Do the affected ZIP files all have PDF files within them?
  • mkostura
    Some do and some do not. Most of the zip files contain xlsx, docx, txt files as supplemental to the parent record.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Can you provide a Debug ID for trying to open one of the ZIP files that doesn't have a PDF in it?
  • mkostura
    Given the behavior of the software, I did some maintenance on my computer to make sure that root cause was not Zotero. I uninstalled the new version of Adobe Acrobat I had recently installed. I then used a registry maintenance software program to identify and correct any registry deficiencies, clean out the drive of any uninstalled software fragments and in general just clean up. Rebooted the computer and now it is good to go. Zotero now recognizes the zip files as they should.

    I wish I could tell you from the logs why it was broken. If it happens again I will get the error logs the maintenance software can collect. Did not do it this time.

    I have been using Zotero for quite a long while. Great software and the service support - which for the most part is not needed very often - is the best.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    That doesn't really make sense, though. The ZIP file you provided a Debug ID for was in fact set as a PDF within Zotero, and still is, and the sorts of external changes you're describing shouldn't affect this. I believe there is indeed a bug here that could cause ZIP files that contain PDFs to be incorrectly set as PDFs when you try to open them. That's why I asked for a Debug ID for a file that was set as a PDF that didn't contain a PDF.

    Are you saying you can no longer reproduce this for the file above?
  • mkostura
    Whether the external changes and correction of the problem were a simple coincidence I do not know. If you say the operation could not make the change then I have to agree. All I do know is that the same Zotero reference now reads properly. The icon changed as well. The document now opens in Windows file explorer. There are no errors noted in the log.

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u362607/0t70d5wjm320vmtaecpt.png

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u362607/56rmoexn7fgsvugdu4dy.png

    If it happens again I will be sure to capture the debug files.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    But that's not the same attachment — that's a new attachment you created today, and the other one is in the trash.

    System changes could potentially affect how files get categorized when you add them to Zotero directly. I was just saying that system changes wouldn't affect an item already in Zotero.
  • mkostura
    The order of events went like this. After I sent the error logs, you posted a comment as to whether the affected zip files contained a PDF. I answered that some did and some did not. That lead me to perform a diagnostic test. First, I deleted the specific zip file that Zotero was misidentifying as a PDF (still in the trash can) and created a zip file with the same xlsx files but NO PDF. That file was attached to the Zotero reference and it was read correctly. I removed that file (also still in the the trash can) and then performed the system changes as described in the thread above. I then recreated the zip file but WITH PDF and added to the Zotero reference. That file was read correctly and is in fact the file currently attached to the reference.

    Other mixed zip files in my collection are categorized incorrectly. Here is another example (created about 5 months ago) and the debug code. D1317404213


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