2.1 Error: Display of database content sometimes wrong

Hi, in 2.1b2 (with FF4 beta 8 on mac) I sometimes have problems with the UI. Items are duplicated in the middle part of the UI although there is only one copy in the database, child-items are somehow wrong (for example, I am just seeing a book as a child-item to an article, which is not possible. The book is just in the same collection) and other stuff seems to be wrong from time to time. I am happy to provide a screen-shot but I am not sure how to upload it here...

Greg
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  • edited December 29, 2010
    thanks!

    here is a screen-shot showing an example:
    http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6585/clip2010112912936416481.png

    There are two things wrong:
    a) the book as a sort of child item (which is not possible)
    b) Tyson et al_2002... is an attachment for the tyson et al. 2005 paper and NOT the Neal 2008 paper. The Neal 2008 paper also has an attachment with a different name (which is not displayed at all)
  • Does this persist through a restart of Firefox?
  • no, it doesn't and even disappears when I click around (look at a different collection, go back etc.). But the problem occurs regularly. Often a note is justed showed twice after working on it (or adding) even though it only exists once in the database. Another common thing is that I change collections and the displayed content of the collection I changed to is some combination of the one I was looking at before and the one I changed to...
  • Disable your other Firefox extensions.

    If that doesn't help, it's almost certainly a bug (or change) in Firefox 4, but no one else has reported this.
  • I think the problem is still there after disabling the extensions. I will report again when I have more experiences...
  • I experience this on Ubuntu 10.10 with Firefox 4b10 & Zotero 2.1b5. But from what I remember, this has been happening at least since Firefox 4b8 & Zotero 2.1b4. I can't quite remember if this happened with Firefox 3.6. Dan, you could be right that this has something to do with Firefox 4 Beta.

    I've tried rebuilding the database using sqlite command as well, and this still happens.
  • This is absolutely a display-only issue that has nothing to do with the database.

    But there's not really much we can do about this if we can't reproduce it, so you're going to have to play around and figure out how to get it to happen (after a restart of Firefox).
  • Hi,

    this is just to let you know that I am experiencing the (seemingly) same problem. I have it both at work (Windows XP, Firefox 4) and at home (Windows 7, Firefox 4), sharing the same synched database. I do not have many extensions installed but I will try to disable all and find a reproducible way of creating on of these display problems. But I am going on holiday tomorrow, so there will not be any result within the next one or two weeks.

    It is good to read that it is a display-only issue, but it made me accidentally delete a seemingly duplicate item more than once, so given the right (or wrong) user, it can also become a database problem ...

    Regards

    mmmh
  • I have experienced the same since a few weeks ... only from time to time .... have also deleted some entries by exident (because displayed twice) and have than also found out that the display error disappears after changing collection or close & restart zotero.
    Until today I thought that this phenomenon only would exist on my PC but a few minutes ago my collegue called me because lots of her last entries were visible twice suddenly. I asked her to change collection and go back ... and all entries were single and correct again.
  • I have similar difficulties running Zotero 2.1.6 on FF4.0.1 / Windows XP (fully updated): In my case, -- in addition to the problem described in this thread by Greg on Dec 29th 2010 under a) -- child notes are messed up in the following way.

    My database included

    Item A
    -- Child Note A
    Item B
    -- Child Note B
    Item C
    -- Child Note C

    A search showed Item B along with Child Note A, but without Child Note B underneath it.

    Checking out this unsettling behavior of the search results window, I noticed that in my library Child Note A now appeared under Item B and C _instead_ of the original child notes:

    Item A
    -- Child Note A
    Item B
    -- Child Note A
    Item C
    -- Child Note A

    I deleted the two stray instances of Child Note A. When I found this thread, I restored the two deleted items from the trash, restarted FF, and when this did not help, restarted the computer and FF -- all to no avail. The original notes are lost.
  • Waldbauer: This thread is about a display-only issue that goes away after a restart. If that wasn't the case for you, start a new thread, and if possible provide more details on the items/notes in question (or post and then send those via e-mail to support@zot....org with a link to the thread).
  • I'm experiencing the same (display-only) problem. For instance, when I move a note from a source to a target parent citation, the note will either disappear or make another target note disappear until I restart FF.
  • Happens for me too...

    I recognize it every time i connect (hope you know what i mean ^^)one entry to another...after that, every thing is messed up like in the screenshot posted above. After a restart, everything is fine again.

    Have FF4 on XP-SP3 with latest official Zotero.
  • I recognize it every time i connect (hope you know what i mean ^^)one entry to another
    No, I don't. Steps to reproduce?
  • I've fixed a couple UI issues in the latest 2.1 Branch dev XPI, though I don't know if they'll address the issues people are seeing here (since I can't reproduce those myself). We'll be launching 2.1.7 very soon with these patches.

    We still really need steps to reproduce to debug this.
  • In zotero you can build up relationships between entries (in the "related"-tab).

    After i made a relationship, this error occurs.

    But will see if it works in 2.1.7.
  • That's not specific enough, I'm afraid, since it's clearly not happening for every user (like, say, me) after every use of the Related feature. We need steps to reproduce.
  • Just to let you know that I have the same (display-only) problem (described by Greg and Waldbauer). When I restart FF it fixes the problem, but the problem come again... and again. I will stay alert to find a way to reproduce the problem, but it is just to say the problem is there for me too.

    I'm using Zotero version 2.1.7
    Windows XP (updated) and Firefox 4.0.1

    (Thanks to Zotero programers and others who are working hard on that nice program)

    Christian
  • Idon't know if that could help understand the problem, but it happens on my other PC also (Zotero 2.1.7 FF 4.01, on XP) I ask for a report ID :702318309. I didn't do a bunch of tests, but it seems related to group libraries.
  • posting a follow up to http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/18524/duplicate-reassigned-missing-notes-with-ff5-update-for-mac/#Item_1

    I cannot *reliably reproduce* the problem. However I can report that the steps to create the problem can be as simple as clicking the zotero icon in the address bar or clicking the zotero button to "create a new item from this page." If either of those does not create a duplicate (and it does not always do this) then selecting text on a web page, clicking "add note" and pasting the text into the note field can cause zotero to duplicate the note and/or the original citation.
  • In 2.1.8 to a greater extent than in earlier versions, Zotero displays items in the wrong place. For example, an item from a different subfolder might appear in a new subfolder, or instead of a child note a duplicate of the parent item will appear. Restarting zotero corrects this problem temporarily. I cannot reproduce it reliably, but I will pay close attention to when it happens and try to report in better detail.
    I am using windows 7 and firefox 5.
    Thanks!
  • I can report the same display issue with both FF 4.0 and FF 5.0 on MacOS 10.6.8 and Zotero 2.1.8. I first started seeing it in FF 4.0 after toggling Tab Mode (switching to full-window Zotero and back), but I've not been able to reproduce it by doing that. Right now, it happened with a parent item that I haven't opened for several months, but is has also happened while I'm working with an item just added to the database today.

    The only constant is that the error occurs with parent items to which I have added notes. The error includes not displaying some notes, displaying some notes doubled, and mixing other items (other parent items, other notes) in with the notes listed for an item when I expand that item. It also seems to begin after a fairly long time of note-taking (say, after three hours or so) and after I've closed and opened Zotero a few times, but since that is my normal working procedure I don't know if that represents any correlation. I cannot reliably make it happen or isolate it to particular parent items or kind of item.

    Sometimes closing and reopening Zotero will correct it, but increasingly only restarting Firefox will reliably fix the display. It is now happening at least once and sometimes twice a day.
  • I'm reposting from the Troubleshooting topic.

    Not sure if this is a general Zotero problem or a group/sync problem, so feel free to move this post accordingly.

    Has anyone else experienced wandering records when using Zotero with shared groups and sync? What I mean by this is that I will have Zotero open for, say, 15 minutes. Suddenly, records from other collections will start appearing in the collection that I'm working on. When I close Firefox and restart, everything returns to normal.

    This has only happened after updating Firefox to 4+ then to 5.

    Again, here are the variables that I'm working with:

    1. Shared group collections with multiple users
    2. Synced records with Zotero
    3. Firefox 4/5
    4. Zotero 2.1.8

    Any thoughts?

    Brodie
  • I first started reporting this in March 2011.

    http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/17058/toggle-tab/#Item_2

    http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/17095/report-id-1006589114-more-toggle-tab-mode-problems/#Item_1

    http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/17125/report-id-1420372793-and-genealogy-support-in-zotero/#Item_40

    I was told back in March this was only happening to my system, but from the comments on this thread it appears to be happening on other systems as well.

    I'm currently using Windows 7, Firefox 5.0, Zotero 2.1.8, database synced with the Zotero server.

    Fortunately, I'm the only one of my team using Zotero right now. I told the other members not to upgrade and now they're on to other tasks and don't need to use Zotero.

    I have to restart Firefox many times when using Zotero because my collections get so messed up when moving items from one collection to another. When I try to "remove" an item from a collection it works okay for maybe one or two items, but by the third item, it refuses to be removed (at least as it appears). But, when Firefox is restarted the removed item no longer displays in the collection I had previously removed it from.

    When I delete an item from the Library it really messes with Zotero. I find all sorts of items in the incorrect collections. However, once I restart Firefox all appears as it should be.

    I've given up trying to use the "Toggle" to minimize and maximize my Zotero display. It'd be nice to have that feature again, but it's not worth it having to restart Firefox more than what I'm doing already.

    Hope this can be fixed or at least some sort of diagnosis of what's causing this.

    Thanks,
    Steve
  • Is everyone reporting this using tab mode, or is it also happening for people using pane mode exclusively?
  • edited July 7, 2011
    When I try to "remove" an item from a collection it works okay for maybe one or two items, but by the third item, it refuses to be removed (at least as it appears).
    If it's really that easy for you to reproduce, upload your database to the DB Repair Tool and e-mail the Upload ID to support@zot....org with a link to this thread and exact steps to reproduce the problem with your database (i.e., exactly what you're clicking on in what order immediately after a Firefox restart). Don't post the Upload ID here, and don't worry about the download link the tool provides.

    Same goes for anyone else who can reproduce it easily. I'm still unable to reproduce it.
  • I tried reproducing this with steps e-mailed by SteveM (and variations on them), to no avail. SteveM, please provide a Report ID after triggering the problem.

    In addition to my question above about tab/pane mode, I'd be interested to know if people experiencing this are using the hidden recursiveCollections setting.
  • Report ID 296549424

    I had closed Firefox and reopened it. The first thing I did was log on to Zotero and catch up on this thread. Before I did anything else I activated the Zotero database and the following occurred:

    Since you have my email you'll know where the Alva Hendee collection is located. I opened the Alva Hendee / Research Log / "To Do" collection and at least twenty items displayed that shouldn't have been there.

    I generated this Report ID.

    I then selected Alva Hendee / Research Log, which displayed the correct items.

    I then went back to the Alva Hendee / Research Log / To Do collection and it now displays the correct items.

    I generated another Report ID #788032309

    Thanks,
    Steve
  • And my questions above re: tab/pane mode and recursiveCollections?
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