view an attached word document in library

I have attached a word document (both as a docx and a txt file) to items in my library. 2 questions:

When I click on them, I cannot view them in my library. Why is that? I know I can paste it in as a note but I have been asked this question and don't know how to answer it.

When I double click the txt it opens fine as a zotero attachment, but when I double click the docx, I get gobbledegook. Why is that?

Thanks!
  • when I double click the docx, I get gobbledegook.
    Can you be more specific? Where does the file open?
  • When I click on them, I cannot view them in my library. Why is that?
    If this is a separate question, I'm not sure what you mean by this. View them where?
  • Hi Dan, to answer your first question, when I double click the zotero attachment opens in a browser tab and the text looks like this:

    ÈFÃË‹Átí�#ª6˜²"wÇ9Ê´ÀÄ:0t’[¯E [?ãNÈ1~ÝëÝpiM�âPi°áàr1/C4^ÑãšÄC‰,º¯_¬¼R&œ+•HùÂdß\â­CB•›w°P¯ƒñV‡êä°Á¶î™¢ñ*ƒh"|xš0øÒúŒgVÎ5õ—iá´y®$4õ•šóV"e®Ë¤9ÑB™ÿA ëðï)jÝíßT(Æy’>vwãªé¤¶Ø«ívƒ

    To answer your second question, when I select the item in my zotero library nothing shows in the third pane of the zotero library. Should i be able to see the word document text in that pane?
  • when I double click the zotero attachment opens in a browser tab and the text looks like this
    Can you provide a Debug ID for this?
    To answer your second question, when I select the item in my zotero library nothing shows in the third pane of the zotero library. Should i be able to see the word document text in that pane?
    No, you're not supposed to see the document text in that pane. That's just a spot for an additional attachment-specific note.
  • The Debug ID is D1048831165.

    Thanks for the other answer.
  • edited January 28, 2013
    How did you go about adding that .docx to your library?

    Zotero thinks it's a plain text file, which is why it's not opening correctly.

    Click Show File in the Locate menu (the green rightward-facing arrow above the right-hand pane). First make sure that opening the file from the file manager works (and note that, in a pinch, you can always do that, though you shouldn't have to). If that works, try attaching the file again to the same Zotero parent item, this time with debug output logging enabled. If double-clicking the newly imported attachment still doesn't work, submit the debug output and post the Debug ID here.
  • So is clicking show file in the locate menu the same thing as opening the file from the file manager? If so that does work. I can read that file fine. I'll try attaching again and let you know what I discover. Thanks.
  • I've reattached and still have the same problem. So:
    The Debug ID is D545065458.

    Thanks.
  • I wasn't able to reproduce this, but I believe this is now fixed in the latest 3.0 Branch dev XPI. If you want, you can install that over your current version to make sure it works. If so, the fix will be included in Zotero 3.0.12, which will be out later this week. (To avoid continuing to get dev versions, you can either switch back to 3.0.11 afterward or make a note to do so once 3.0.12 is out.)
  • Thanks so much for your work on this Dan!
Sign In or Register to comment.