Importing RDF

bsol

I exported my library as an RDF before I reformatted my computer. I thought I would be able to simply import the RDF, but Zotero says this is not an accepted file type. What gives?

bsol

Anyone have any help?

adamsmith

sorry, overlooked this.
Generally, the way to back-up and transfer your library is not via export:
http://www.zotero.org/support/kb/transferring_a_library
So if you still happen to have a back-up of the actual database that'd be preferable.

If not, the reason you'd get an unsupported file format error would be a problem in the RDF (which may well have been due to a bug in an earlier Zotero version). Open the .rdf with a text editor (NotePad/TextEdit) and select all and see if you can validate it at:
http://www.w3.org/RDF/Validator/
(unfortunately I believe the validator has a character limit, but let's see). Don't worry about the settings - just paste the copied RDF into the text window and click "Parse RDF". The only part of the output that matters is whether you get a message that says validation was successful, or whether you get an Error right at the top.

nopposan

I'm having a similar trouble, but I don't get any error message; it just crashes my browser after coming almost to completion and stalling for a VERY long time (~30 minutes?). When I restart Firefox and examine the Zotero library tree, I only see the name of the library RDF that I tried to import; there's nothing within it. ('Using a new install of Linux Mint Debian Edition with the Cinnamon desktop, Firefox 21.0 and Zotero 4.0.8.) My RDF contains my whole Zotero library, and so there's no way to check it on the website mentioned as the file is just way too large. Are there other tools available for checking the rdf? I'll search the Debian repositories for something that looks promising, but anyone who has experience with this is welcome to comment on whatever success they have achieved.

If I can't get this to work then I'll just see if I can find an old backup of my home directory, transfer the Zotero library stored there to the correct directory on my new machine, and then manually reproduce the more recent entries that are only recorded in the RDF I exported just prior to installing Linux Mint. (This last time, I forgot to back-up hidden folders! Oh well.)

May the Force be with you.

Thanks!

aurimas

You can try splitting up your RDF file.

It should be safe to split the file right before bib:Article or bib:BookSection tags. Cut and paste everything below the split into a new text file and insert the following at the top:
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:z="http://www.zotero.org/namespaces/export#"
xmlns:bib="http://purl.org/net/biblio#"
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
xmlns:prism="http://prismstandard.org/namespaces/1.2/basic/"
xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/"
xmlns:link="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/link/"
xmlns:vcard="http://nwalsh.com/rdf/vCard#">

For the top section (the items above the split) add the following to the bottom:
</rdf:RDF>

You should be able to import each file individually, but keep them in the same directory as they were.

I would try it first with a small section. If it works, you can try splitting in half or quarters. If even a small section does not work, then you can at least try to validate it or post it here.