How best to use google docs and zotero?

I understand how to add references and create a formatted bibliography in MS Word, and also how to add (formatted) references and bibliographies to a google doc. What I can't seem to figure out is the best way to insert references into a google doc such that I can later change the reference style and add a formatted bibliography from references I have placed in the google doc. I understand that google docs itself won't do this, but is there a way to insert references that can easily be formatted appropriately later in MS Word? My apologies if I've missed something obvious.
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  • https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/30642/is-it-possible-to-get-a-zotero-plugin-equivalent-for-google-docs/#Item_13
  • I don't understand. I can see how to copy a formatted citation into a document, and I can see how to copy a formatted bibliography into a document. How do I copy a code that zotero rtf understands is a reference? The Tools>RTF scan... option says it looks for things like: {Smith, 1990}
    or: Smith {1990}
    How does one copy references from Zotero into a document (any document) with those features? Do we have to manually type references in like that? If this doesn't exist, is there possibly a way to create a specialized format style that would do this?
    My apologies if this is explained somewhere...
  • there's a citation style:
    https://zotero.org/styles?q=RTF Scan (it includes titles to make sure citation aren't ambiguous).
    ODF Scan comes with a translator that exports the codes as needed for that.
  • OK, thanks.
    When I try to install the rtf-scan.csl, however, I get:

    Install style "RTF Scan" from rtf-scan.csl?

    But when press the "install" button, I get the following error:

    An unexpected error occurred while installing "(null)"
  • Works in general. Restart Firefox and try again.
  • Not using firefox. I'm using the standalone
  • so how exactly are you installing? did you make sure the style was fully downloaded when you opened it?
  • Well, how would I know? Safari indicated that it was done downloading. But it is only 2,814 bytes. Is that what it should be?

    I tried with another style: american-journal-of-physical-anthropology.csl, and got the same error. This one is only 1,074 bytes. Is that the right size?

    I also notice that the search box that is available to most OS X find-file dialog boxes (in the upper right of the window that opens to allow you to navigate to the appropriate file you want to load) does not actually find anything. For example, when I type ".csl" or even "rtf" or "american", it does not report finding any files that match that. However, if I do this in a standard finder window, open to the same folder (my downloads folder in this case), it shows all the files with ".csl", or "rtf" or "american" etc. So something is wrong with the find-file window in my Zotero standalone.

    Note that the search box in the find-file window within, e.g., MS Word, finds things also (just like my finder windows). So it is only Zotero that has this issue. Not sure whether this is related to my inability to import .csl files to Zotero?
  • Sorry, forgot to answer your first question:
    I'm installing them by going to Zotero's Preferences>Cite>Styles, clicking the "+" button, scrolling down manually to the file (because the search box doesn't work, as I mentioned in my previous post), pressing the Open button once the file is selected, and then pressing Install when it asks if I want to install the file. After this, it reports:
    An unexpected error occurred while installing "(null)"
  • When I "view source" at the Zotero Style Repository for the styles I tried (the rtf one and the american-journal-of-physical-anthropology.csl) , they seem to be the same as what I get when opening the .csl files that were downloaded to my computer (and have been trying to install).

    Also, when I double-click on the .csl files in the finder, Zotero comes to the fore and asks if I want to install the style. When I indicate I do, it gives the same error:
    An unexpected error occurred while installing "(null)"
  • 2.8k is exactly right. Very odd. You're using an up-to-date version of Zotero (i.e. 4.0.19?) If so, could you provide an error report ID after trying to install (either way you tried is fine, both should work)
  • Yes, I'm using 4.0.19

    The report ID is: 128765425

    The error is:
    [JavaScript Error: "invalid 'instanceof' operand Zotero.Exception" {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/style.js" line: 366}]

    I notice that it says chrome, even though I'm using Safari?

    I also have the error I reported earlier:
    [JavaScript Error: "Could not open system library: no libc" {file: "resource://gre/modules/osfile/osfile_unix_allthreads.jsm" line: 57}]
    which occurs whenever I try to sync with "sync attachment files in My Library using..."

    I'm hoping the two aren't related...
  • I should clarify that the odd: "Could not open system library: no libc" does NOT occur when I try to install a .csl file, it only occurs when I try to sync with "sync attachment files in My Library using..."
  • the two aren't related, no.
    "chrome" is, confusingly, also the name of a protocol used by Zotero (originating actually with Firefox) that has nothing to do with the browser of the same name.

    I'd try reset styles from the advanced tab of the Zotero preferences (note that this will remove any custom styles, so back those up if you have any) and try again. Beyond that, Dan has to take this, I don't understand that error message well enough.
  • OK, I hit the reset styles button, it warned me about new or custom styles, then I said OK. However I still get the error:

    [JavaScript Error: "invalid 'instanceof' operand Zotero.Exception" {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/style.js" line: 366}]

    I'm at a loss
  • I tried reinstalling Java 7, and no change.
  • java and javascript have nothing to do with each other. Zotero, written in javascript, doesn't use Java except for LibreOffice integration.

    Maybe Dan has an idea. We've never seen this and you shouldn't even get to that place in the code, I believe.
    One other thing you could try is to move the file rtf-scan.csl manually to the "styles" folder within your Zotero data directory. You'd then have to restart Zotero. Maybe that works.
  • Manually moving them to my styles folder worked! At least, they show up in the preferences, with a green check-mark next to it.
  • I'm still a little concerned that something is more generally broken in your Zotero install - these errors shouldn't happen of course (and you're literally the only person who has ever reported this particular error), but Dan would have to say how to track that down further.
  • Yes, thanks. I'm concerned also, but don't really know where to go from here. Any suggestions of things to try would be appreciated.
  • Well, unfortunately, RTF-scan doesn't recognize the references in an RTF document, so this doesn't work either. I have RTF-scan as the style selected in preferences, and when I drag and drop them into my rtf document they look like this:

    {Jerison, "Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence", 1973}

    But RTF-scan reports that there are no citations in the document (in the sense that there are none listed in the "Verify cited items" window). Also, if I have it create the scanned file anyway, the document created cannot be opened. I get the following error when double-clicking on the Zotero scanned file:

    "The document “Untitled 2 (Scanned).rtf” could not be opened. "

    ??
  • How about if you manually create RTF scannable citations without the title?
  • Also, in MS Word, when I try "Zotero set doc prefs" to change the style in the document, all the styles that I dragged over into my styles folder (except for RTF-scan.csl) do not work. I get the following error:

    The style you have selected does not appear to be valid. If you have created this style yourself, please ensure that it passes validation as described at https://github.com/citation-style-language/styles/wiki/Validation. Alternatively, try selecting another style.
  • removing the titles from the pasted RTF-scan citations does not work (same error about not being able to open the file, and also it doesn't find any citations to begin with)
  • [JavaScript Error: "invalid 'instanceof' operand Zotero.Exception" {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/style.js" line: 366}]
    This error message itself is a bug that we'll fix, but you are getting a real error, and if it were displaying the proper message it would be this, with proper subsitutions:
    %1$S references an invalid or non-existent CSL file at %2$S as its source.
    It would happen if you installed a dependent style and Zotero for some reason couldn't download the style it depended on. We can't see the reason for the download failure because of the above bug, but are you able to check for updates in Zotero Standalone? Does Add Item by Identifier work?
  • @Dan - but shouldn't reset styles get rid of any dependent styles?
  • But the error is happening when he's trying to reinstall a style after that, no?
  • (Though I guess not a dependent style)
  • edited March 26, 2014
    I think we'll need to fix the error message above and then have Tom try this again in Firefox with the beta XPI. The proper error message will show the URLs in question.
  • exactly - rtf-scan is an independent style - that's why I said above that he shouldn't even reach that part of the code
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