relative path for attachment in base directory not working

godblessfq

Hi Everyone,
I am using zotero 4.0.22 in firefox, when I drag and drop a file from xyplorer to zotero, it copies the file to the storage directory instead of making a link.
file directory is C:\Document\Zotero\ZoteroLibrary\Crystallography
base directory is C:\Document\Zotero\
profile directory is C:\Document\Zotero\LibraryQ
Any help will be much appreciated.

adamsmith

When you drag a file to Zotero it will by default always store it, not link it. That behavior is entirely unrelated to the profile or base directory settings.

To link files instead of storing them, either use the Attachment --> Link to File option or use
Ctrl-Shift-drag on Windows/Linux, Cmd-Option-drag on OS X

Also, why is your profile directory in your base directory? That's almost never the right thing to do and can be a sign of you doing something terribly wrong (like syncing Zotero data--as opposed to files--with anything other than the Zotero).

godblessfq

Thank you Mr Smith.
I put all things in the base directory so I can copy just one folder to backup or use FreeFileSync to do the backup. I used to sync the attachments using dropbox, but moved all file out of dropbox after reading your other post about the problems.
Should I put my profile back into the firefox default position so it will be synced with firefox?
Thank you very much!

godblessfq

Looks like firefox sync doesn't include zotero profile.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data#w_what-information-is-stored-in-my-profile

adamsmith

are you just backing up, or are you using FreeFileSync to access the files on multiple machines? If this is just for back up it doesn't matter either way.

godblessfq

Thank you! I am just backing up.

aurimas

That's ok then, but you still don't need to set Linked Attachment Base Directory.

godblessfq

To set the base directory is to use relative path for the attachment, in case I need to move all file to another place.

aurimas

For _linked_ attachments, which, under no conceivable scenario, should be inside your data directory.

adamsmith

they're not, though, if you look at the set-up above: the data directory is in ~/LibraryQ the files are in ~/Zotero Library/Cristallography
so that should be fine.

aurimas

Sorry, I stand corrected.

godblessfq

If the file is too big zotero takes a long time to respond if all file dropped on it are copied to separate folders in the storage folder.
If zotero can hardlink the file dropped on it, then it is unnecessary to do that.