New tool for browsing attachments on tablets

This is my use case: I use Zotero while storing my attachments on Dropbox. I would like to be able to browse my attachments on my Ipad/other-tablet in an organized manner, and to be able to do so offline.

I created a Python script that will:
- Go through your Zotero database and create a hierarchical directory structure, with a directory corresponding to each Zotero collection
- Place symbolic links in each directory to PDF attachments in Zotero storage.

This directory structure can be placed on cloud storage and sync'ed with an Ipad or Android tablet. Thus, edits/annotations made on the tablet will eventually be synced to your Zotero PDFs.

You can find the code at:
https://github.com/artemyk/zot-attachmenttree

Questions at artemyk at gmail .
  • This is a great idea — thanks for posting this.

    (I think this would also be a great Zotero plugin. The Mozilla framework lacked proper support for symlinks for many years, but it may now be possible with OS.File. Would have to be Mac/Linux only, though.)
  • Dan, thanks for the feedback!

    I agree, would be great as a Zotero plug-in. Unfortunately, I have little time right now and no experience writing/unit-testing Mozilla plug-ins. Any interest in collaborating on this?

    For Windows, an alternative might be to copy attachments to a destination directory rather than symlink. There could be a 'resync' action that would then copy back updated PDFs. Of course, this could create some opportunities for conflicts.
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