Upgrade StorageZotero SA 4.0.29.15 – Attachments gone, but still linked in database. Best way to recover?
GIVEN:
(1) I've been using Zotero Standalone for some years now, syncing my literature with zotero.org. My account is covered by an institutional subscription and has, save for one point in time, been since about 2014. I point this out because I conjecture that this may have contributed to my attachments disappearing.
In 2016, our institution failed to transfer its annual payments, to the effect that our subscription was suspended. We renewed the subscription once that came to our attention. However, as a consequence, the quota for my account was, for some time, reset to 600 MiB. However, my library was, I think, about 2–3 GiB in size (without group libraries).
Although I’ve synced my literature with zotero.org, I’ve never used a device other than my laptop with Zotero, so, apart from group libraries, I wouldn’t have noticed sync problems or the attachments being no longer present on the zotero.org servers.
(2) My laptop was stolen late 2016. On the occasion, I discovered that I failed to handle my backups correctly. As a consequence, the only remaining copy of my library was that on zotero.org.
(3) I got a new laptop, and am now using: Zotero Standalone (SA) 4.0.29.15 on macOS 10.12.3.
WHEN:
I installed Zotero SA and tried to sync my libraries.
THEN:
I discovered that almost all of my attachments were gone. That is, Zotero SA still showed attachments to be linked to the entries of the database, but when I tried to either open or locate the linked files, Zotero SA told me that it couldn’t find them.
I checked my local storage folder and found that, with few exception, none of my attachments had been downloaded.
I then checked with the zotero.org website to find that I am only using about 1 GiB of storage, and that I am using that storage almost exclusively for group libraries. Indeed, the attachments that have been downloaded all appear to be linked to items in group libraries.
BEST WAY TO RECOVER?
Do you happen to have backups and, if so, would be willing to help with restoring my library?
If not, I would at least like to update my local database, so that Zotero SA no longer shows attachments that, in fact, aren’t there. I figured the best way to do that would be to:
(1) Make a copy of all the attachments that I still have, outside of Zotero SA’s local storage folder.
(1) Transfer ownership of all groups that I own to other accounts.
(2) Leave all groups that I own.
(3) Make a copy of ~/Library/Application Support/Zotero/${my_profile_id}.default/zotero/zotero.sqlite
(4) Open ~/Library/Application Support/Zotero/${my_profile_id}.default/zotero/zotero.sqlite and execute "DELETE FROM itemAttachments".
(5) Re-join all my groups.
Would that work?
Thanks a lot for your help!
(1) I've been using Zotero Standalone for some years now, syncing my literature with zotero.org. My account is covered by an institutional subscription and has, save for one point in time, been since about 2014. I point this out because I conjecture that this may have contributed to my attachments disappearing.
In 2016, our institution failed to transfer its annual payments, to the effect that our subscription was suspended. We renewed the subscription once that came to our attention. However, as a consequence, the quota for my account was, for some time, reset to 600 MiB. However, my library was, I think, about 2–3 GiB in size (without group libraries).
Although I’ve synced my literature with zotero.org, I’ve never used a device other than my laptop with Zotero, so, apart from group libraries, I wouldn’t have noticed sync problems or the attachments being no longer present on the zotero.org servers.
(2) My laptop was stolen late 2016. On the occasion, I discovered that I failed to handle my backups correctly. As a consequence, the only remaining copy of my library was that on zotero.org.
(3) I got a new laptop, and am now using: Zotero Standalone (SA) 4.0.29.15 on macOS 10.12.3.
WHEN:
I installed Zotero SA and tried to sync my libraries.
THEN:
I discovered that almost all of my attachments were gone. That is, Zotero SA still showed attachments to be linked to the entries of the database, but when I tried to either open or locate the linked files, Zotero SA told me that it couldn’t find them.
I checked my local storage folder and found that, with few exception, none of my attachments had been downloaded.
I then checked with the zotero.org website to find that I am only using about 1 GiB of storage, and that I am using that storage almost exclusively for group libraries. Indeed, the attachments that have been downloaded all appear to be linked to items in group libraries.
BEST WAY TO RECOVER?
Do you happen to have backups and, if so, would be willing to help with restoring my library?
If not, I would at least like to update my local database, so that Zotero SA no longer shows attachments that, in fact, aren’t there. I figured the best way to do that would be to:
(1) Make a copy of all the attachments that I still have, outside of Zotero SA’s local storage folder.
(1) Transfer ownership of all groups that I own to other accounts.
(2) Leave all groups that I own.
(3) Make a copy of ~/Library/Application Support/Zotero/${my_profile_id}.default/zotero/zotero.sqlite
(4) Open ~/Library/Application Support/Zotero/${my_profile_id}.default/zotero/zotero.sqlite and execute "DELETE FROM itemAttachments".
(5) Re-join all my groups.
Would that work?
Thanks a lot for your help!
For cleaning up, definitely don't touch zotero.sqlite. You can press + in the Zotero items pane to expand all items and then look for empty circles in the attachments column. If it's most/all attachments, you can also create a saved search using [Item Type] [is] [Attachment] or other conditions and then press Cmd-A to select all matches and delete those.