Robin, if you don't have a working copy of Endnote handy, and if you don't mind giving your library into someone else's hands (temporarily), I could try to open it in Endnote X or Endnote X2 (I have both) and export it to a RIS file for you.
Hi Mark - Just to say that I finally got hold of the file you asked for and e-mailed it across. I guess you may need to check your spam folder in case it is assumed to be junk with a dodgy file attachment! Thanks so much for this, really :-)
I had some problems importing endnote libs in Zotero. I traced the problem to the fact that I had, at some point in the past, altered the URL field in some of my records to include a link to a pdf. When endnote exports the library the UR field becomes four lines long (it was a link to a local file on my comp) and I think this gives zotero the shits. I did a wildcard find and replace in Word for "file://*.pdf", replaced it with nothing, saved it, imported it with Zotero, et voila, no import probs. Hope this helps somebody.
I'm exporting my entries from EndNote X2 to a RIS text doc and then import with Zotero, but it's only importing a few of my entries and the accents (I'm french Canadian) are changed into weird characters like : ¤¤{¬~`¬] ...
I tried exporting my endnote library with Endnote X2 windows and Endnote 9 mac to a RIS file. The RIS file from Endnote X2 imports only 1 or 2 references, then generates an error:
"An error occurred while trying to import the selected file. Please ensure that the file is valid and try again."
The bug report is from the RIS file exported witn Endnote 9 (Mac). I first removed al the PDF file links. Zotero imports nearly all the references (approx. 300), but still gives the error and skips a few. I tried importing on a PC and a Mac. Please let me know where I can send the RIS file if that helps the developers to troubleshoot.
I'm currently also having severe problems trying to export an endnote file (in any of the four possible formats), then importing the resulting file into Zotero. Using RefMan (RIS) export in EndNote as an example, I've found the following problem when looking at the RefMan RIS file format specification. The following is an example reference as exported by EndNote:
TY - JOUR
AU - Mira, J.
AU - Delgado, A.E.
PY - 2009
TI - Sensory representation spaces in neuroscience and computation
SP - 793-805
JF - Neurocomputing
VL - 72
N1 - 285
KW - representation space
perception
cortical maps
semantic gap
N2 - Abstract
ID - 374
ER -
For the authors, you can see that each author is listed on a separate line with the "AU" tag preceding it, but not for the keywords - as is required by the RIS file format standard. This file does'nt get imported, with the error "an error has occurred while trying to import the selected file. Please ensure that the file is valid and try again". When I make the following change, the file is successfully imported into Zotero:
TY - JOUR
AU - Mira, J.
AU - Delgado, A.E.
PY - 2009
TI - Sensory representation spaces in neuroscience and computation
SP - 793-805
JF - Neurocomputing
VL - 72
N1 - 285
KW - representation space
KW - perception
KW - cortical maps
KW - semantic gap
N2 - Abstract
ID - 374
ER -
This is successfully imported. A fairly easy fix. Unfortunately, because I have almost 400 references in my endnote library (most with multiple keywords), this is not a change I'm willing to make manually, so I'm stuck.
Any suggestions in getting around this problem would be gratefully received - i.e. a better export style for EndNote which actually keeps to the RIS file format specification.
PS have tried the other export styles (BibTex, Refer, ect) but I believe they suffer from the same problem - in anycase, they don't work for me either.
Paul: What version of Zotero are you using? This was fixed last year in the RIS translator, which was pushed to all Zotero clients with translator updating enabled. If you're using 1.0.10, you might try clicking "Reset Translators and Styles" in the Advanced pane of the Zotero prefs. If you're still having trouble, follow up on the original thread.
I tried what you suggested, and even ended up upgrading to the 2.0 beta version.
The import itself now works successfully -I then however discovered another problem. Going through the specification and my exported library again, it turns out that some of the fields have tight specifications as well as the category tags.
I found two references with a problem: the first had a date in the fourth century A.D. (and so only had a 3-digit year), and one which I was unsure of, and so had suffixed a question mark. Changing these to simple 4-digit years solved the problem.
I now have a library in Zotero I can use! here are a couple of fields which have gotten mixed up, but all of the information appears to be present.
Regarding the import problem that generates the message "An error occurred while trying to import the selected file. Please ensure that the file is valid and try again."
I was encountering this problem when exporting an endnote library to RIS format and then importing that RIS to Zotero. I'm using the latest version of the RIS export style. (Using Windows on a PC)
I think I've figured out the problem: It occurred only in cases where there were two directly linked (not relative) attachments for one endnote reference. This situation produced a glitch in the .txt file that was exported. So, for instance, one book with two links (to reviews of the book in fact) appeared like this in the export
ER - TY - BOOK AU - Mamdani, Mahood PY - 1996 BT - Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa ... CY - Princeton PB - Princeton University Press N1 - Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa ... L1 - file:///C:/Documents and Settings/User/My Documents/Mamdani.pdf
file:///C:/Documents and Settings/User/My Documents/Mamdani review.pdf ID - 197 ER -
Notice how the first link is presented as L1 - but then there is an extraneous line break followed by a line with no tag (just beginning file:///C: etc...? That seems to be the problem. If you correct the RIS text file to read as follows, it will import correctly into Zotero. Or, at least, that is how it worked for me.
Here's what it should look like (if I'm at all right about this...)
ER - TY - BOOK AU - Mamdani, Mahood PY - 1996 BT - Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa ... CY - Princeton PB - Princeton University Press N1 - Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa ... L1 - file:///C:/Documents and Settings/User/My Documents/Mamdani.pdf L1 - file:///C:/Documents and Settings/User/My Documents/Mamdani review.pdf ID - 197 ER -
Well, I hope that helps... As I say, it worked for me. Still some glitches with contributor vs. editor, extraneous notes for fields from endnote like "label" and "ISBN" but this at least helped me get the library to import fully into zotero.
I'm currently using Zotero 2.0b6.2 under Firefox 3.5 / Ubuntu 9.04
A few weeks ago, using an early beta and Firefox 3.0, I have successfully imported a library of 47 references from Endnote X2 to Zotero using the RIS format, no problem.
Now with the current versions, I cannot import a single reference using the same trick. The import progress bar goes on forever, even for a unique reference.
Does somebody have an explanation? I need those refs.
Hi, I just downloaded version 2.0b6. I'm trying to export my Endnote X1 libraries to Zotero, and I'm getting an endless (and not progressing) "Importing files" message. I exported the library as a RIS, but Endnote has it as a .txt and won't let me change it. Any ideas? I have hundreds of entries, so I really need to move them over before I can start using Zotero.
If you restart Firefox, try again with a .ris file, and still get stuck, then I really don't know.
I suggest you hold your breath till they release the next version.
P.S. Just make sure you really have a .ris file, not a .ris.txt file with the .txt hidden by Windows.
i had endless troubles while exporting from endnote to Zotero. here what finally worked for me:
1. export (file-export) the endnote library to txt file while using the RIS output style.
2. if one tries to import to Zotero he ends up with an error message and a dead end.
3. open the txt file with a text editor and manualy correct all (some of them are good but yes all 700 entries!) the links for the PDF files from:
L1 - internal-pdf://000420-2522069517/000420.pdf
.... (one can find all kind of strange output's relating to the pdf files)
to the form of :
L1 - file:///D:/YYY/XXX.pdf
(i am saving all files in a specific site)
4. import to Zotero (meanwhile go and drink some water).
5. Check that all entries are present and working well.
6. congratulation.
just something like "An error occurred while trying to import the selected file. Please ensure that the file is valid and try again.".
one have to analyze the exported text file and figure the problem in small steps by himself.
first i have exported all entries with writes that start with "A". now you have a smaller exported file, i think the import to Zotero went well at this stage.
in the "B" file i had trouble with the import to Zotero and than i managed to point the problem out by comparing the "A" and "B" files.
it would have been nice to get a more informative error message. A better solution is that during the import stage Zotero will produce an output file that refers to each and each entry (and all the small details in each enrty).
if the import stage goes well the user is asked to check if the entries were transfered in a satisfactory manner and than the log file is erased.
if the import stage goes bad the user and the user community can point out the problem and deal with it.
You happen to be an empowered user who can do these things; the bulk of new Zotero users isn't. And what reaches the forums is always just the tip of the iceberg. I know from my own experience with colleagues that the troublesome RIS import is a showstopper for many potential Zotero users.
So definitely this import process is one crucial bottleneck at present which is holding back many users from switching to Zotero.
Key suggestions from this thread:
Make the error message more informative. Mention specific problems together with line numbers. Example: There is a problem with the L1 field on line 38 (Mamdani 1996). It contains an invalid URL. Or There is a problem with the entry Mamdani 1996. It contains a duplicated field.
Provide an option to skip problematic records.
Spit out a RIS file with the items that could not be parsed
Upgrade Storage
Someone knows a way to import it correctly?
Thank you guys!
I tried exporting my endnote library with Endnote X2 windows and Endnote 9 mac to a RIS file. The RIS file from Endnote X2 imports only 1 or 2 references, then generates an error:
"An error occurred while trying to import the selected file. Please ensure that the file is valid and try again."
The bug report is from the RIS file exported witn Endnote 9 (Mac). I first removed al the PDF file links. Zotero imports nearly all the references (approx. 300), but still gives the error and skips a few. I tried importing on a PC and a Mac. Please let me know where I can send the RIS file if that helps the developers to troubleshoot.
Extra info:
Zotero 2.0b4 (Mac and PC)
I'm currently also having severe problems trying to export an endnote file (in any of the four possible formats), then importing the resulting file into Zotero. Using RefMan (RIS) export in EndNote as an example, I've found the following problem when looking at the RefMan RIS file format specification. The following is an example reference as exported by EndNote:
TY - JOUR
AU - Mira, J.
AU - Delgado, A.E.
PY - 2009
TI - Sensory representation spaces in neuroscience and computation
SP - 793-805
JF - Neurocomputing
VL - 72
N1 - 285
KW - representation space
perception
cortical maps
semantic gap
N2 - Abstract
ID - 374
ER -
For the authors, you can see that each author is listed on a separate line with the "AU" tag preceding it, but not for the keywords - as is required by the RIS file format standard. This file does'nt get imported, with the error "an error has occurred while trying to import the selected file. Please ensure that the file is valid and try again". When I make the following change, the file is successfully imported into Zotero:
TY - JOUR
AU - Mira, J.
AU - Delgado, A.E.
PY - 2009
TI - Sensory representation spaces in neuroscience and computation
SP - 793-805
JF - Neurocomputing
VL - 72
N1 - 285
KW - representation space
KW - perception
KW - cortical maps
KW - semantic gap
N2 - Abstract
ID - 374
ER -
This is successfully imported. A fairly easy fix. Unfortunately, because I have almost 400 references in my endnote library (most with multiple keywords), this is not a change I'm willing to make manually, so I'm stuck.
Any suggestions in getting around this problem would be gratefully received - i.e. a better export style for EndNote which actually keeps to the RIS file format specification.
PS have tried the other export styles (BibTex, Refer, ect) but I believe they suffer from the same problem - in anycase, they don't work for me either.
Paul
http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/3737/solved-the-tag-import-problem-from-endnote-ris/
I tried what you suggested, and even ended up upgrading to the 2.0 beta version.
The import itself now works successfully -I then however discovered another problem. Going through the specification and my exported library again, it turns out that some of the fields have tight specifications as well as the category tags.
I found two references with a problem: the first had a date in the fourth century A.D. (and so only had a 3-digit year), and one which I was unsure of, and so had suffixed a question mark. Changing these to simple 4-digit years solved the problem.
I now have a library in Zotero I can use! here are a couple of fields which have gotten mixed up, but all of the information appears to be present.
Many thanks for the help.
Paul
I was encountering this problem when exporting an endnote library to RIS format and then importing that RIS to Zotero. I'm using the latest version of the RIS export style. (Using Windows on a PC)
I think I've figured out the problem: It occurred only in cases where there were two directly linked (not relative) attachments for one endnote reference. This situation produced a glitch in the .txt file that was exported. So, for instance, one book with two links (to reviews of the book in fact) appeared like this in the export
ER -
TY - BOOK
AU - Mamdani, Mahood
PY - 1996
BT - Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa ...
CY - Princeton
PB - Princeton University Press
N1 - Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa ...
L1 - file:///C:/Documents and Settings/User/My Documents/Mamdani.pdf
file:///C:/Documents and Settings/User/My Documents/Mamdani review.pdf
ID - 197
ER -
Notice how the first link is presented as L1 -
but then there is an extraneous line break followed by a line with no tag (just beginning file:///C: etc...? That seems to be the problem. If you correct the RIS text file to read as follows, it will import correctly into Zotero. Or, at least, that is how it worked for me.
Here's what it should look like (if I'm at all right about this...)
ER -TY - BOOK
AU - Mamdani, Mahood
PY - 1996
BT - Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa ...
CY - Princeton
PB - Princeton University Press
N1 - Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa ...
L1 - file:///C:/Documents and Settings/User/My Documents/Mamdani.pdf
L1 - file:///C:/Documents and Settings/User/My Documents/Mamdani review.pdf
ID - 197
ER -
Well, I hope that helps... As I say, it worked for me. Still some glitches with contributor vs. editor, extraneous notes for fields from endnote like "label" and "ISBN" but this at least helped me get the library to import fully into zotero.
J
A few weeks ago, using an early beta and Firefox 3.0, I have successfully imported a library of 47 references from Endnote X2 to Zotero using the RIS format, no problem.
Now with the current versions, I cannot import a single reference using the same trick. The import progress bar goes on forever, even for a unique reference.
Does somebody have an explanation? I need those refs.
One has to put a .ris extension to the exported RIS file, not a .txt as Endnote does.
Now it works.
Edited to add: report # 1084430747.
I suggest you hold your breath till they release the next version.
P.S. Just make sure you really have a .ris file, not a .ris.txt file with the .txt hidden by Windows.
i had endless troubles while exporting from endnote to Zotero. here what finally worked for me:
1. export (file-export) the endnote library to txt file while using the RIS output style.
2. if one tries to import to Zotero he ends up with an error message and a dead end.
3. open the txt file with a text editor and manualy correct all (some of them are good but yes all 700 entries!) the links for the PDF files from:
L1 - internal-pdf://000420-2522069517/000420.pdf
.... (one can find all kind of strange output's relating to the pdf files)
to the form of :
L1 - file:///D:/YYY/XXX.pdf
(i am saving all files in a specific site)
4. import to Zotero (meanwhile go and drink some water).
5. Check that all entries are present and working well.
6. congratulation.
i hope it will work for you,
just something like "An error occurred while trying to import the selected file. Please ensure that the file is valid and try again.".
one have to analyze the exported text file and figure the problem in small steps by himself.
first i have exported all entries with writes that start with "A". now you have a smaller exported file, i think the import to Zotero went well at this stage.
in the "B" file i had trouble with the import to Zotero and than i managed to point the problem out by comparing the "A" and "B" files.
it would have been nice to get a more informative error message. A better solution is that during the import stage Zotero will produce an output file that refers to each and each entry (and all the small details in each enrty).
if the import stage goes well the user is asked to check if the entries were transfered in a satisfactory manner and than the log file is erased.
if the import stage goes bad the user and the user community can point out the problem and deal with it.
You happen to be an empowered user who can do these things; the bulk of new Zotero users isn't. And what reaches the forums is always just the tip of the iceberg. I know from my own experience with colleagues that the troublesome RIS import is a showstopper for many potential Zotero users.
So definitely this import process is one crucial bottleneck at present which is holding back many users from switching to Zotero.
Key suggestions from this thread: