Double click on parent item do not always open attached PDF

myurkin
Since 2.0b5 (http://www.zotero.org/support/changelog)
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Double-clicking an item is now equivalent to the “View”/“View Snapshot” button by default
“View”/“View Snapshot” logic now uses the following order: oldest PDF attachment matching parent URL, oldest non-PDF attachment matching parent URL, oldest PDF attachment not matching URL, old non-PDF attachment not matching URL, live URL, resolved DOI
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However, it seems that the logic works differently than described above. If I add an item (journal article) from a web page so that PDF is attached automatically, than everything is fine (double click opens that PDF). But if I first create PDF without any attachments (even if some html attachment is created - depending on the translator - I delete it) and then attach PDF that is downloaded separately, then double click opens some web page instead of PDF.

So it seems that either described logic is not implemented correctly, or there is some cache problem (the double click behavior is not refreshed when PDF is attached).
  • dstillman
    Works for me. Can you give a specific example?
  • myurkin
    I have seen it on almost all (as far as I remember) journal articles, where I do not have direct access to PDFs. For example, consider this one:
    http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v79/e195432

    To make this test simpler I disabled automatic saving of attachments in Zotero options. So when I create an item from the webpage, it produces a single parent item without any attachments. Double clicking on it resolves the above mentioned URL.

    Then I attach any pdf (I just used one I had at hand) by "drag and drop" from a Windows Explorer window into this item. At this point I have an item with single PDF attachment, but double clicking on this item still resolves URL instead of opening PDF.
  • dstillman
    OK, thanks. The order above wasn't working for file attachments (i.e., those without URLs), only web attachments. This is fixed in the latest dev build, and the fix will be included in 2.0b6.5, which should be out within a few days.
  • scottpowell
    In 2.0b6.5, I am still having this problem.

    Any file that it attached to an item automatically (e.g. PDF from journal website) open automatically when I double click the parent item.

    However, if I attach a file (store copy) to a manually created or imported item, from a location elsewhere on my hard drive, double-clicking the parent item does nothing.

    Also, if I attach a PDF from a webpage to a preexisting item, by dragging and dropping from the menu bar icon, double-clicking the parent item then opens a webpage, not the PDF that has actually been attached.

    On a general note, I've just started using Zotero (switching from Papers on Mac) and it is just fantastic!
  • myurkin
    For me it works fine now. Both for old and new items. In particular, I have created a new item from a webpage and added PDF from the hard drive to it. Double clicking on the item opens PDF.
  • scottpowell
    myurkin, that is strange. I seem to be having all the same behaviors, but 2.0b6.5 is the first version of Zotero I have used. I've tried this time after time with many different items, files, and web sources. I still do not get the PDF opening on double-click when adding a PDF manually from my hard drive or the web. The only time it works is when I have Zotero set to automatically grab the PDF with the citation info from a page.
  • scottpowell
    Thinking a little more about the section from the change log posted by myurkin, I would describe my problem as the manually attached PDFs not being recognized as "oldest PDF attachment not matching URL". Usually the manually attached PDF is bypassed and I am instead sent to a "live URL" for the parent item or "resolved DOI", which come lower down the logic order of opening behavior. Sometimes everything is bypassed and nothing at all happens (e.g. if I have manually created a very basic parent item).
  • myurkin
    I can approve the last part of what scottpowell mentioned:
    If the parent item has no URL (e.g. it was created manually), then double-click has no effect at all. I expect that attached PDF should open as well in this case.
  • komrade
    Would it be possible to have a Ctrl-double click open the PDF in a new tab?
  • dstillman
    Double-click on items without URLs should work properly in 2.0b7.1, available now.

    komrade: You can use the standard Firefox tab/window modifier keys when clicking on the View button in the right pane. Shift and Control/Cmd are already natively bound to selection actions in the tree (and every list view in every OS), so using them there doesn't really work.
  • komrade
    Ah yes, of course! Could another key be mapped to create this new-tab new-window behaviour? N? T?
    Alternatively a right-click menu item to open (default) attachment?
    It would be really handy when opening up a few papers in one go.
    (it's just as easy to open new tabs up-top each time as it is to go into the right-pane for each one)
  • komrade
    Opening snapshots in a new tab - Control click on the View button in the right-hand pane - has stopped working for me???

    Is this a bug or deliberate? (or just me?!)
  • dstillman
    Fixed on the trunk. Thanks.
  • ohthere
    The problem persists for me. Double-clicking on an item with manually attached PDF still opens the snapshot rather than the PDF... I'm using Zotero 2.0.
  • ohthere
    I think hard-binding Alt+Double Click to force Zotero to open PDF would be a good idea, if automatic selection is tricky..
  • darrask
    Still another request for opening PDFs in a new tab after double-click.
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