Trouble with PDF viewer in Zotero standalone

TVG

Hello,

Since the last update of Zotero standalone, when I open a PDF file from Zotero, it correctly opens with Foxit Reader (the PDF viewer I'm using) but in a new Zotero window and not in a Foxit Reader window. If I open several documents from Zotero, sometimes it opens several Zotero windows and sometimes it opens just one new Zotero window with several tabs. This behavior seems to be random and I'd prefer that Zotero always open several documents in only one window with several tabs.
Moreover, the fact that PDFs now open in Zotero windows instead of Foxit Reader windows make the opening very slow and very often Zotero no longer responds.

How is it possible to make Zotero opening documents in the PDF viewer windows and not in Zotero windows (as was the case in previous Zotero version)?

Many thanks for your help!

dstillman

it correctly opens with Foxit Reader (the PDF viewer I'm using) but in a new Zotero window and not in a Foxit Reader window

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Foxit is a separate application. All Zotero does is launch PDFs via either the OS or the PDF reader configured in the preferences. They don't open inside Zotero.

Can you take a screenshot of what you're seeing, upload it somewhere (e.g., Dropbox), and provide a link here?

TVG

Thanks for your answer. I've to admit it's not very clear and should be better with a screenshot indeed. You'll find a screenshot here: https://mega.nz/file/NCQinQ6R#YQK6Dq8ruacgS14ADi-FVGkHnc5LijDyaXINKsNAcAA.

On the top left, there is a PDF document I opened from Nautilus. It correctly opened with Foxit Reader in a Foxit reader window (it corresponds to the dot below the Foxit Reader icon in the Dock).
On the top right, there is the Zotero standalone program (first dot below the Zotero icon in the Dock).
On the bottom, there are three PDF documents I opened from the Zotero standalone program. They opened in three new Zotero windows (the three other dots Zotero icon in the Dock). These windows that appear like "Zotero windows" in the Dock are actually Foxit Reader windows... This is really puzzling to me.

Before I upgraded the Zotero standalone program, all PDF documents opened from Zotero opened in only one Foxit Reader window as new tabs. I'd like to restore that.

Thank you very much.

dstillman

Can you provide a Debug ID for opening a PDF? What distro is this? Are you using the official tarball, or something else?

I didn't test with Foxit, but on Ubuntu 19.10, using the official Zotero tarball, and with the default evince ("Document Viewer") still set as the OS PDF reader, opening a PDF in Zotero shows it as an evince window in the launcher.

On some systems, the PDF reader might be launched as a child process, which your distro might show as belonging to the parent. You can check whether that's the case, but I'd guess that's what's happening. It opens as an independent process for me.

TVG

Here is the Debug ID: D1515991500. I'm using Zotero 5.0.85. I've installed Zotero using the Ubuntu Software Center (or something like this).

In the Zotero Preferences, if I put "Open PDFs using [System Default]", each time I try to open a document it asks to select an application. In that case, it correctly opens the document in a window of the application I chose (works also for Foxit). However, I don't want to look for Foxit in the application list each time I want to open a document. Then, the problem appears when I put "Open PDFs using [Customs...]" and look for the Foxit application to put it as the default application. Now, Foxit is launched as a child process. It is slow and it generates a new windows each time until it finally crashes.

dstillman

I've installed Zotero using the Ubuntu Software Center (or something like this).

Can you reproduce this with the tarball from this site?

And what exact distro and version are you running?

qqbb

@TVG: There is also the option to install Zotero from Emiliano's deb packages: https://askubuntu.com/a/1160369. See here for details.

TVG

I'm running Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS.

I've tried to install Zotero from the tarball from this site following the instructions from https://www.zotero.org/support/installation. But in the end, Zotero doesn't appear in the launcher...

I've also tried the solution proposed by qqbb. I've been able to install Zotero and it seems that the problem I had is no more. Now, documents correctly open in Foxit Reader as new tab.

Thank you very much for your help.

dstillman

But in the end, Zotero doesn't appear in the launcher

Note that, at least in 19.10, once you've symlinked the desktop file, it won't necessarily appear directly in the dock, but it should appear in the list if you click the grid icon ("Show Applications"), and you can drag it from there to the dock.

TVG

Actually, it didn't appear in the application list. I've tried to search for Zotero after pressing on the "super" key.

Anyway, my problem is solved. Thanks for your help.