Portion of Notes disappears

DonnaCoxBaker
For some time now, I've been noticing a problem when I am typing a long Note. I am often typing without looking at the screen, and have assumed I was causing the problem with my own typing, but today I saw it happen and realized it was not my action that triggered it. Here's what happens.

When I have been typing in a note for a while, suddenly, I find the cursor back up at the top of the note, in front of the first letter there. The last paragraph I typed is gone. When I try to do a Ctl-Z to undo the deletion, it instead deletes the next to the last thing I typed. I can restore that with a Ctl-Y, but I can't get back the paragraph that was deleted originally.

This has happened on two different laptops. I am on Windows 10 on both. I am on Zotero 5.0.89.
  • adamsmith
    I thought this was solved, but in the past this was related to syncing, i.e. a sync operation starting caused this to happen. Not sure there's a great solution if that's the case (since I wouldn't recommend turning off auto-sync, either) but does that square with your observations?
  • dstillman
    If you're able to capture a Debug ID for this happening, we'd want to see that, as well as steps to reproduce it. There've been occasional reports of this, and we've fixed some issues with this in the past related to syncing, but we haven't been reproduced any issues with the current code.

    (There's a known issue where note text can be lost if you're typing an embedded attachment note while the PDF is still being indexed, but that doesn't sound like your situation.)

  • DonnaCoxBaker
    I'll try to catch it with Debug, Dan. I think it is only happening when I am typing in a freestanding note window, so that might narrow down the issue.
  • DonnaCoxBaker
    So far I haven't duplicated it--though it happened this morning before I turned debugging on and happened yesterday. But I do notice something about the automatic syncing. If I am typing at a normal speed, it syncs every 30 seconds or so. If I am typing really, really fast, it stops syncing until I slow down. I wonder it typing speed is a trigger of any kind?
  • dstillman
    Notes save a second after you stop typing, and auto-sync starts 15 seconds after the last save.
  • DonnaCoxBaker
    I typed a long time today to test it, and couldn't trigger it. Perhaps it has to do with something else going on with my computer in the background that creates a conflict? What about my automated backup of Zotero. I use AOMEI Backupper Standard. It's set to back up in the evening, but if my computer's not on, it does it first thing in the morning and takes a while. I think my computer also runs System Mechanic cleanup operations in the mornings.
  • dstillman
    No, background processes shouldn't make a difference. We have some changes to the note-saving mechanism coming soon, so hopefully any issue here will be addressed by that. Let us know if you can reproduce it in the meantime.
  • DonnaCoxBaker
    Great. I'll try to start turning on the debug tracking when I know I have a lengthy note to type. Thanks, Dan.
  • DonnaCoxBaker
    I've been trying to catch this with the debug tracking for a while now. First, I'd turn it on and start typing like crazy, in hopes of forcing it to duplicate with debug on. It never did. Now, almost daily, I'm turning on the debug tracking when I'm going to be typing a lot. I never have the problem, except when I forget to turn the debug on. So, is it possible that the debugging mechanism itself prevents the error?
  • DonnaCoxBaker
    And, within 24 hours of posting the above, the error happened with the Debugging going, but it also prevented me from saving the debug output. I tend to journal each day, using the "Edit in a separate window" view. I minimize the main window in the background. I don't look at what I am typing, as I type. It's a meditation ritual. Eyes closed.

    In the past, I could always tell when the error happened because I type the date at the top of the window, but after the error, it has been pushed down by newer text above it. Sometime in the typing, the window refreshes itself and puts the cursor at the top. Whatever I was typing during that few seconds of refreshing (syncing, I suppose) is gone and cannot be recovered. The last thing I typed is at the top of the screen--above the date and earlier typing. I knew that was happening, but today, I saw something else.

    This is the first time it has happened with the Debug Output Logging turned on. I thought I had caught it. But when I closed the separate window to get back to the main window, I realized the main window had already closed. Zotero had seemingly shut down, leaving me typing in the separate window. So the debug output was gone. Interestingly, though, when I reopened Zotero, the last typing I did is there.

    I don't know if this helps in the analysis, but there it is. I hope it helps.

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