I ask for help.

michaelmasoner
I have a data problem.
In the summer, I downloaded Z (my first use) to Win10 and added 40 references manually. I did no backup and do not use Win backup. I did no sync and left defaults unchanged. I exported my biblio for my paper. I was happy.

Yesterday, I fired up Z for more work and got the "welcome, let's get started" page. Using FAQs, I located users/me/Zotero having zotero.sqlite w 5,000kb and zotero.sqlite-journal w 400kb and (locate, styles, and translators sub-directories) and nothing else. The users/Appdata/Roaming/Zotero contains much but no zotero.sqlite file.
I did the Zotero Old procedures, hit the 5 buttons on files and folders, executed Import and also failed to open Zotero.sqlite for Clipboard Import. Import will not load a 2nd copy of zotero.sqlite from a 2nd location.
I have hit every button on Z that I can find to hit. Nothing has allowed me to load my zotero.sqlite file.
MIke Masoner
  • dstillman
    I located users/me/Zotero having zotero.sqlite w 5,000kb and zotero.sqlite-journal w 400kb and (locate, styles, and translators sub-directories) and nothing else.
    That's just an empty data directory, so it just means something happened to your previous data directory. Beyond Locating Missing Zotero Data instructions, there's not really much more we can tell you on this — you'd have to figure out what happened to the data on your computer and find the data directory you were using, or a backup of it.

    Are you sure you used Zotero on this computer and not some other computer? Was your computer wiped between then and now? Did you use any software that tries to clean up your computer? Did you have your Zotero data directory in some custom location (cloud storage, external disk, network share)?
    I did the Zotero Old procedures, hit the 5 buttons on files and folders, executed Import and also failed to open Zotero.sqlite for Clipboard Import. Import will not load a 2nd copy of zotero.sqlite from a 2nd location.
    I'm not sure what all of this is referring to. You don't import a zotero.sqlite file, and no instructions say to do so. "Zotero Old" would be relevant if you actually had a backup of your previous Zotero data directory to restore from, but it's not clear that's the case.
  • michaelmasoner
    dstillman, Thank you. You help in several respects. I probably would never use Zotero again if you were not here to give me feedback.

    Substantively, you inform me that I have lost my data. That is good and not bad. That information puts me on the right path. I will immediately begin anew. And in the future, I will take care to backup my Zotero data directory as the last step when I finish a project.

    As to my loss, it is a complete mystery. My lone Zotero application was as primitive as it gets - nothing fancy. This is my only theory. I exported my bibliography from Zotero to put into a paper. I accomplished this. But as a novice, not knowing Zotero data retrieval procedure, could I have deleted the data directory while retrieving the bibliography?

    Thanks again. michaelmasoner
  • dstillman
    No, the only way to delete your data directory through Zotero itself is to switch to another account for syncing, and Zotero warns you very clearly what will happen before you do that.

    Assuming you didn't do that, this would have to have been something outside of Zotero.
  • michaelmasoner
    I had deleted Chrome cookies. To test this. I uninstalled Zotero. When I did so, I got a message about cookies being removed as well. I did not see that happen. When I had originally deleted Chrome cookies, I did not have an account with Z.

    After reinstalling Z, I deleted Chrome Z cookies but with no effect on Z. I can only conclude that I inadvertently deleted my Z database myself.

    In any case, I took this opportunity to buy space with Z and then sync. I then tested out the automatic capture of a citation. I should have been doing this earlier this year.

    Again, thank you for your assistance. Michael Masoner
  • dstillman
    This definitely didn't have anything to do with Chrome or cookies, to be clear.
  • michaelmasoner
    Good to hear.

    I should close the thread with a final thank you, but I ask two related questions. dstillman, with your reply to those, I will say, "Good job."

    dstillman, you initially noted that my sqlite file with 4,864kb was empty. When I reinstalled a new empty Z with no records, it contained 956kb. When I added one record, it contained 5,184kb. I then added 40 records to replicate the original database I had lost. With 40 records, the sqlite file had 7,776kb. Was there a rule of thumb that indicated my initial sqlite file of 4,864kb was empty?

    Originally I found a sqlite-journal. I have not seen one since. Is this a temporary file signifying that I improperly closed Z? I do not find documentation distinguishing "close" from "exit". What is the distinction or best practice?

    michaelmasoner
  • dstillman
    ~1 MB and ~5 MB are both empty (or very close to empty) databases, for complicated technical reasons.

    sqlite-journal is an internal temporary file. It will appear sometimes while Zotero is open. It generally shouldn't appear when Zotero is closed unless Zotero crashed.

    You can just close Zotero like any other program on your computer.
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