Zotfile rename attachment loses Zotero annotations imported from Mendeley

jjwbakermans

I'm migrating from Mendeley, which I've used for years, to Zotero. I want to achieve the following:
1) Import my Mendeley library including highlights and annotations
2) Rename the pdf files into something sensible and move them to a Google Drive folder

The Zotero beta version does a great job at importing my Mendeley library including all highlights and annotations (1), and the build-in pdf reader in the beta is exactly what I need. It neatly shows the highlights and annotations and I can edit them. After importing, I use ZotFile to achieve (2): rename and move all pdf files to my Google Drive folder. Indeed, ZotFile's "rename attachments" functionality gets all my files nicely renamed in that folder. But then when I open the entry in my Zotero library afterwards, the annotations and highlights have disappeared!
How can I get all pdf files in Zotero on my Google Drive, while keeping all annotations and highlights intact?

Many thanks for your thoughts!

dstillman

ZotFile hasn't been updated since the Zotero beta came out and will indeed currently delete any existing annotations. We can only vouch for the built-in functionality.

(Note that Zotero itself can rename stored files based on parent metadata (and will automatically for new items, but not items from imports). It just doesn't currently support the customization options that ZotFile does.)

jjwbakermans

Thank you, that makes sense. I think I have two problems with the Zotero stored files renaming, which made me use ZotFile instead:

1) I can't seem to do "Rename files from parent metadata" for a batch of files. I can select all my pdfs by creating a saved search "Attachment type is pdf" and selecting all with cmd+a, but the right-click menu doesn't have the option "Rename files from parent metadata" in that case. I don't understand why - I do have the option for a single file, or when I select a few items together by cmd+clicking. But that would be a nightmare for my ~1000 files.
2) "Rename files from parent metadata" doesn't move the files to my Google Drive, even when the Base Directory in preferences is set to my Google Drive path.

So would it currently be possible to have my pdfs on my Google Drive, while keeping the annotations?
Thanks again!

dstillman

For (1), I'd guess that your search is matching a standalone PDF attachment. Only child items can be selected for that option to appear.

For (2), that's not what the Linked Attachment Base Directory does (as explained there). Only ZotFile will move files.

jjwbakermans

Thank you for your reply!
If I want to keep my annotations, I can't use ZotFile to move files, so I'm not sure how to move them instead. If I copy a pdf attachment for an item from the Zotero storage directory to my Google Drive, then attach it as a linked file to the original item, I also lose my annotations (and it would be totally impractical to do that manually for each entry anyway). I sounds like what I want - moving files with annotations for use as linked attachments - is currently simply not possible, and hopefully ZotFile will support moving files while keeping the annotations in the future? Is there a place where I can report this ZotFile bug/feature request?