Tags sometimes move sometimes don't move from Group Library to My Library when copying items

tuckerg
I have two items I have moved from GL to ML, for one tags moved, for the other tags did not move.

Some tags do move, and for some items, only some of the tags move.

I'm a little confused here, as I'm expecting that ALL tags on an item will move when it is moved from GL to ML, and here I see three different behaviors.

This is not what I would expect, which is that all the tags would move, always.

So:
Item 1:
tag 1
tag 2
tag 3

Item 1 all three tags move.

Item 2
tag 1
tag 4
tag 5

Item 2, no tags move.

Item 3
tag 1
tag 2
tag 3
tags n...

Item 3, tags n... move, tags 1-3 do not.

All three were moved via drag-and-drop on the PC desktop client (latest beta).
  • dstillman
    If the items already exist in the target library, they won't currently be copied again, and any tags you've added to the source items won't be copied. You'd need to delete the items in the target library and drag again.

    In a future version, you'll be able to update previously dragged items by dragging again.
  • tuckerg
    I've been reading in the forums, and came across that issue.

    None of the three items were already existing.

    I also emptied the trash prior to copying, as I'd read that could be an issue.
  • dstillman
    edited September 9, 2021
    Emptying the trash is no longer necessary in current versions.

    As long as you have "Tags" enabled for copying between libraries in the General pane of the preferences, there's really no reason I can think of why some tags wouldn't be copied other than if the items already exist in the target library. I think you'll find that if you create a new test item and add tags to it, they're reliably copied when you drag the item to another library.

    If you really think this is happening, could we see a Debug ID for a drag for a non-previously-dragged item that doesn't copy tags?
  • tuckerg
    So I had a string of successes, and then another failure, no tags copied. It did not exist in ML when it was copied over.

    The workflow I was using was

    1. Search for item to be copied.

    2. Delete if found.

    3. Copy item.

    4. Restore from trash if existed

    5. Merge items.
  • dstillman
    I'm not sure what the relevance of "Merge Items" is here — all that matters for what I'm understanding of your report is what's on the new item in the target library after the drag.

    Again, if you think this is happening, we'd need a Debug ID.
  • tuckerg
    Running Debug Option now.

    I did determine the cause of one of the cases above. For Item 3, it appears that if you don't search for a copy first, and just drag and drop, Zotero fails to copy the item from GL in the target collection, but silently adds the ML copy of the item to that collection, which makes it look like some of the tags have been left out.
  • dstillman
    That's exactly what I said before — if the item already exists in the target library, that version will be used. If it's not already in the target collection, it will just be added.
  • tuckerg
    OK, that's not what you said before. Please review.

    That should probably be filed as another bug, as I can't imagine anyone would actually want that functionality...

    I'll do some more testing a little later when I have some time.
  • dstillman
    It is what I said: "If the items already exist in the target library, they won't currently be copied again, and any tags you've added to the source items won't be copied. You'd need to delete the items in the target library and drag again."

    It sounds like you may be confusing "libraries" and "collections".

    As I say, in a future version, you'll have the option of updating the metadata on the item in the target library when dragging again.
  • tuckerg
    Please read what I said. I was specific about saying collection and ML and GL for the respective libraries.

    What you didn't address was copying the ML version to the target collection, which makes it appear like the copy has succeeded, although it has not.

    No one would want this functionality, it's a bug.

    Is there an estimate on when this future version will be out?

    I've been using the PDF notation functionality, and it's generally terrific. It's become my go-to workflow, despite the limitations and the beta status.
  • dstillman
    I mean, it's dumb to argue about this, but it's important to be clear about the mechanics and logic here. What I described is exactly what's happening — the item already in the library is being used. It's just added to the collection you're dragging to. Dragging to any collection in Zotero never duplicates an item, but just adds the item already in the library to that collection, and a version of that is what's happening here. This isn't a bug. To give a concrete example, if you drag an item to the root of another library, and then immediately drag the same source item to a collection in that target library, not creating a second, duplicate copy of that item in the library is a feature, not a bug. But if you drag that same item later, you may want any updated metadata from the source library to transfer, and that's what's planned for a future version. But that's a separate issue that will involve dedicated UI to provide replace/merge/cancel options and is separate from the basics of how these cross-library linkages work.

    I don't know when exactly that will happen, but it's a fairly high priority.
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