Find Available PDFs results

zzplant
Hi Zotero Team,

I've been trying to figure out how the "Find Available PDFs" feature works with my university library. I created a test RIS of 24 articles using the library's catalogue. I find that I retrieve different numbers of full-text depending on my setup:

- When I use "Find Available PDFs" off campus on the test RIS, I retrieve 5 of 24 full-text (presumably all open access from Unpaywall).

- When I use "Find Available PDFs" off campus but connected to the VPN, I retrieve anywhere from 10 to 15 of 24 full-text. Sometimes the process of finding PDFs while on VPN freezes. I also get multiple pop ups prompting me to save PDF files that never actually get saved to my computer. I have an error report ID that may be associated with this: 1611131228

- When I use "Find Available PDFs" while connected to the eduroam wifi network, I retrieve about 17 or 18 of 24 full text.

- Finally, when I use "Find Available PDFs" when I use a campus computer wired to the network, I retrieve 20 of 24 full text.

Do you know why I may be retrieving different numbers of full-text between the VPN, wireless network, and wired network? Is this unusual?

Thank you for any information you have.
  • adamsmith
    Do you know why I may be retrieving different numbers of full-text between the VPN, wireless network, and wired network? Is this unusual?
    Yeah, that difference really shouldn't matter, but I don't think there's any way for us to tell why it does in your case.
  • zzplant
    All right. So, it's something to figure out on the side of my institution, then? Thank you for your response.
  • dstillman
    We can look at Debug IDs for specific operations if you can reproduce something reliably.
    Sometimes the process of finding PDFs while on VPN freezes.
    There's a known issue where a site error can cause the whole Find Available PDFs process to freeze. We should have a fix soon.
    I also get multiple pop ups prompting me to save PDF files that never actually get saved to my computer.
    Can you take a screenshot, upload it somewhere (e.g., Dropbox or Google Drive), and provide a link here?
  • zzplant
    edited July 21, 2022
    I ran Find Available PDF while connected to the VPN. It did not freeze this time, but I encountered the pop up issue. I got 10 of 24 full-text. A screenshot of the pop-ups can be seen here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uxx52NJCCgnxi_n4lf6h6KqEhfW_CsJb/view?usp=sharing

    The Debug ID is D2042957394
  • dstillman
    edited July 26, 2022
    Can you identify a specific item that triggers the save dialog?
  • dstillman
    You were getting an error that should be fixed in the latest Zotero beta. If you can still reproduce the popup problem, please install the beta and let us know if that fixes it for you, and if not provide another Debug ID.
  • shjenkins94
    Is it possible that it has something to do with how your university controls access to journals? At my university we were recently warned about using things that download a bunch of papers at once because it can look like mass downloading and get the university in trouble. Maybe they limit the amount of papers you can download off-campus in a way that messes with Find Available PDFs?
  • dstillman
    Could be, but the errors here were pretty specific, and should now be fixed. If @zzplant sees other problems with the beta (or in 6.0.12 when it comes out), we can look at another Debug ID.
  • craigcanapari
    edited August 15, 2022
    I'm having similar issues-- not sure if I should submit a separate forum post.

    Have a large list of citations (~200) for a review I'm working on. Using most up to date version of Zotero (v. 6.0.12-beta 10+2d2e78711). When I click "Find Available PDFs" it hangs at "Processing". The first two times I ran it it found a few citations. Now it won't find anything.

    I have tried:
    Restarting app
    Selecting a smaller tranche of citations ~10
    Logging in and out of my university's VPN service

    Based on the error log it seems to be outputting Javacript errors

    Ex
    [JavaScript Warning: "Error in parsing value for ‘flex-basis’. Declaration dropped." {file: "chrome://zotero/content/progressQueueDialog.xul" line: 0}]


    Debug ID D609489045

    Ed:
    I also rolled back to the latest non-Beta build 6.011- with similar results-- it processed the first three items on the list then stopped in spite of multiple attempts. Here's a new debug report: D2053450498
  • dstillman
    (1)(+0000056): HTTP GET http://[…]/ failed with status code 500
    @craigcanapari: That's an separate issue (the "known issue" I mention above), not yet fixed.
Sign In or Register to comment.