Upgrade StorageItem no longer exists !
Versions in use : Open Office Org. 3.3.0/OOO330m20 (Build 9567)
Zotero version 2.1.8 (I realise this is an old version but having had massive problems when I updated to the revised version (there were some bugs if I remember my system kept 'hanging') I reinstalled the older version - since then no problems until today! At some point this morning when working on a huge document everything went 'pie shaped'! The first hint was when I added a new reference to the datebase. After attempting to add a new citation the message showed
"Zotero Integration
This item no longer exists in your Zotero database . Do you want to select a substitute item?
Clicking no will delete the field codes for citations containing this item, preserving the citation text but deleting it from your bibliography.
YES - NO - CANCEL"
At this point I realised that none of the citations throughout the document 300 plus pages were highlighted grey! The attempted new citation appears as 11 with {citation} in the appropriate place . Attempting to edit this 'new citation' brings up the same message again but this time highlighting citation no.10. I then tried clicking 'replace' chose the same entry from the database BUT 'it' then highlighted citation no. 23 and informed my that this also doesn't exist. Same message as above.
I then checked the database and it is in fact there. Oddly when I went into 'search and find' that window showed the newly highlighted citation in the search box -perhas this is 'normal'.
I also noticed that the 'synch' wasn't working saying that my log in/password wasn't being recognised. I have since changed my password (I had forgotten the old one) and updated the synch log in details. I had hoped this would correct the problem - but no luck! Hovering over any citation results in a string of code frustratingly suggesting that it 'knows' that there is a citation there.
I have tried a number of documents and they are all the same.
Help would be much appreciated in words appropirate for computer 'dummies'!
Zotero version 2.1.8 (I realise this is an old version but having had massive problems when I updated to the revised version (there were some bugs if I remember my system kept 'hanging') I reinstalled the older version - since then no problems until today! At some point this morning when working on a huge document everything went 'pie shaped'! The first hint was when I added a new reference to the datebase. After attempting to add a new citation the message showed
"Zotero Integration
This item no longer exists in your Zotero database . Do you want to select a substitute item?
Clicking no will delete the field codes for citations containing this item, preserving the citation text but deleting it from your bibliography.
YES - NO - CANCEL"
At this point I realised that none of the citations throughout the document 300 plus pages were highlighted grey! The attempted new citation appears as 11 with {citation} in the appropriate place . Attempting to edit this 'new citation' brings up the same message again but this time highlighting citation no.10. I then tried clicking 'replace' chose the same entry from the database BUT 'it' then highlighted citation no. 23 and informed my that this also doesn't exist. Same message as above.
I then checked the database and it is in fact there. Oddly when I went into 'search and find' that window showed the newly highlighted citation in the search box -perhas this is 'normal'.
I also noticed that the 'synch' wasn't working saying that my log in/password wasn't being recognised. I have since changed my password (I had forgotten the old one) and updated the synch log in details. I had hoped this would correct the problem - but no luck! Hovering over any citation results in a string of code frustratingly suggesting that it 'knows' that there is a citation there.
I have tried a number of documents and they are all the same.
Help would be much appreciated in words appropirate for computer 'dummies'!
This is an old discussion that has not been active in a long time. Before commenting here, you should strongly consider starting a new discussion instead. If you think the content of this discussion is still relevant, you can link to it from your new discussion.
Your specific issue sounds like you have somehow deleted those citations in question in your database. Note that you can't know whether a references "is still there" - for Zotero what matters is if the same reference with the same internal identifier is still there. If you hade, e.g., deleted a duplicate or exported and imported a reference, you'd get that message.
If there are only a couple of references missing like this you're probably best of just replacing them.
No - I thought originally that is what I had done accidentally deleted the items. But after re-installing three of the items into the database I realised that I would have to work through the whole document i.e. around 700 citations! It's as though every single citation is 'whited out'. I know this is not very technical but usually the citations appear at the base of the page 'highlighted' in grey. At one point when I started to use Zotero I saved in 'Word' to send the document to someone to be read through. On receiving it back I realised that was a stupid thing to do because it would no longer work with the Zotero system exactly the problem I am now having. Since then I have always saved in OoO and had no problems at all. In fact this morning everything was still ok.I have also checked other documents for which I have used Zotero and they are all the same (i.e. various chapters of the thesis before it was amalgamated into one document). These are all in OoO. I will cross my fingers and install the version suggested - presumably I can do this without 'losing' the existing database. (Sorry to sound so dim!).
I'm a little confused by what you describe as the "whited out" issue - if you still see the field codes when you hover over the items and if Zotero still sees them as references (albeit ones that don't exist) this isn't the issue you had before.
That part just sounds like a display issue - in Libre Office you can set field shadings under Tools-->Options-->LibreOffice-->Appearance. I'd guess that's similar for Ooo.
BUT I have again tried to add a citation to the same document and the problem is identical i.e. same message: Item no longer exists etc. etc.
I have started a new document and added two citations to it from the database and this worked fine no probs. If my 'problem document' was shorter I could just 'start again' but this is a 360 plus page thesis with an additional week's worth of corrections and additions! My worry is that if I touch the original document all will be lost (literally!. Could you tell me please where I find the version of Zotero you suggested I update to please?
I'm not super optimistic this will fix this, though.
I've now checked by adding a citation to the 'new document' which works! That's the Good News. Bad News is that I've tried adding one to my 'problem' document (thesis) and it does the same i.e. No Longer Exists....
I tried adding a citation at the beginning of the document (rather than in the middle) and what is odd it seems that that each time for the first additional citation it 'jumps' to the same reference no. 18 telling me that It No Longer Exists. I have tried 'replace with another item' (even though the citation is in the database I checked) but when I tried to replace it -it then 'jumped' to citation no. 92 and said that was not there either again giving me the message No Longer Exists....
Not sure what to do now....
1.I have clicked in a number of citations to attempt to edit them. Each time it comes up No Longer Exists.. Peculiar thing is that it then 'jumps' to no. 92 and highlights that citation. I have tried multiple citations and get the same result.
2. Some of the 'strings of code' have the name of the book/journal I'm quoting. Others starts with Reference: Zotero _Item ...
I wondered if this was making a difference but have tried editing both types of reference and the same thing occurs it jumps back to no. 92.
?
Every time you edit or insert a citation, Zotero will check other citations to see if there are any changes.
In your case, Zotero finds that "no. 92" doesn't exist any more in the database (for whatever reason - my bet is still that you deleted a duplicate). It then jumps to that citation and asks you to either delete it or replace it with an item that's actually in the database.
This has nothing to do with the actual reference your inserting at that moment - that's just the trigger - so you can completely ignore that.
Right now I would just follow the "replace" instructions a couple of times - say for 15-20 items. If things don't stop then, there is a more fundamental issue, but if this can be fixed by just replacing a couple of citations everything else is just a waste of time.
Sorry there's a 'But'.
I clicked on 'add citation'. V. slow but the database did come up.vyerthing looked 'normal'. I clicked on a random item to add the citation I clicked on 'show editor' and yes it was 'there'. Then clicked ok. screen went and lo and behold I have a citation int he document. I have done this three times - different items. I now have three citations 1,2,3, each one has the word 'citation' in brackets in the citation field but the problem is there are no details of the item I clicked on!
Or take a screenshot of that section of the document, upload it to a free image hosting site like imageshack.us and post a link here.
In the citation field I have (literally)
1. {citation}
2. {citation}
3. {citation}
I would normally have expected to see the bibliographical information for the document I was referencing for example
1. Ann Hanson, “Roman Medicine,” in A Companion to the Roman Empire, ed. D. S. Potter (Malden, Oxford, Carlton: Blackwell Publishing, 2010), 492-523.
1. In more than 99% of all cases these updates work without any hiccups.
2. In the unlikely case of any major issues, it's easy enough to revert both to Zotero 2.1.10 and Ooo 3.3
btw Thanks for all your help and patience!
Just make backups of your Zotero data directory and your documents (which surely you have set up to happen automatically every day, right?) and there's nothing to worry about.
Thanks for all your help
http://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_troubleshooting#debugging_broken_documents
I had set up backing up my documents daily until a piece of my external hardrive fell off.
I have copies in 'Dropbox' as my main document contains manuscript images which are too big too email to myself (or anyone else for that matter).
So before I do anything I will ensure that I have a secure document.
Manuscripts are so much easier - hundreds of years and apart from water and mice survive almost anything!
Thank you so much for your help
but seriously - automatic daily back-ups are unbelievably important. Don't let that slip.
Nice recent post over at Prof Hacker on a new-ish cloud based solution that seems much better than dropbox for cloud-backups:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/spideroak-step-by-step/38776
A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can continue to see if the script will complete.
Script: chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/translation/translator.js:155
I clicked on 'stop the script' then thought I'd test it out. So re-booted and the same warning came up.
Oops - Just noticed there is another discussion related to this!
do I still need to 'back up' separately if all my references are synched with zotero.org?
Have checked my library and one that was causing problems yesterday had been upated so presumably synch. must be working?
You don't want to just rely on sync as a back-up option, no.
http://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data#backing_up_your_zotero_library
The instructions sound/look pretty scary but no doubt 'all will be well'. Before I start and probably another stupid question but as my external harddrive has 'died' I will need to back up to a data-stick for the time being.
The question is how do I find out how much space my Library will take up?
Or could I put it into the Dropbox (although have no idea how to do that!).
Thanks
Right click on the Zotero data folder and select properties - that should tell you the total volume of the Zotero folder, which is more or less how much space you need. If you're running into space constraints, the one file you really need to back up is zotero.sqlite, same instructions for getting its size.
edit: and remember that you want to have Firefox closed before doing the actual back-up.
And if you have trouble with the instructions - have a look at this very precise step-by-step from NU that we link to:
http://libguides.northwestern.edu/content.php?pid=68444&sid=676064
I found the data directory in which there are folders and 'icons'.
folder names: locate/styles/translators/storage/tmp
Icon names:sqlite.1.bak/sqlitebak/sqlite/sqlite.73.bak/sqlite-journal
the total size of these is around 40 MB (I arrived at this by simply adding each of them together!)
So presumably these should easily fit on a 1GB USB flashdrive (data-stick) - or should there be a quantity allowed for for the folders?
what you call 'icons' are files, but otherwise, yes.
But: The size of the folders is relevant, too, if you're going to copy the whole thing - I find it odd that the storage folder wouldn't be much larger than that - with default settings, a storage folder (which holds all the attached snapshots and pdfs) for a mid-sized Zotero library commonly has a couple of GBs.
And as I say above - if you're running out of space, it's the zotero.sqlite file that you really need to back-up - that holds your database.
But for now I'll get on to backing up my 'simple library'. So fingers crossed....
And thanks yet again!
The screen shot shows that the folder I should be copying is entitled Zotero_library. I can't find this.
I have one folder on that level namely 'oiqm7x7h.default'
Is this the same thing?
The highlighted section at No 9 showing copying (and the files whizzing over above)
gives zotero.sqlite
'Zotero_library to Zotero_library'
Is my oiqm.. folder the same thing?
Thanks