Search slow and not returning results

shuibregtse
Good morning!
I am really hopeful that someone can direct me to a setting that has been changed in the past two days by an update to something. I have been using the standalone software since January and absolutely loving it. So much so that I've built up my tags, track what has been printed, what class information issued in, etc.

The past two days I can't get my references to display. I type in an authors name and it hangs on the search. I type in a title (one that I know has multiple entries due to different authors for chapters) and after a long search no results are returned. I know that I have entered at least 10 citations in for that book alone.

I'm using the standalone on a MacBook Pro with plenty of available RAM and ROM. I did a systems check and cleaned out trash, temp files, etc.

Please help! My comprehensive exam starts in January and I have worked REALLY hard to get all my reference into Zotero. I loved that could do quick searches, and want that to continue when it counts most.

Thank you for any suggestions.
S
  • adamsmith
    and your searching locally, i.e. in Zotero standalone, right? Not on the web at zotero.org?

    Zotero Standalone hasn't been updated since July (though it will be in the next couple of days), so something else is going on.

    Check database integrity from the advanced tab of the Zotero preferences.
    Provide an error report ID after trying an unsuccessful search:
    http://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_bugs
  • shuibregtse
    Thank you for the suggestion. I wasn't aware of that tool. I ran it, it resolved the identified issues, but the searches are still running slow. I ran it again and no errors were found.

    I did think that maybe syncing with the online Zotero was affecting performance, but I do not have my software set to automatically sync.

    Sadly, I don't receive any errors, just empty searches that take a really long time. Clearly some other program update has affected the speed of Zotero. I welcome any other suggestions because I do not want to lose Zotero after all the time I have invested in getting it setup.
  • adamsmith
    Zotero logs errors that don't display a message to you.
    Can you click the "report errors" menu item or is it greyed out?
    If you can click it, do send an error report and provide the report ID here.

    The fact that your database was corrupted at all is a bad sign, though, that shouldn't be possible to happen running Zotero regularly - do you have your Zotero data directory in a custom location? If so, where?
  • shuibregtse
    I'm not seeing a "report errors" anyplace. When I did the "Check Database Integrity" it did not give specifics for any errors just asked it I wanted them resolved.

    I do have the data directory going to a custom location, which is in the "documents" folder. Are there reasons to not have that? I believe I did it to ensure that my backup included the Zotero files.

    Thanks for offering other suggestions. I'm sure this is some small thing, or at least I'm hopeful.
  • adamsmith
    Reread here:
    http://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_bugs#provide_a_report_id
    you'll definitely see "Report Errors" the only question is if it's greyed out or not.

    Having the Zotero directory in the Documents folder is no problem, no. What would be problematic is a network folder or a folder synced by Dropbox (or similar) between multiple computers.
  • shuibregtse
    Excellent. Thanks for pointing that out. I misunderstood on my first read.

    My report ID is 110131266 and there were three messages at the end about recursion. I know that's not a good sign. This tells me that it is searching for something that is nested deeply in the program.

    Hopefully submitting that report will help.
    Thanks!
  • dstillman
    edited November 18, 2012
    Definitely still something wrong: 
    [JavaScript Error: "uncaught exception: [Exception... "Could not convert Native argument arg 0 [nsIXPCComponents.classes]"  nsresult: "0x8057000a (NS_ERROR_XPC_BAD_CONVERT_NATIVE)"  location: "JS frame :: chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/zotero.js :: disable :: line 2460"  data: no]"]
    [JavaScript Error: "uncaught exception: [Exception... "Could not convert Native argument arg 1 [nsIDOMDocumentXBL.getAnonymousNodes]"  nsresult: "0x8057000a (NS_ERROR_XPC_BAD_CONVERT_NATIVE)"  location: "JS frame :: chrome://zotero/content/bindings/tagsbox.xml :: set_mode :: line 63"  data: no]"]
    [JavaScript Error: "uncaught exception: [Exception... "Could not convert Native argument arg 0 [nsITreeBoxObject.treeBody]"  nsresult: "0x8057000a (NS_ERROR_XPC_BAD_CONVERT_NATIVE)"  location: "JS frame :: chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/itemTreeView.js ::  :: line 1640"  data: no]"]
    [JavaScript Error: "too much recursion" {file: "chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/data/tag.js" line: 75}]
    [JavaScript Error: "uncaught exception: [Exception... "Could not convert Native argument arg 0 [nsITreeBoxObject.treeBody]"  nsresult: "0x8057000a (NS_ERROR_XPC_BAD_CONVERT_NATIVE)"  location: "JS frame :: chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/itemTreeView.js ::  :: line 1640"  data: no]"]
    [JavaScript Error: "too much recursion"]
    [JavaScript Error: "too much recursion"]
    [JavaScript Error: "too much recursion"]"
    If your online library is up to date, I'd recommend making a backup of your Zotero data directory and then doing a Restore from Zotero Server from the Sync->Reset pane of the Zotero preferences. Your attached files won't be affected.
  • shuibregtse
    I backup Zotero, uninstalled, reinstalled, and redirected to my document folder. With a quick check my files are all back and when I type in the start of a word the search appears to be working again.

    Now that it is reinstalled do you have any recommendations for anything else that I should do to ensure this doesn't happen again?

    Thank you for your help. I'm happy I keep backups of everything, and this just confirmed that I will be backing up even more often.
  • rwielage
    Hi, we use Zotero for Firefox or Zotero standalone. We have a group library with about 20 users on it and searching is getting slower and slower. Frequently as one types in the search term it delays after you type in the first couple letters. Also, we there are times when we get long syncs just seconds after completing a sync.

    Two questions: 1) Is there a way to delay starting a search until the Enter key is pressed? 2) Is there a performance analyzer we can run that will tell us why searching is taking so long?
  • adamsmith
    1) yes. start it with a quotation mark ("). No need to close the quotation. Also, you're aware of the different settings for the quick search (i.e. author-title-year, All Fields, Everywhere)?

    are you using file syncing in your group?
  • rwielage
    Thanks for the tip! Makes a big difference.

    Not quite sure what you mean by file syncing. We all have syncing set to automatic and the syncing is through your server.
  • adamsmith
    Do you have files attached to the items in the group (and use Zotero to sync those files between computers)? According to Dan, that may impact performance in the current Zotero version.

    As for your question about performance analyzer, the answer is no. Providing a debug ID for an action that takes too long and ask devs to look at it is the way to go:
    http://www.zotero.org/support/debug_output

    Probably better to take all of this to a new thread to avoid confusing, just include a link to and from here for context.
  • rwielage
    We have "Automatically take snapshots . . ." and "Automatically attach associated PDFs . . ." unchecked. We create them manually on a case by case basis.

    Thanks!
  • rwielage
    Adam, could you put on your wishlist of enhancements that the quotation mark work in the classic Add citation dialog? It works in standalone zotero, ZFF, and the new Add citation dialog, but not in the classic one.

    Thanks.
  • adamsmith
    unlikely to be honest. I can't do it, and Simon, who could, isn't, I believe, very interested in putting time into the classic dialog.
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