Syncing PDF directory managed by Zotfile

hatmatrix
Hello,

I want to use Zotero to have my metadata accessible everywhere, while using rsync to keep my attached files (PDFs, HTML snapshots) synced across several machines.

This thread
http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/20700/?Focus=109101
suggests such an arrangement is possible if storage/ is synced.

However, I am using Zotfile to keep a separate, single folder of PDFs outside of the storage/ directory; it seems that Zotero will not recognize the links to these files even if the local path of the PDF directory is specified through Zotfile preferences on each machine.

Are there any options that can accommodate these preferences?

Thanks in advance.
  • adamsmith
    that's incorrect. If the links are actually exactly the same, Zotero _will_ recognize them. Many people do sync their Zotfile created file-struture using dropbox. I suspect your filepaths aren't identical, e.g. because your username is in them.
  • hatmatrix
    Thanks for the timely response, adamsmith.

    Yes, with Dropbox I've read that people have been able to keep their archived synced. My PDF archive is huge (20 GB) so I prefer to rsync it directly across my machines.

    On this point, Zotero also uses absolute path names? I thought maybe the pathnames were relative to the custom data or Zotfile directory. Using absolute path names is Mendeley's method which makes it difficult to sync across multiple computers without doing so across their servers, though workarounds have been constructed (e.g., Mendeley FileSync which deconstructs their sqlite table).

    In my case I have a Macbook and Linux box which I like to keep synced. On the Mac, my path is /Users/hatmatrix/zoteroarchive/ and on Linux it is /home/hatmatrix/zoteroarchive/. I've seen another hack where you create an alias to /home as /Users on Linux or vice versa, but there isn't there another way that is more straightforward?
  • adamsmith
    the straightforward way is to leave the files in Zotero storage and use Zotero file storage or a webdav server.

    If that's not acceptable, currently, no, there is no easier way than working with alias/symlink, although relative paths are planned (not-yet-merged) patch is here
    https://github.com/zotero/zotero/pull/51
  • hatmatrix
    As my university only opens a port for ssh access, I can't run my Linux box as the webDAV server for the moment. But the relative path patch looks promising and I hope it gets incorporated--I will keep an eye out for it. Many thanks for your feedback.

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.

Sign In or Register to comment.