Zotero copies pdf during Bibtex import

Olib170
Hello,
I have just imported my database via Bibtex into Zotero, some 4000 refs with links to about 2000 pdfs. These are stored in one directory, with subdirectories as years.
And I have discovered that Zotero has copied all of these pdfs into
Users/name/Appdata/roaming ..... /storage.

Can this be avoided ? I have got a huge pdf base and I have it got now twice on my harddisk. As much as I would have liked to switch from Mendeley to Zotero, this is a big Nono for me.
Any help ?
Cheers

Oliver
  • adamsmith
    sorry, not currently possible.
  • adamsmith
    Though you could delete the original PDFs and use Zotfile to recreate the exact same folder structure again
    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/zotfile/
  • Olib170
    Thanks for the tip with Zotfile, but i'm using Standalone and Zotfile is not shown in the list of plugins...
    On the other hand this seems quite heavy to me to delete, move and then recreate a folderstructure of several gigabyte; and additionally I would loose probably all the other stuff I have in these folder, as for example extracted data, copies of email conversations with the authors etc.
    So I guess, as much as I would have liked to switch to Zotero from Mendeley, this will stop me right from the start.
    I'm sorry for that
    Oliver
  • adamsmith
    FWIW, Zotfile works on Standalone as well.
  • Olib170
    OK, I managed to install manually zotfile, however it seems to have problems with its source folder. This is something which is not clear to me 8and also from the documentation), but might perhaps do waht I need :
    In Zotero preferences, advanced, "Files and Folders" tab :
    there is the "Data Directory Location". If , before the bibtex import, I set this directory to the directory where my pdfs are stored, will then Zotero keep my pdfs where they are ?
    I guess that it is the "pdf =" keyword during the bibtex import that tells Zotero where my pdf is. So why does Zotero need to copy the pdf and can not leave it where it is ? I'm astonished that there is no option for this.
    I'm not giving up that easily ...
  • adamsmith
    Re Zotfile: never mind the Source folder. What matters is the settings in the Zotfile preferences under "Location of Files".
    In Zotero preferences, advanced, "Files and Folders" tab :
    there is the "Data Directory Location". If , before the bibtex import, I set this directory to the directory where my pdfs are stored, will then Zotero keep my pdfs where they are ?
    no, that will just create a new data directory for Zotero with a separate storage folder in that location.
    I guess that it is the "pdf =" keyword during the bibtex import that tells Zotero where my pdf is. So why does Zotero need to copy the pdf and can not leave it where it is ?
    Obviously it knows where the pdf is - else it couldn't import it. The reason it's never been implemented is that Zotero was designed principally with the idea to store pdfs internally - it works better for syncing, it works for automatic attachments etc. It's come up before, it's likely going to be implemented, but I can guarantee you it isn't currently.
  • Olib170
    Not sure Zotfile is working for this : Zotfile cannot just move the files, it insists on renaming and it is not capable of re-creating my naming system correctly. So if I do this I will not be able to recreate what I had before 100% and thus loose all other links in other programs accessing this bibliography (in terms of pdf files).

    So if I cannot "convince" Zotero to not copy the pdf files during Bibtex import, but just to link to where they are already, by using some options, I really need to stop here.
    A pity, that
  • Olib170
    > it's likely going to be implemented, but I can guarantee you it isn't currently.

    OK, so I will just have to bid my time and stick with Mendeley for the moment, to which I had to switch because Bibus is not supported anymore. However once I start to create my keyword/colleciton hierarchy with some 200 folders, it will be even harder to switch.
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