Foxit (Android), Zotfile & Annotations

kthatch
I'm having trouble sorting out how to send, annotate and retrieve the annotated file from my tablet.
Here's what I'm working with:
Macbook Pro, OS 10
Up-to-date Foxit App
Galaxy Note 10.1 2014
Dropbox

Here's what happens:

When I send a file using the "send to tablet" option w/Zotfile, it goes to my dropbox folder just fine.

In order to open it in Foxit, Foxit downloads it to :/storage/emulated/0/Foxit/Public Cloud/[myname]/Zotfile/[filename]
The annotations I make get stored in that file, but it's a copy Foxit downloaded from Dropbox, the file in Dropbox remains unannotated.

When I tell Zotfile to fetch the file back from the tablet, it fetches the original, unannotated file.

If I delete that origina file from dropbox, then move the annotated file into into dropbox, I can fetch the annotated file.
BUT, when I "extract annotations" under "Manage attachments" the annotations do not generate a note.

Is Zotero failing to see/extract the annotations? Do I just need to discover where it's storing the extracted annotations? (The Notes tab on the citation/item has 0 notes).
Is Foxit writing the annotations into the .pdf in such a way that Zotero can't see them?

If any of ya'll can help I would appreciate it.

Thank you.
  • adamsmith
    Is Foxit writing the annotations into the .pdf in such a way that Zotero can't see them?
    most likely this. Extracted annotations are stored as child nodes of the same item a PDF is attached to, so you're looking in the right place.

    If you can share any PDF annotated with Foxit this way (e.g. share it on dropbox) we can take a look.
  • kthatch
    Ok. Thank you, here is the link:

    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/y3yk4uuirilftn7/S48h0YsB3V
  • adamsmith
    works for me. Which Zotfile version do you have installed?
    If you download that file directly to Zotero and attach it to an item. Does extract annotations work then?
  • kthatch
    I'm using Zotero standalone, and Zotfile 3.1

    I created a new item, named it Test and was able to extract the notations.

    However, is there a way to do this without creating a new citation manually?

    When I originally imported the file, it was included in a .ris file that I brought over from Mendeley.
  • kthatch
    I dragged & dropped the file into Zotero from the dropbox link I shared, extracted the metadata to successfully create a new citation, but then extracting the annotations still failed.

    Thanks for working with me on this.
  • adamsmith
    and when you open the file from Zotero you see the annotations?
    However, is there a way to do this without creating a new citation manually?
    It shouldn't be necessary to create a new item. In fact, I have a hard time seeing how it should be. My suspicion at this point is that, for whatever reason, you're attaching a PDF without annotations back to the Zotero item, which is why Zotfile doesn't extract any annotations.
  • kthatch
    So, I've tried it a few different times and it failed several times, but worked just this last go round.

    For now, let's go with user error on the last few steps (2am my time) and if I have trouble with intermittent extraction after a full night's sleep, I'll follow up.

    Thank you so much for your help!! I'm hoping I can make it work consistently going forward.

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