HELP!!!

roypeled · January 17, 2015

I seem to have just deleted a VERY important collection from my library, and I unwisely, out of panic, closed and then opened Zotero. Is there anything I Can do to restore the deleted items? The zotero.sqlite file is from after the deletion. I can't believe there's no change log or something of the sort, and that weeks of compilation can go down the drain with one mistaken stroke of a key. can that be?

roypeled · January 17, 2015

a litte more info - I have a zotero.sqlite file which under "file type" says "sqlite file", which is from after the deletion. Then I also have a "zotero.sqlite.bak" file, which under "file type" is listed as a ".bak file" which i from before, but it is also much older, several weeks back (though probably still better than what I have now after deleting the collection). Which is the backup file?

adamsmith · January 17, 2015

the items would not have gotten deleted unless you
1. Selected to delete the collection and items (which is a key combination, not simply delete)
2. Explicitly OKd that and
3. Then emptied the Zotero trash

Since I doubt you did any of this, my guess would be that the items in question are still in your library and you're just missing the collection. So if these were items you deleted or modified recently, you should be able to recreate the collection with relative ease by sorting your library by Date Modified (or Date Added) and the re-adding them to the collection.

In case you do want to restore from back up,
zotero.sqlite.bak is the back-up file. I believe it gets created every time you close down Zotero, so I'm surprised it'd be several weeks old. There may be several numbered .bak files, check which one is the newest Instructions, in case you haven't found them, are here: http://www.zotero.org/support/zotero_data#restoring_from_the_last_automatic_backup

roypeled · January 17, 2015

This seems to be the situation:

sqlite.zotero.bak is from Dec 20, dont know how and why. I've worked on Zotero since, but perhaps, likely actually, not on this computer. Then maybe I need go look for the .bak file on my other computers?

Indeed it seems what I lost (and a loss that is already synced to the server) is the collection. The items themselves seem to be in the library. ALAS - I have put a lot of work last week into tagging items, and they do not have the tags I added to them! (this was after Dec 20, so its not in the .bak file).

adamsmith · January 17, 2015

Tags shouldn't be lost if you delete a collection, so that's very strange.

But stepping back: If you worked on this on another synced computer recently, what I'd do is (and do this exactly in this order):
1. Disconnect that computer from the internet
2. Back up that computers zotero data folder.
3. Open Zotero
4. Turn off automatic syncing
5. Reconnect the internet
6. Restore to Server from the Sync tab
7. Turn automatic syncing back on

That is much easier than restoring from a backup.

roypeled · January 17, 2015

Thanks, I'll try to do that tomorrow (office computer was the most recent on which I worked on this). Keep your fingers crossed for me.

The tags, I think, if this makes sense, are lost because hey were added after the backup date on this computer. The items themselves are old, so they're there, but I did extensive tagging work last week.

roypeled · January 18, 2015

OK, It seems to have worked perfectly. Thank God (not that I'm a believer, but these instances tend to spiritualise you).
I do think it's worth thinking about adding some easier "undo" features or history logging.

Many thanks,

Roy