Annotate pdf within zotero

ilan5555
Dear friends,
I want to store zotero files in dropbox so I could read pdf on my tablet, annotate it and then have it in my zotero.

I tried Zotfile but it does not work.

I know that putting the files with database in Dropbox can corrupt the database.

I use windows 8.

Any advice?

Thank you,

Ilan.
  • adamsmith
    what do you mean by
    I tried Zotfile but it does not work.
    that'd be the principal way of doing this. So if it doesn't work, you'll want to figure out why.
  • ilan5555
    I searched and as far as I know, there is a problem with zotfile.

    I tried zotfile on 2 pcs without any success.

    Is there another way to do that?
  • adamsmith
    No there is no other way if you want to use Dropbox. ZotFile works for thousands of people, so it's not generally broken.
  • ilan5555
    Thank you for your answer.
    I will check there.
  • ilan5555
    Do you know where I can find the zotfile forum?
  • adamsmith
    http://zotfile.com/#reporting-a-bug
  • ilan5555
    Thank you!
  • ilan5555
    Dear Adam, I returned to this forum.

    There is a long thread there.

    Do you mean just ask my question there, in this thread?
  • bwiernik
    ilan5555,

    Yes, please ask all Zotfile-related questions in that thread. The Zotfile developer prefers to have all questions in one place.
  • adamsmith
    well, though mainly bug reports. I'm still trying to figure out what the actual problem is.
  • ilan5555
    That I cannot put the files in a watch folder because zotfile won't import them.

    I need a directory where the files are synced so I could read them in my tablet.
  • madhavan.chalat
    Hi ilan5555,
    Don't know if you found a solution to your problem. But this is what I do. Whenever I attach a PDF to an entry in Zotero, the Zotfile sorts it (with a new file name etc.) into a particular folder within the dropbox folder on my computer. This way you don't have to use the send to tablet function in Zotfile. You can be reading the same file on your computer(s) and your tablet.
  • adamsmith
    so the watchfolder is a red herring. Forget about that. You don't need it, you likely don't want it

    You want to do what madhavan is doing (and what bwiernik has suggested in the other thread):
    Set ZotFile to move files to a custom location on import. Set that custom location to be a Folder in your Dropbox Folder.
    Done.
  • ilan5555
    Dear Madhavan and Adam,

    That is what I want to do.

    The problem is that when putting the files on a Dropbox folder, Zotfile also put the database.
    I have read that the database get corrupted in Dropbox.

    Any idea how to implement that without corrupting the database?
  • madhavan.chalat
    I am not sure why that would happen unless you have your zotero-sqlite file in the dropbox folder. but I am not an expert. I did do that for a while (have my sqlite file in dropbox folder) and didn't have any problem. but I don't know if that is such a good thing to do.
  • Joscha
    madhavan.chalat is correct. Zotfile certainly does not change the location of your zotero database. The only possible way that your zotero database (the sqlite file) ends up on dropbox is that you manually changed the location to dropbox in the zotero (not zotfile) preferences.
  • ilan5555
    Dear Joscha,

    Can you tell me how to configure that the files (and not the sqlite file) will be on Dropbox?
    Maybe I don't know how to configure it..

    Thank you!
  • adamsmith
    Set ZotFile to move files to a custom location on import. Set that custom location to be a Folder in your Dropbox Folder.
    that's in the general tab of the ZotFile preferences. As long as you only change things in the ZotFile and not the Zotero preferences, there is no way to get the sqlite into Dropbox.
  • ilan5555
    Dear Adam,
    Can you tell me which preference in Zotfile please?
  • adamsmith
    Location of Files --> Custom Location.
  • ilan5555
    I did it and I cannot find the files in the folder.

    Is there any other thing I need to do?
  • adamsmith
    If you want to move attachments from items already existing in Zotero there, select the items in Zotero --> Manage Attachments --> Rename Attachments.
  • ilan5555
    And now, If I edit them, will they be updated in Zotero?

    With "Send to Tablet" I can send the files to a folder and then Get them back.

    What I need is a folder where I can read and annotate files and then see them updated on Zotero.
  • adamsmith
    Zotero just stores the links to those files. Whatever you do with the files will be reflected in them when you open them through Zotero.
    I'd recommend just trying this out rather than trying to figure this out in the abstract.
  • ilan5555
    Whow!!

    It works excellent!

    Thank you very much!

    Ilan.
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