Zotero export fails

rigorigo
Error ID 808629067
Zotero-Firefox-Plugin
Ubuntu 15.10

Hi, all of a sudden I cannot export my library to biblatex format anymore.

[Other formats, including bibtex, seem to work.] EDIT: bibtex works and Endnote, others, like Zotero RDF or CSV do not work.

However, I need biblatex.

It worked fine last night. This morning, after adding a book to Zotero, I used the Auto-Export extension and noticed that only two of the hundreds of entries were exported. No error message.

So, I used Zotero's built-in export function and got an error message stating something like "an error occurred trying to export this file" (in German).

I followed the instructions in the following thread, without success:
https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/46816/error-exporting-zotero-library/

unchecked export of notes and files - no success
deactivated all Zotero extensions - no success [EDIT: including autoexport]
reset translators - no success
made sure Firefox and Zotero are up to date - they are
rebooted system - no success

I also noticed that it wasn't possible to export just the individual entry I added last. I changed its metadata and eventually deleted it (also from trash) - no success exporting the library.
I can export individual entries and even several at once, but not the whole thing. Also, there seems to be no recognizable pattern to what can be exported. Some entries work, some don't, some only work when no others are selected, some cause the export of a selection of entries to fail, but export fine individually. The number of exportable entries varies.

I need to export the whole library.

Can someone please help me?
  • adamsmith
    could you check your Zotero version, please? (It's in the error report ID, I just don't have access).

    @Dan, could you check the error report?
  • rigorigo
    My Zotero version is 4.0.29.10. Thank you for looking into it!
  • adamsmith
    I understand you want to use autoexport, but could you try disabling that and any other extension (including non-Zotero related ones), restart Firefox and see if that makes a difference?
  • rigorigo
    Sorry, my description is not clear enough. I initially noticed the problem using autoexport. However, with everything but Zotero disabled manual exports also fail.
  • rigorigo
    I don't know if this is of importance:
    Despite the error message, Zotero does create a .bib file but it only contains the same two entries, not the entire library.
  • adamsmith
    (unrelated to this, if you rely on bib(la)tex extensively, you should check out https://github.com/ZotPlus/zotero-better-bibtex, which, among other things, provides very nice continuous integration).

    I'll need to hear from Dan about the error report to say more. We made some minor changes to some translators last night, so I'm a bit worried this is related, but I don't see anything in the changes that could have caused any problems of this kind.
  • rigorigo
    Thanks for the info. (I might try better biblatex for my next project.)

    I just followed some instructions I found on this site:
    https://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_problems

    Here is an error that appears in the Browser-Console when I try to export the library:

    creatorString is undefined /home/rme/.mozilla/firefox/bbcbcobq.default/zotero/translators/BibLaTeX.js:621:0

    I also found this:

    Zotero.nav.parsePathVars()
    _zoterowwwAll.bugly.1435774747.js:4478
    Zotero.nav.parseUrlVars()
    _zoterowwwAll.bugly.1435774747.js:4471
    Zotero.init()
    _zoterowwwAll.bugly.1435774747.js:4258
    <anonym>
    _zoterowwwAll.bugly.1435774747.js:4237
    ._Deferred/e.resolveWith()
    jquery-1.6.2-ui-1.8.15-custom.min.js:16
    f</<.ready()
    jquery-1.6.2-ui-1.8.15-custom.min.js:16
    f</B()
    jquery-1.6.2-ui-1.8.15-custom.min.js:16
  • rigorigo
    Hi there, I temporarily solved it (for myself only though).

    I followed the path in the console's error log and located the biblatex translator. I moved it to a different directory and replaced it with one from a backup I created last night.

    It works!

    Now I just need to disable automatic updates till the issue is fixed, I guess?
  • adamsmith
    Uncheck the "Automatically check for..." option in the general tab of the Zotero preferences.
  • rigorigo
    Thank you!
  • bibluc2
    Hi, today all my collegues have an error when exporting references in CSV format.

    On my side, I don't have this problem.
    I have to notice that I reloaded totally my Firefox and Zotero yesterday 4pm (est Canada)for other reasons.

    I hope the issue will be fixed for my collegues, who need to export in csv often.

    I will post their report error on this forum soon
    Thanks

    Luc M
  • adamsmith
    OK, I've reverted last night's changes. Update your translators from the general tab of the preferences ("Update Now") and it should work again.

    @rigorigo -- you can (and should) enable auto updating translators again
  • rigorigo
    Thank you for your help!
  • bibluc2
    Many Thanks,
    Luc M
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