Opening note in new window - data lost when returning to main screen

Katrina Moseley
I was working on Zotero today and started to make notes attached to an item in a new window. Whilst working on this, I accidentally clicked out of the window (red button) and the note is now only half full in the minimised screen. I have lost around three hours of work. Please help!!
  • dstillman
    I would start by temporarily disabling auto-sync from the Sync pane of the Zotero preferences and also make a backup of your Zotero data directory before closing Zotero.

    After that, can you provide a Report ID? Have you checked your library online to see the status of the note there?
  • Katrina Moseley
    Hi there. I've checked online and the completed note is not there either. I think part of the problem may have been that I was working in a public archive and kept losing connectivity. I can't seem to find the note anywhere.
  • Katrina Moseley
    I have time machine on my mac and have just backed up my hard drive. Is this going to be even more of an issue?
  • dstillman
    edited July 11, 2017
    Zotero saves all data to your computer first, so connectivity shouldn't matter. But it's possible there was a bug in the version you were using, or some other error condition (full disk, etc.), that stopped saves from working. Obviously that shouldn't happen, and I'd have to see a Report ID (if you haven't yet restarted Zotero) to tell you whether there's an indication of what the problem was.

    Time Machine makes a backup of your disk every hour, and you could try swapping in a zotero.sqlite file (you can ignore 'storage') from your backups over the last few hours (after making a copy of your current zotero.sqlite file and disabling auto-sync) to see if there's different content in each.
  • Katrina Moseley
    I'm really appreciating your advice here, thanks very much. I have already unfortunately restarted zotero - earlier on today. Would the steps now be to disable auto-sync, make a copy of the zotero.sqlite file and then swap in one from my my time machine? A bit of a dumbed down summary would be much appreciated as I'm concerned about messing with the wrong things.
  • dstillman
    That's exactly right.
  • dstillman
    edited July 11, 2017
    If you think it might have synced during that time and you email the URL of the note online to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread, we can also check to see if there's any sign of an earlier version.
  • Katrina Moseley
    The URL online is https://www.zotero.org/katrina_moseley/items/collectionKey/D6PVWACG/itemKey/E6SMRI5X

    I have managed to locate the .sqlite file in my back up but not a storage file.... in order to find the directory to swap in the old file I will have to start zotero again and go to preferences - will that be a problem?
  • dstillman
    No, that's fine. (The location is the same as the backup, though. If it's within Library, you can hold down Option while clicking the Go menu in the Finder to get there.)
  • Katrina Moseley
    I am really struggling to find the files in the back up - is it a case of searching for zotero in the search bar in the finder? This doesn't seem to produce the correct files?
  • Katrina Moseley
    I have tried to 'restore' the zotero file but still cannot find a storage file - and still no luck
  • dstillman
    I can check our logs, but it won't be until later today.
  • Katrina Moseley
    Ok, many thanks. I have done as suggested but now when I open zotero there is no data at all still. In the active directory there are multiple files now:
    zotero.sqlite; zotero.sqlite 2; zotero.sqlite - journal; zotero.sqlite.bak; and zotero.sqlite.1.bak

    I am guessing this is through my own error and that some need deleting in order to restore properly

  • dstillman
    So I've checked the sync logs, and there's no indication that this note became significantly shorter at any time that you were working on it — I see steadily increasing sync sizes throughout the day. Just to be totally sure, it's not possible that you're just overlooking part of the note, is it? You've scrolled down completely?

    I do see a gap of a little less than two hours about 25 minutes before you posted here, during which there were no syncs. So it's possible that's the time period you're referring to. If so, I'm afraid there was no sync activity during that time.

    As for restoring from backup, I'm not totally sure what you've done at this point, but check the file sizes — it should be clear whether you have an empty database (about 1 MB) or a larger one with data. The file needs to be called "zotero.sqlite" to be used by Zotero.
  • aspooner
    edited October 9, 2017
    Hello!

    I had this exact problem earlier today. I was editing a note in a new window with wifi cutting in and out. I realize connectivity is not supposed to matter––but because the data was lost exactly at the moment when wifi cut out, I thought maybe there might be a link. A piece of (perhaps) relevant info: I store my Zotero folder in DropBox. I briefly closed Zotero when the wifi cut. When I reopened it, my note had been cut by about a third.

    Is there a way to revert to a previous version of the note? I too am having issues finding the storage file of the note.

    Also, a related question: Is it really that terrible to store Zotero in DropBox? I keep getting the warning message––but since so many scholars I know save their Zotero folders in DB, I have ignored them up till now. Maybe I should change policy.

    Thanks!
  • dstillman
    Is it really that terrible to store Zotero in DropBox?
    Yes, and I'm afraid we can't provide any support for such setups. The warning really does exist for a reason.

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