Relative attachment path new rules "attachments:"?? Zutilo

Ananas80
Hi - I did understand the relative path system and used Zutilo to "show" and "modify attachment path". But something has changed, and because of that many attachments are broken. I don't get it.
In a working item, it used to be like this:
C:\A = base directory
Zotero/Folder = Attachment path - would show if one clicks on "show attachment path"

Now these attachments do not work anymore. However, if I create a new item with attachment, the filename that shows up in the right window is changed to the relative path+real file name: Zotero/Folder/ABC.pdf = this works.
If I click on "show attachment path" it then says:
attachments:Zotero/Folder/ABC.pdf

Why is this? Do I have to change these path of old files (+1000) by hand?

  • dstillman
    I'm not really following this, and we can't help with the Zutilo part. But nothing about this should've changed in Zotero.

    Can you provide a Debug ID for an attempt to open a file that's missing?
  • Ananas80
    Thank you for help, and sorry for being confusing. Let me try again by asking two simple questions:

    1. Should the attachment path (in a relative path setup) read like: Zotero/Folder
    or should it have a prefix: attachments:Zotero/Folder

    2. Should the "filename" which is displayed in the right window upon clicking on an attachment read: filename.pdf
    or should it include the path: Zotero/filename.pdf


  • dstillman
    1. Should the attachment path (in a relative path setup) read like: Zotero/Folder
    or should it have a prefix: attachments:Zotero/Folder
    In the database, the latter, but that's an implementation detail, and not something Zotero presents to the user. So that's outside the scope of the support we provide here.
    2. Should the "filename" which is displayed in the right window upon clicking on an attachment read: filename.pdf
    or should it include the path: Zotero/filename.pdf
    Currently it displays the latter (though whether that's a bug is debatable).
  • Ananas80
    Ok, thank you. That is already helpful. Now I know in which direction to modify the paths.



  • amw290
    I think I have a similar problem in that I made a mistake with the new relative paths and now have created countless erroneous file paths that look like this:

    attachments:uthor/Author/author-year-title.pdf

    I believe that I failed to put a final \ (or stupidly put a /) and this created this baloney new paths.

    Is there a way to batch edit this using metadata perhaps?
  • dstillman
    edited April 16, 2018
    Yes, you can use the Zutilo plugin, as adamsmith said in your other thread.
  • amw290
    Thanks for replying. My above problem is a result of attempting to batch edit file paths following adamsmith's suggestion.

    I've carefully read the Zutilo instructions on how to modify attachment paths but I don't possess the required background knowledge to know how to fix the problem I created.

    Can somebody please explain to me how I could batch edit paths from the following paths which are incorrect (as the Author folder is missing its first letter)? Does it matter that the Author folder is missing its first letter?

    attachments:ppinger et al/Eppinger et al-2014-Diplomacy and Its Others.pdf

    Perhaps this is already explained here: https://github.com/willsALMANJ/Zutilo/blob/master/docs/COMMANDS.md
    but I don't recognize/understand it?
  • amw290
    To clarify, my attachments are stored in a directory named "attachments" within which there are sub-directories by Author.
  • adamsmith
    Hmm, I'm not sure there's an easy way to get the first letter of the author back into the filepaths, I'm afraid -- not sure how that got lost.

    I think the only way to repair this is for each author individually...
  • amw290
    Thanks. I realized I have a backup so I'll just restore and try again and pay very close attention to slashes and such.
  • Landjunge
    Hello, I seem to have a similar problem!
    My computer runs on Ubuntu.

    Using Zutilo, I sucessfully changed the attachment paths in my first collection. In my second collection, this did not work, because the first letter of all my PDF- attachments got deleted. Zutilo, showing me the attachment paths gives me e.g.: /home/Documents/ebb_2005, instead of the correct path: /home/Documents/Webb_2005

    Is there a way to correct the filenames in batch, rather than doing it individually for each attachment?

    Thank you for your help!
  • moebio
    I seem to be having the same problem as Landjunge: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/363212#Comment_363212
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