Looking for file problem

davidgewirtz
We appear to have a problem with file syncing of snapshots in 2.0b5. We have Zotero installed on two machines (desktop/laptop) using Zotero syncing and WebDAV syncing (using onlinefilefolder.com for WebDAV).

When we snapshot a page on the desktop, and then do a sync -- and then move to the laptop and do a sync, the Web page item itself is synced to the laptop, but the actual snapshot file isn't.

Clicking "show file" or attempting to view the snapshot results in a "Looking for file" dialog.

To double-check all of this, I first went back to the desktop, where clicking Show File indicated the snapshot was located in the folder UTFK2NJV and the file was called hits.html, and it was 47K. I then logged into the WebDAV site (onlinefilefolder.com), went into my Zotero folder, found the file UTFK2NJV.zip, downloaded it, and found a list of files. I found the one file that was also 47K, pulled it out of the ZIP file, gave it an html extension, and viewed it -- it was, in fact, the same file as my snapshot.

This proved that the file at least made it from the originating machine to the WebDAV server. But it either isn't making it to the secondary machine (the laptop) or isn't registering the proper ID/location information.

Please advise,

Thanks,
David
  • paux
    Same here (with Iceweasel 3.0.6 from Debian lenny and Zotero 2.0b5 on two PCs).

    I use a WebDAV server for file syncing. However, if new files are synced to webDAV on the first PC and the second PC does a sync, then only the metadata are received (from zotero.org), but not the files. However, and as mentioned above, the WevDAV server does indeed hold the directories in question.

    Regards,
    Stephan
  • dstillman
    Just to make sure, have you entered your WebDAV credentials correctly and enabled file syncing in the Sync pane on the second computer?

    If so and it still isn't working, you can run Zotero with debug output enabled on the second computer to see what's going on during a sync operation. If you're having trouble parsing the output, send it to support@zot....org with a link to this thread and we'll take a look.
  • davidgewirtz
    Yes, the WebDAV credentials are correct on both machines. And file syncing is enabled.

    I found two possible elements of the log output that may provide a clue. The first is a time reference:

    zotero(5): SELECT version FROM version WHERE schema='lastcheck'
    zotero(4): Not enough time since last update -- not checking repository
    zotero(3): Setting repository check interval to 13785 seconds
    zotero(3): Integration HTTP server listening on 127.0.0.1:50001

    The second specifically talks about the WebDAV repository and says skipping file download step:

    zotero(3): Getting Zotero storage password
    zotero(3): HTTP OPTIONS for https://davidgewirtz:********@www.onlinefilefolder.com/webdav/xxxx/zotero/
    zotero(3): HTTP GET https://davidgewirtz:********@www.onlinefilefolder.com/webdav/xxxx/zotero/lastsync
    zotero(3):
    zotero(3): ===>200<===(number)
    zotero(3): Last successful storage sync was Wed Dec 31 1969 19:33:29 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
    zotero(5): SELECT version FROM version WHERE schema='storage'
    zotero(3): Last storage sync time hasn't changed -- skipping file download step
    zotero(5): SELECT itemID FROM itemAttachments JOIN items USING (itemID) WHERE syncState IN (?,?) AND linkMode IN (?,?) AND libraryID IS NULL

    Any idea how to resolve this? Is there some time-check thing I'm missing? I've checked the system time on the two computers and they're within about 60 seconds of each other. Meanwhile, every attachment that was stored on machine A hasn't reached machine B -- and vice versa.

    Please advise (or let me know if there's any additional data you need me to gather for you). This is a great piece of work and while I need it functional for my projects, I'm also willing to help you make it as solid as possible.

    -- David
  • dstillman
    Last successful storage sync was Wed Dec 31 1969 19:33:29 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
    This is the problem. Your WebDAV server appears to not be returning a valid timestamp for a status file Zotero saves to and then retrieves from the server—or at least Zotero isn't pick it up. If you load that 'lastsync' URL in Firefox, and then go to Tools->Page Info, what do you see next to "Modified"?
  • davidgewirtz
    Hmmm... it shows: Wednesday, December 31, 1969 7:33:29 PM

    Now, when I login and look at the information online, it shows the correct date (June 16, etc).

    I guess I could switch to a different WebDAV server, but after striking out with SharePoint and then having issues with this one (GoDaddy), I'm not sure where to find a WebDAV server that Zotero reliably supports.

    Any suggestions?
  • dstillman
    It might be worth contacting them. It seems they're not returning a Last-Modified header, which is a standard HTTP field. (Last-Modified isn't required by the HTTP spec, but it's recommended ("HTTP/1.1 servers SHOULD send Last-Modified whenever feasible") and sent by almost all web servers. This isn't really specific to Zotero—it means that any WebDAV client probably wouldn't be able to pull down a file and preserve the modification time.
  • paux
    Hi,

    I looked at the log as well, and what I get is (anonymised):

    zotero(3)(+0000000): HTTP OPTIONS for https://user:********@host/webdav/zotero/
    zotero(3)(+0000106): HTTP GET https://user:********@host/webdav/zotero/lastsync
    zotero(3)(+0000001):
    zotero(3)(+0000000): ===>200<===(number)
    zotero(3)(+0000000): Last successful storage sync was Mon May 18 2009 17:10:16 GMT+0200 (CEST)
    zotero(5)(+0000000): SELECT version FROM version WHERE schema='storage'
    zotero(3)(+0000001): Last storage sync time hasn't changed -- skipping file download step

    Indeed, May 18 is quite far in the past. I loaded some new files up today with Zotero on my PC at work and got this message when syncing at home. I've set up my own Apache as WebDAV server and verified the file 'lastsync' on the file system, its mod time is May 18, but access rights are OK. What could be the reason that 'lastsync' doesn't get a newer timestamp?

    Regards,
    Stephan
  • paux
    I found this:

    zotero(3): Upload queue is done
    zotero(3): Active requests: 0
    zotero(3):
    zotero(3): HTTP PUT '' to https://user:********@host/webdav/zotero/lastsync
    zotero(3):
    zotero(3): ===>204<===(number)
    zotero(3): HTTP GET https://user:********@host/webdav/zotero/lastsync
    zotero(3):
    zotero(3): ===>200<===(number)
    zotero(3): Last successful storage sync was Mon May 18 2009 17:10:16 GMT+0200 (CEST)

    However, uploading attachments works:

    zotero(3): Upload of attachment 4ZFRJ6SZ finished with status code 201
    zotero(3): HTTP PUT '1245157194' to https://user:********@host/webdav/zotero/4ZFRJ6SZ.prop

    There probably have been changes introduced with Zotero 2.04b (on May 20) that break this functionality (with Apache 2.2?), as it was working before. Ideas?
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