Zotero Getting Stuck When Importing Items

mbatista12
Hello! I'm working with someone on importing their Endnote library into Zotero and it's nearly completed the import, but then it gets stuck towards the very end and then stops.

We've gone into Endnote, File > Export, set the "Save as type" as XML and the "Output Style" as Refman (RIS) export. Does anyone have an ideas as to why this happens or if you have any suggestions to fix this?

Thank you!
Mikaela
  • adamsmith
    How many items? How long have you let it run (or are you getting an error message?)
  • mbatista12
    This is a pretty big library; it contains over 3,000 references. It's run for a few hours but there's no error message that pops up. The import status bar stays stuck when it's towards the end.
  • dstillman
    If you're still able to reproduce this, we'd want to see a Report ID after it occurs.

    Large EndNote imports can currently use a lot of memory, so it may help to restart the computer beforehand and close all other programs before trying.
  • div-t
    similar problem here... I recently changed computer. I'm trying to import my library but it get stacked around the end of the process (according to the loading bar). Watching the Zotero window seems that (maybe) all 7600+/- (16 GB) items are imported but not all the subcollections/directories where they are supposed to be. I'm importing a .rdf file and relative files made out of a previous export.
  • dstillman
    @div-t: While this should work, export isn't the way to move your library between computers. If you still have access to the other computer, you should transfer it properly.
  • div-t
    I see... thanks... no, unluckily the HD of my other computer died.

    Still, I don't get what is the purpose of the export function
  • dstillman
    Generally speaking, export is for transferring data out of Zotero permanently or for sharing data with another Zotero user. While it can be used as a backup, you'll lose links to citations in word processor documents, Date Added/Modified values will be reset, and there might be modifications to a few fields. It will also treat the items as completely new items, so if you were using syncing — which it appears you were — and import a full export of your library, you'll end up with duplicates of any items that you had already synced. (I'm actually not sure what your situation was, since it looks like you were syncing previously. Were you trying to restore items from after the last time you synced? Restore files since you were above quota? Note that the files would be attached to the new items, not the old ones.)

    All that aside, importing an export of any size should certainly work, but it currently doesn't handle large imports well, particularly on Windows where Zotero's memory usage is limited. We're working to address both general import memory usage and the Windows-specific issue, but in the meantime, if you have access to a Mac or Linux computer, you could try doing the import there and then transferring your data directory properly. Temporarily disable auto-sync while trying this to avoid syncing up data from failed attempts.

    Once you get all the data in, you'll likely end up with many duplicates, particularly if you've tried multiple items and synced in between. Sorting by Date Added can help you delete failed imports in batch. (Be sure to empty the trash before syncing.)
  • div-t
    Thanks you so much for the info. I'm using Linux, so the issue is not really about Windows.

    Previously I was importing the library without sync (I was unregistered in the new installation) but no luck with that.

    Now I started by syncing from online... this is actually rebuilding correctly the database, but (since I'm out of quota) I don't have the files. So, I subsequently imported my export and I'm now merging all the items with attachments. It's working, but it's an incredibly long process.
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