Extracting Collections/URLs list to automate Advanced Search

dragonfly
edited October 17, 2019
Automation of Advanced Search window

I have just returned to Zotero, after some time away, to experiment with linkage of Zotero to other applications in a development pipeline in my Ubuntu desktop. I am using Zotero to retain a hierarchy of applications documentation links.

I have a hierarchical library of collections / subcollections .. to varying depths in the library collections tree.

All I am looking for is a csv (or other file type) dump of collections, one after the other with associated url's.

In other words two columns ..

[collection or subcollection name] [url]

I have tried export library as csv but cannot see mapping of collection name to url.

Goal:
Looking at Advanced Search the third button shows a list of all collections in library order (just as I'm hoping to export from the library).

I want to automate the Advanced Search window by automation script so that I emulate writing

[Collection ] [ is ] [name of collection - selected from list]

This is contrary to the usual approach of using scripting or extension as I have read here for example.

https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/324748#Comment_324748

I should explain that my thought is to use this local extracted list of url's to configure “on the fly” an Algolia query of documents from a given collection. https://www.algolia.com/
  • dragonfly
    edited October 17, 2019
    I think I need to restructure my earlier question which might be confusing.

    I have Zotero 5.0.76 standalone. I am having to recollect how to apply extensions.
    I have built a local library of items (links to remote documents, articles etc.).

    I now have Zutilo extension installed.
    Can I enable any shortcuts in Zutilo preferences to extract url's from items in a local collection in desktop?

    Alternatively (without using Zutilo) how can I dump

    (a) list of all collection names (with ID's) from library
    (b) list of all URL's (against collection names/ID's)
  • ayoubhm
    I too need to export the information with the collection structure intact; but I find no way of doing it. I have very many collections and their "hierarchy" is important. Exporting one collection at a time is not practical and that way the structure information is not exported anyway.
  • dstillman
    To export your collection structure, use Zotero RDF.
  • ayoubhm
    Thanks. How can I use the output? What can make sense of the result other than Zotero? Excuse my ignorance. Can the output be converted to other format easily? Can the output be converted to bookmarks for Firefox for example? I am not familiar with this format and this is beyond my incompetence in computer science. I wish there was more collaboration with the guys at Mozilla.
  • adamsmith
    While RDF is in principle an openly readable format and any other tool _could_ read Zotero RDF, I know of no other tool that actually does (understandably so, given the effort that'd require to implement). I'm afraid if your goal is to export Zotero to Firefox Bookmarks (which would by definition mean significant loss of information), I'm afraid there are no existing options.
  • ayoubhm
    Firefox is unable to make use of the whole exported information I agree and is only one thing I would like to do. I am not trying to replace Zotero.
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