zotfile - setting location to Dropbox on Mac

sjw42
Hello,
I apologize if this has been answered already in the forum (searched but could not find it addressed). I set up a system on a PC to use zotero with zotfile add-on to store PDFs in a folder on dropbox. I would now like to use the same set up on a macbook pro pointing to the same dropbox storage folder. I entered the path to the dropbox folder under zotfile preferences (Users/.../@Zotero). However, I get a 'file not found' error when clicking the pdf link in my library. The path still points to the location set on my PC (C:\Users\...\@Zotero\..). Is there another place I need to update the path on my mac? Thanks very much for any help.
  • dstillman
    You need to set the Linked Attachment Base Directory to equivalent folders on each system.

    https://www.zotero.org/support/preferences/advanced#linked_attachment_base_directory
  • sjw42
    Ah, thanks so much!
  • schwa0
    I'm not sure I understand the the instructions @dstillman linked to. It says "if the folder with your linked files is at /Users/Sarah/Dropbox on your laptop and at C:\Users\Sarah\Dropbox on your work computer, set those paths as the base directory on each respective machine."

    My situation is like this (note the different username on each computer):
    Original computer: /Users/joel/Google Drive/zotero-files
    New computer: /Users/joels/Google Drive/zotero-files

    These above paths are what I set for the Zotfile custom location on each computer, respectively. After sync-ing the new computer to my cloud Zotero database, the linked files are listed (including their "link" chain icon) with their item reference. However, when I right click and select "Show file" I get the following error:

    The attached file could not be found at the following path:
    /Users/joel/Google Drive/zotero-files/

    So, even on the new computer, Zotero is still searching on the old path. Have I set the paths incorrectly?
  • dstillman
    edited December 5, 2020
    This is about the Linked Attachment Base Directory setting, not ZotFile.

    If you want Zotero to look for files in /Users/joels/Google Drive/zotero-files on the new computer, you need to set the base directory to /Users/joel/Google Drive/zotero-files on the old computer, which will cause linked files within that path to be stored as relative paths from there, and sync that computer. You would then set /Users/joels/Google Drive/zotero-files on the new computer and sync, which would tell Zotero to look for those relative paths relative to the directory you set on the new computer.

    If you don't set the base directory properly on the computer where a file was created, it'll just be stored with an absolute path, and you won't be able to open it on any computer that has the file at a different path.
  • schwa0
    I totally missed that setting in Zotero. Problem fixed. Thanks Dan!
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