Changes to DB don't update

In the past couple of days I've noticed a general issue with performance, namely, that changes that I make in Zotero don't show up in real time, as they always have. This includes: adding and removing collections/subcollections; adding tags to individual items by dragging them to the tag viewer; adding tags to *multiple* items the same way; and deleting items from collections/subcollections. I've tried restarting Firefox and even restarting the computer, but it hasn't helped. Any ideas - or others having a similar issue? (I'm using version 2.0b6.5 on Firefox 3.5.2, on a Lenovo ThinkPad T61p.)
  • So you're saying that there's a delay between when you perform an action and when the UI updates? Have you recently added many items? How many items do you have total? (Select All, look in right pane.)

    Enable debug logging in the Advanced pane of the Zotero preferences, perform one of those actions (ideally starting or clearing the output right before you do), send in the debug output, and post the ID here.
  • I have 3297 items in total. I haven't recently added a lot of items. I should say that in most cases the changes show up if I navigate away from the context where I made the change, then return.
  • I just tried adding a tag by dragging the item to the tag. The debug output ID is D1046102811.
  • Oh, so the UI isn't updating at all until you navigate away and back?

    Are you getting errors in Report Errors under the gear menu? If so, send in a report and post the Report ID here.
  • Nope, I'm not getting any error messages.
  • OK, I guess I'm not really clear on the problem you're experiencing. Can you give examples of exactly what's happening (or not happening) in the above cases?
  • Example: I right click on a collection/subcollection, and select "Remove this collection." After confirming the delete, the collection remains in the display (as opposed to disappearing, which is what it's always done before). The same thing happens when I (a) add a new item from the address bar icon; delete an item; add or delete an attachment to an item; add a tag; remove a tag; etc.
  • OK, but, again, does it ultimately update if you give it time, or does it only update when you switch away and back? In your first post you said this was a performance issue.
  • It only updates when I switch away and then back. "Performance" may have been the wrong word -- sorry.

    One exception to all of the above is the tags. At this point, unless I type in the tag in the Tag pane of the item, I cannot add tags either to individual items or groups of items -- no matter how much switching away and back I do.
  • Try disabling all other Firefox extensions.

    The debug output above actually doesn't show any updates to data at all (which would be consistent with dragging to tags not actually updating anything). If disabling other extensions doesn't fix it, can you provide debug output for another operation?
  • I just added a new reference from scratch. Although I tried to add it to a particular collection, Zotero opened the new blank item in the Main Library. As usual I had to switch away and then back to see the new item. Here's the debug output ID: D1777116543
  • Just to be clear: you've tried disabling all other Firefox extensions? And can you again verify that Report Errors under the gear menu remains grayed out after performing all of these actions?
  • OK. First of all: oops. I hadn't disabled all the other extensions. So I did that, and for a minute everything worked as before, including tags. But now it's back to the same behavior.

    The "Report errors" option is not grayed out, so I sent a report just now, part of which reads "cannot add an invalid tag." The ID is 799269917.
  • OK. That tag error is a known issue. It happens when you drag an item to a tag that has both manually entered and automatic (saved via a translator) versions. We'll fix that before 2.0 Final.

    With extensions disabled, are you still having the other issues? If so, restart Firefox, reproduce them, and check after each one that you reproduce to see if there's an error in Report Errors.

    If the other issues disappear with extensions disabled, re-enable extensions one by one and let us know which one is causing the refresh problems.
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