Fixing citation while adding to Word results in an error

kerimfriedman
Setup:
Zotero 5.0.97-beta.49+9432cb7e7
M1 Mac running Big Sur 11.6

Problem:
I am able to enter citations in word just fine. But sometimes, as I do so, I spot an error. If I don't complete the process of adding the citation because I stop to fix the error I get a dummy entry in Word. I can delete this manually, but Zotero then displays a frozen entry screen (a red search bar with no text box), and the next entry I try to add will fail unless I quit and restart Zotero.

I suppose I should just finish adding the citation, then go back and fix the problem and update? But it seems like Zotero might want to handle such failures a little better as well?
  • dstillman
    edited October 16, 2021
    Stop to fix the error where? Can you provide the exact steps to reproduce?
  • kerimfriedman
    1. In word click add/edit citation
    2. In Zotero a red floating search bar appears - search for reference. Let's say it I am looking for "Smith 2020."
    3. However, when it comes up, somehow it becomes clear that the editor is incorrectly listed as a co-author, so it says "Smith and Jones 2020."
    >>> At this point I want to be able to edit the entry and correct the listing for Jones so they are an editor and not an author
    4. Now Zotero has created a dummy {citation} place holder and the problems I described above happen.
  • dstillman
    edited October 17, 2021
    OK, this is just a misunderstanding. Zotero always creates a placeholder entry when the citation dialog is open — that's perfectly normal. If you leave the citation dialog open instead of closing it and go edit the item in Zotero, that's fine, but you have to actually return to the still-open citation dialog, which would be behind the main Zotero window. That should work fine, and does for me. But if you delete the placeholder while the citation dialog is still open, you're going to get an error, because you've messed with the state that the citation dialog expects to find in the document.

    In general, if you're not going to insert a citation right then, I would recommend just pressing Esc and going to do whatever you need to do and then bringing up the citation dialog again later so that you don't have to keep track of multiple open windows.
  • LiborA
    What citation style do you use? If Jones is saved as editor in Zotero, then it seems like a problem with style instead of Zotero.
  • dstillman
    @LiborA: They're just saying that an editor is in the Author field and they need to go fix that in the Zotero item.
  • LiborA
    Oh, yes, sorry.
  • kerimfriedman
    I see. Thanks. I'll try this next time...

    "If you leave the citation dialog open instead of closing it and go edit the item in Zotero, that's fine, but you have to actually return to the still-open citation dialog, which would be behind the main Zotero window. That should work fine, and does for me. But if you delete the placeholder while the citation dialog is still open, you're going to get an error, because you've messed with the state that the citation dialog expects to find in the document."
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