Bug in Locate drop-down menu

Nexus188 · November 16, 2023

I tried to modify the engines.json file to add some new engines. But after that, I found my locate drop-down menu show nothing even if I do select all of my engines. I have tried to uninstall zotero completely and reinstall it, but the problem still exists.

m.lana · November 26, 2023

i discovered the same: after adding an entry, the entire list of items in the locate menu is void.
what's more, the list of engines does appear in "manage lookup engines" and all the engines are toggled on. but no one appears in the locate menu

what's worst, after clicking on "restore defaults" the entire content of the locate folder where i had old versions of the engines.json file has been cleaned.

but: the list does (re)appear if you click on an item and wait 1-2 seconds

dstillman · November 29, 2023

Delete engines.json and restart Zotero.

m.lana · November 29, 2023

ehm... unsure about the exact meaning of "delete engines.json and restart Zotero" because the problem happens precisely when i add an item to engines.json.
if i delete engines.json the locate menu looses everything.
there must be something i don't understand...

and: if one clicks "restore defaults" only engines.json should be reset.
instead this choice wipes everything in the locate folder.
the folder where for example i had some 12 previous versions of my carefully crafted and personalized engines.json - which were deleted without warning

dstillman · November 29, 2023

The point is that you're likely adding something invalid to the file, so it's no longer parseable. If you delete it, it will be recreated when you restart Zotero.

If you think the entry you're adding manually is valid, link to a copy of the file with just that one entry and we can take a look.

the folder where for example i had some 12 previous versions of my carefully crafted and personalized engines.json - which were deleted without warning

The data directory is managed by Zotero. You shouldn't assume that something you add to it will remain there, particularly if you click an option that begins with "Restore" or "Reset".