PDF renaming does not work correctly (but it did)

ulrichhoffmann · July 22, 2024

Hi,
I am using 7.0.0-beta.101+220bb4383 on a Mac Mini. In the beginning, it could rename PDFs the way I wanted it to do: Year - author - title.
Without changing anything, renaming stopped working (kinda). It still renames PDFs from whatever they come as to "PDF", but *not* to what it should rename them.
In the lower righthand corner, though, I get an info like "PDF was renamed to 2003 - Hoffmann - renaming in Zotero". So it seems like it knows what it's supposed to do ... but does not execute fully.
It's a beta, sure, but, again, it worked fine in the beginning.
Any ideas? Thanks, Ulrich

arggem · July 22, 2024

File renaming is explained here: https://www.zotero.org/support/file_renaming#attachment_title_vs_filename

ulrichhoffmann · July 22, 2024

Yes, thank you.
It seems I was unclear. I am dropping a PDF file into Zotero, to be managed (and synced) by the program. A few weeks ago, after installing, renaming worked fine.
Now, it has stopped working fine (but *does* rename the file, as described above, only not the way it should).
I have not changed anything and my workflow has stayed the same.
My problem is not the configuration, but the execution.
Does that make more sense or would screenshots help?
Thanks, Ulrich

arggem · July 22, 2024

Screenshots would help.

ulrichhoffmann · July 22, 2024

Sure :)

This is the version of Zotero I am using:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5762983/b4g4icez5agv7eps5ju7.png
This is the paper I have used in this showcase:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5762983/p5f3u44d7f9ft0i8dd1x.png
Paper + name in Finder on Mac:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5762983/fhsdg9qdkdqialn3qgci.png
What happens once dropped in Zotero:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5762983/qydr2958iyt0lzp01enl.png
I can manually say "rename according to metadata", then this happens (but filename stays "PDF"):
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5762983/jte44hjregiwky5j3sh2.png
Settings (1/2):
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5762983/o40k99f00r7ns9iww9fr.png
Settings (2/2):
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5762983/h9ffmu8z98v595zsunk2.png

I have restarted Zotero, and I have also restarted the whole system. I have two computers and this problem occurs on both.

The (synced) library is quite large (3 GB).

Thanks, Ulrich

adamsmith · July 22, 2024

See (again) the linked section above. "PDF" isn't the filename, it's the attachment title. The filename is set correctly (you can look at the file on your harddisk using "Show file")

ulrichhoffmann · July 22, 2024

Hi adamsmith,
thanks. It seems I have misunderstood *and* misstated my problem.
When I started using the beta, it renamed the file and *showed* this filename:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5762983/k7nlbdot1dqzxj969t2n.png
Now, for whatever reason, the file still gets renamed, but only the type of file is shown. (Not so for older entries, though, as in the screenshot above.)
Since the file, apparently, gets renamed correctly, this has now become a cosmetic problem. But still, what changed? To me, seeing the filename does make a lot more sense than just "PDF". If I could go back to how things were, I would.
(But if this is difficult and/or I am still not making too much sense, just close the topic as the "real" problem has been solved.)
Thanks, Ulrich

aborel · July 22, 2024

https://www.zotero.org/support/file_renaming#attachment_title_vs_filename (already given in the 1st answer of this thread) is the current explanation. The idea is that showing the filename in the application would not add much value: author, year, title and such can already be displayed (and searched for, and sorted...) as columns.

I for one fully agree with that point of view, but I never really cared so much about renaming in the first place. And I understand how this can be confusing.

ulrichhoffmann · July 22, 2024

OK, thanks. I understand that link was in the first answer. I did not understand that my problem was with the "attachment title". As stated, a few weeks ago *the same software* showed the filename in that place. Still don't understand *how* that changed without an update. But anyway, it is, how it is, and the files are being renamed correctly. Thanks, Ulrich

aborel · July 22, 2024

You were running beta 101 at the beginning of this thread, so you can be sure that a few updates happened with respect to "a few weeks ago". We were still at beta 99 on July 14 if my records are correct :-)

ulrichhoffmann · July 22, 2024

Hi aborel, now I am beginning to understand. I started the thread this morning (with Beta 101). In the screenshot from this afternoon, it says Beta 105. I have tried to manually update the program - since "the renaming did not work anymore", and there were no updates available. But it seems like updates happen in the background without much fanfare or many restarts. *That* explains why I thought I had the same version (I did not see any information on any backups, like pretty much every other piece of software tells me all the time), but I did not. OK, my bad. But thanks for clarifying, and I'll keep it in mind for any other "mystical" changes in the IT world. Thanks, Ulrich

aborel · July 22, 2024

No worries! But please note that beta versions means that you can still expect some mystical changes along the way, and more frequently than with a stable version.

ma787 · July 22, 2024

Thanks @ulrichthoffmann for stating the "issue" and thanks @aborel for your quick response. I have been confused as @ulrichhoffmann was and after an hour of trying different meta data I saw that the file name is indeed correct, but the attachment title isn't shown like it used to be shown some weeks ago. Up to some weeks ago the attachment title has actually been the file name.
Anyways ... thanks for your great work aborel :) ...