Metadata Retrieval and File Management Issues with PDF in Zotero

P4R4D0X

Description:

I’m running version 7.0.0-beta.108+80cc97125 (64-bit) on a Windows 11 machine. I encountered several issues while adding and managing a PDF version of the book "Science Ideated: The Fall of Matter and the Contours of the Next Mainstream Scientific Worldview" by Bernardo Kastrup in Zotero. Below is a detailed description of each bug, along with the steps taken and the corresponding images highlighting the issues.

Steps to Reproduce and Observed Bugs:


  1. Adding PDF to Zotero:

  2. Retrieving Metadata:

  3. ISBN Reading Issues:

  4. Using Create Parent Item with ISBN:

  5. Attachment Not Linked Automatically:

  6. Incorrect Notes in Metadata:

  7. Attachment Renaming Discrepancy:

I hope these detailed observations assist in addressing and resolving these bugs. If further information or clarification is needed, please feel free to contact me. Thank you.

  • adamsmith
    6. is part of the metadata about the item from the library catalog. Some people find it useful, some don't, and what's in that field in library catalogs varies.
    7. is https://www.zotero.org/support/file_renaming#attachment_title_vs_filename
  • dstillman
    If you send the PDF to support@zotero.org with a link to this thread, we can take a look. It might have trouble with the spaces, which are much less common than hyphens.
    Double-clicking the ISBN does not highlight the entire string but only one segment at a time.
    That doesn't have anything to do with Zotero — that's just how text selection works with spaces.
    Metadata retrieval was correct, but the process hung and required manually closing the box.
    We'd want to see a Debug ID for that. How long did you wait?
    Noticed that the attachment was not linked with the item after closing the Create Parent Item box manually.
    It obviously gets moved under as part of the normal process, so if you cancel it, that could happen.
    Renamed the attachment according to the parent metadata.
    The renaming worked as expected in the file system but was not reflected within Zotero’s Item list.
    As adamsmith noted, attachment titles and filenames are different, and attachment titles are no longer changed when running Rename File from Parent Metadata manually.

    But this is also due to the Create Parent Item process getting interrupted. When that process runs to completion, the title is changed to just "PDF".

    The filename should also be changed automatically as long as you've enabled renaming for linked files in the settings. It looks like that's not working properly for Create Parent Item in beta 108 the way that it works for Retrieve Metadata, but we'll fix that for an upcoming version.
  • P4R4D0X

    Thanks for responding @adamsmith and @dstillman to the bug report I submitted at: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/116417/metadata-retrieval-and-file-management-issues-with-pdf-in-zotero.

    Dan, you wanted to see a Debug ID for the hanging behavior of the Create Parent Item box I referred to in Section 4. Unfortunately, I didn’t have debugging enabled during that issue and subsequently closed Zotero. However, I’ve since enabled debugging and was able to duplicate the same problem with another book. I’ve included images for this:

    Image A:

    - Similar to earlier, I added the ISBN for “Systemic Thinking: Building Maps for Worlds of Systems” to the Create Parent Item option. Since you asked how long I waited before closing the box, I made sure to include the starting time in the image: 3:31 AM (Mountain Time, Idaho).

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14577105/0citmjl9hsdnwbkjd950.png

    Image B:

    - Observe that the Create Parent Item box is still open. Note the time as 3:41 AM. I figured letting it hang for ten minutes was long enough.

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14577105/vrxlq3r9fq4jdws39fnz.png

    Image C:

    - Like earlier, the attachment was not linked with the item and required manual drag and drop.

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14577105/imzqy3y9lnpj1cluxoe0.png

    Image D:

    - Sabastian, you mentioned that some people find the catalog metadata useful, some don’t. I appreciate the point. However, the metadata for the previous note was a single sentence that consisted of incorrect information. The metadata included here is no better. Really, can you identify any benefit from that metadata? “The answer is, pioneer acron pancakes.” What does that even mean? The point here is that perhaps it might be possible to institute an option to prevent third-party notes from being automatically included. Otherwise, considering the quality of this metadata, it interferes with workflow to delete it every time.

    - Dan, still relevant to your review, I’ve noticed that every time I’ve experienced this hanging Create Parent Item box, these type of notes are always created. And, I’ve never seen such notes being created in instances where the hanging is not occurring. Maybe that has something to do with the problem.

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u14577105/1z05ed739g6klym42zn6.png

    The Debug ID is: “D1731632858”

    Dan, I also sent that PDF to the address you provided.

    Thank you both for your assistance!

  • adamsmith
    The note has the ToC. That seems quite useful?
  • P4R4D0X
    I suppose a ToC would be useful, @adamsmith. Yet, I had no idea that was a ToC. Is it correct though? Unless the user is comfortable with accumulating notes containing unverified metadata, or taking on the task of validating it every time it’s inserted, its value is dubious, at best. Again, I do get catch your drift. However, my humble request for consideration of an On/Off feature for third-party note metadata at some point remains.
  • dstillman
    @P4R4D0X: Let us know if you can still reproduce the hanging in the latest beta.
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