I see. Thanks.

Not sure about this, why not just show an icon then for the file type and file number? One more thing to edit...

Also, how do I edit the name of the attachment rather than the file? Not in the right click where one would expect it and not in the panel.

I have read it. We shall have to presume that I am stupid as I cannot follow.

You mean they are auto-generated at import and not editable?

From the page: "You can view and change the title and filename by clicking on the attachment and looking in the item pane."

And all Z6 attachment will use file names and cannot be conformed to the new approach?

From the page: "If you'd like to convert existing attachments to use “PDF” titles for consistency, you can select all items in the items list, go to Tools → Developer → Run JavaScript, and run this code:"

More generally:

• Zotero has always had separate attachment titles — it's not "One more thing to edit".
• They've always been editable from the attachment's pane — but most of the time you shouldn't need to edit anything.
• There's no reason to be manually running Rename File from Parent Metadata on every item — files have always been automatically renamed.
• The fact that Rename File from Parent Metadata changed the title to match the filename before was a bug.

@longhhh: You'll need to read the linked section. This isn't a bug.

I see that:

"The parent item row already displays metadata such as the title and authors, and since files are generally renamed using that same metadata, Zotero doesn't show the filename directly in the items list. Instead, it uses simpler attachment titles such as “PDF” or “Ebook” for the first file of a given type or includes additional information about the source of the file (e.g., “ScienceDirect Full Text PDF” for a file saved from ScienceDirect, or “Accepted Version” or “Submitted Version” for open-access files). These separate titles avoid cluttering the items list with duplicate metadata and prevent parent items from being unnecessarily expanded when searching for titles or creators."

So this is a new feature that is different from zotero6.

I'll give this a try, as suggested, but my first reaction is that it's counter-intuitive and not an improvement. I agree with with @sdflewrit783 that the icon indicates the file type, so a generic "PDF" as a title is pointless, as it tells the user nothing new.

It's also a bit odd to me that additional files of a given type get their filenames as titles. If that's the case, why not do the same with the first one?

Finally I like to see the filename as well, so that when I open it in an external viewer (my default behavior), I know what the filename is going to be.

Thanks for all that. I’ll try to live with this a while.

I still find it a bit odd that the file now has three titles, as it were: the file name, the one in the pdf metadata (optional but usually there), and now this one in Zotero, which I didn’t even know about. I used to think it was just the file name. This might be the part of the model that many people won’t grok instantly.

Since this title is purely generic, is there perhaps a way to just not show it at all? Indicate the file type of the main file with just an icon somewhere.

I see that there’s always been a title. I just had no idea that it existed, after years of using Zotero, which is why I say this may be confusing: I was confused. I’m not quite sure I see the benefit of attachment titles, but maybe that’s just how I work. A sensible file name is a good identifier for me.

I was one of those people who had files automatically renamed with Zotfile (I think), so I never left those generic titles alone. I don’t know what other people do, of course, so maybe that’s unusual behavior. Again, I thought that was just the file name.

> Zotero has never done anything with the PDF metadata, which is often absent or junk.

I realize pdf metadata is often pretty useless, or worse.

> I mean, you don't have to expand the parent item — as I say, you can just double-click on the parent item to open the default attachment — but if you do, there's has to be a title in the items list. There's just no reason to duplicate the parent metadata.

My suggestion was not to include the default attachment in a list like additional ones. Not quite sure what that would look like, but it potentially lessens clutter, especially when most of the time, there’s just one attachment, at least in my setup. A duplicated file name doesn’t seem much different or worse from a generic “PDF”, though I understand the point about searching.

So I think I get the idea. As I said, I’ll live with it for a while. It’s clear that we’ve got different expectations about what info should be where.

Well, easy enough but some titles do not get renamed, e.g., 'Sage PDF' does not.

var items = ZoteroPane.getSelectedItems();
for (let item of items) {
if (!item.isRegularItem()) continue;
let attachment = await item.getBestAttachment();
if (!attachment) continue;
let title = attachment.getField('title');
if (title.endsWith('.pdf')) {
attachment.setField('title', 'PDF');
await attachment.saveTx();
}
if (title.endsWith('.epub')) {
attachment.setField('title', 'EPUB');
await attachment.saveTx();
}
}

Where can I find the JavaScript API documentation please?

Thanks, I understand it by now.

It is impossible to manipulate strings without knowing the objects and object interfaces specific to Zotero.

Your script would not rename epubs, so I added a couple of lines. I mistyped EPUB and want to correct it not but not sure how.

I managed. Still interested in seeing the docs if they are published.

Merci.