Please ensure that the file is valid and try again (2)

I have looked through the import/export forum and found a topic about the following error message: "An error occurred while tring to import the selected file. Please ensure that the file is valid and try again."

This topic was, however, closed, but did not provide me with any real answers, so I'll just start a new topic with a similiar question.

I have been trying to export my references from reference manager to Zotero, bu keep getting the afforementioned error. I tried importing the same RIS text file to EndNote and RefWorks, which both had no trouble importing it. After that I exported the same database from EndNote and RefWorks to Zotero again, but I keep getting the same error. This makes me think it is an error in Zotero and not in the actual text file.

Does anyone know how I could fix this.
(I am using windows xp with all updates and firefox version 3.5.7)
*Edit Report ID 1377420574
«1
  • edited February 17, 2010
    Please include a Report ID.
  • edited February 18, 2010
    I am sorry, I should have included that the first time.
    report ID 1377420574

    The exact steps that will reproduce the problem with me every time:
    1) open reference manager
    2) export all references in list as RIS text file
    3) open firefox
    4) press the gear icon, select import
    5) select the previously exported text file
    6) let zotero try importing the file
    7) read error message: "An error occurred while trying to import the selected file. Please ensure that the file is valid and try again."

    *Edit I just realised I wasn't using the latest version of zotero. I however just upgraded it and the problem persists.
  • (That wasn't the Report ID. You should be able to copy the Report ID from the error reporting wizard—there's no need to retype it.)

    There's a problem with a URL in your RIS file. You can try finding the problematic entry, or you can upgrade to 2.0, in which this bug might be fixed. (If not, let us know.)
  • Ah, you meant the error report itself:
    [JavaScript Error: "[Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x804b000a (NS_ERROR_MALFORMED_URI) [nsIIOService.newURI]" nsresult: "0x804b000a (NS_ERROR_MALFORMED_URI)" location: "JS frame :: chrome://zotero/content/xpcom/translate.js :: anonymous :: line 1364" data: no]" {file: "file:///X:/Data/Application%20Data/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/577qd5z7.default/zotero/translators/RIS.js" line: 0}]

    Thanks for the fix btw. I tried updating to a newer zotero version, which did not help, but now I'll try to find the broken url.
    Thanks again.
  • edited February 18, 2010
    No, I meant the Report ID—but what you typed wasn't the correct id number. You transposed two digits.

    Try looking for a URL field made up of more than one file path (incorrectly, though Zotero should still be fixed to deal with it).
  • Ok, that's rather stupid of me, thanks for your patience :)
  • edited February 18, 2010
    So, the problem is fixed. The problem wasn't so much that an URL was broken, but that zotero doesn't seem to like links to pdfs

    Reference manager includes an option to link to pdfs on a local hard drive. Zotero tried to put these in its URL box. Reference manager however also has an option to link to a web page. Often, I would have both links in reference manager. I guess this sort of provided a conflict in Zotero.
    Anyway, after removing all the pdf links zotero had no problems importing the reference list anymore.

    Dan, thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!
  • The problem wasn't so much that an URL was broken, but that zotero doesn't seem to like links to pdfs
    Well, no, it does. Do you have an example that doesn't work?
  • I have the same problem with a fairly simple and small library. Report ID 930364919. It imports one record, then gives the error.
  • E-mail the RIS file to support@zot....org with a link to this thread or open it in a text editor and find the problematic record.
  • I am emailing the RIS file. I don't really know which record is problematic, or what my cue would be, although I am certainly willing to learn.
  • I'm having problems importing my library from RefMan12 to Zotero. I keep getting the error "An error occurred while trying to import the selected file. Please ensure that the file is valid and try again." Report ID 952004104.
    I've tried breaking the library into chunks of 100 refs but I get the same error. It looks as though the problem might be caused by entries with blank author/journal/journal abbrev. fields.
    Any ideas?

    Many thanks
  • Does this happen with a single reference? If so, can you post one such reference here?
    I'll take a look and see what we can do.
  • I think it has happened with a few references. Below is one that has (I think) caused an error:

    TY - JOUR
    ID - 291
    T1 - Zinc supplements for preventing otitis media
    A1 - Abba,Katharine
    A1 - Gulani,Anjana
    A1 - Sachdev Harshpal,S.
    Y1 - 2010///
    KW - Adult
    KW - analysis
    KW - Child,Preschool [checkword] Female [checkword] Humans [checkword] Infant [checkword] Male [checkword] Dietary Supplements Chlorides [therapeutic use] Developing Countries Gluconates [therapeutic use] Otitis Media [prevention & control] Randomized Control
    KW - Data Collection
    KW - Incidence
    KW - Infant
    KW - Inflammation
    KW - Risk
    RP - NOT IN FILE
    VL - Volume|
    IS - 2
    CY - Chichester, UK
    PB - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
    N2 - BACKGROUND: Otitis media (inflammation of the middle ear, usually caused by infection) affects people of all ages, but is particularly common in young children. Around 164 million people worldwide have long-term hearing loss caused by this condition, 90% of them in low-income countries. Because zinc supplements prevent pneumonia in disadvantaged children, we wondered whether they prevent otitis media. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether zinc supplements prevent otitis media in adults and children of different ages. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2009, issue 2) which includes the Acute Respiratory Infection Groups' Specialised Register; MEDLINE (1950 to June Week 1 2009); and EMBASE (1974 to June 2009). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised, placebo-controlled trials of zinc supplements given at least once a week for at least a month for preventing otitis media. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors assessed the eligibility and methodological quality of the included trials, extracted and analysed data and wrote the review. We summarised results using risk ratios or rate ratios for dichotomous data and mean differences for continuous data. We combined trial results where appropriate. MAIN RESULTS: We identified 12 trials for inclusion, 10 of which contributed outcomes data. In trials of healthy children living in low-income communities, two trials did not demonstrate a significant difference between the zinc supplemented and placebo groups in the numbers of participants experiencing an episode of definite otitis media during follow up (3191 participants), while another trial showed a significantly lower incidence rate of otitis media in the zinc group (rate ratio 0.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.61 to 0.79, n = 1621). A small trial of 39 infants undergoing treatment for severe malnutrition suggested a benefit of zinc on the mean number of episodes of otitis media (mean difference -1.12 episodes, 95% CI -2.21 to -0.03). Zinc supplements did not seem to cause any serious adverse events, but a small minority of children were reported to have vomited shortly after ingestion of the supplements. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Evidence on whether zinc supplementation can reduce the incidence of otitis media in healthy children under the age of five years living in low- and middle-income countries is mixed. There is some evidence of benefit in children being treated for marasmus, but this is based on one small trial and should therefore be treated with caution. ZINC SUPPLEMENTS FOR PREVENTING MIDDLE EAR INFECTIONS: Middle ear infections are common, especially among young children, usually causing earache and some temporary (occasionally permanent) hearing loss. Zinc is an essential micronutrient, which has a role in the optimal functioning of the immune system and resistance to infection. Some people, especially children in low- and middle-income countries, may not have adequate zinc intake from food alone. Researchers have therefore examined the potential role of zinc supplements in preventing infective illnesses, including middle ear infections.The review authors searched the medical literature for studies which compared middle ear infections in people randomly selected to receive zinc supplements or not receive supplements. Ten eligible studies were found, all conducted among young children. The results of the studies provided no convincing evidence that zinc supplements reduce the occurrence of middle ear infections in healthy children. However, in one small study of severely malnourished children, those receiving zinc supplements had fewer middle ear infections
    M3 - 10.1002/14651858.CD006639.pub2
    UR - http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD006639/frame.html
    ER -

    Thanks v much for this
  • When I import this into Zotero, it works fine (although I fixed the spacing first, since the forum messed it up). Try downloading my fixed version of the record from https://github.com/ajlyon/zotero-bits/raw/master/tmp.ris and importing into Zotero.
  • Thanks for that - it imported fine here too. I think the refs that are causing the problem weren't properly imported into RefMan to start with so have missing/bad information in some of the fields. I've managed to salvage my key refs so should be able to cope with losing the bad ones.
    Thanks again for your help. Very glad to be using Zotero!
  • I had some problems importing from Endnote to zotero as well. I exported from Endnote with file type set as 'Text Only', and Output style 'RefMan (RIS) Export'.
    The import would fail with similar error messages as those above. I found it would fail when it came to a reference with one of the following:
    TY = CPAPER - conference paper - replaced with CONF
    TY = WEB - website - replaced with ELEC
    TY = EDBOOK - edited book - replaced with BOOK
    TY = MANSCPT - manuscript - replaced with PAMP

    Also I found that the Endnote export file contained entries with 'L1' category. This seemed to contain output from the URL category in ENdnote - the same information was store din the 'UR' category. I just deleted the L1 line...

    This probably wasn't the correct way round to do things, but it seemed to work!
  • Those item types aren't in the spec, but we can add support for them. It would be nice to have a full list of the non-standard types that EndNote® outputs.
  • same problem, same error.
    I try to import .bib file which I have created with c2bib
    Any suggestions?
  • Hi there,
    Just learning the real greatness that is Zotero and I'm stuck on this same issue importing from Endnote. I'm in Zotero Standalone, if that matters.
    I've looked through the RIS text for bad URLs and don't see any, and I'm able to import a number of the references individually. What's my next move? Thanks!
  • You need to identify one or more references that don't import, and post them here so we can see what's preventing them from importing correctly.
  • Just found this one won't go... looking forward to learning something here. Thanks.

    TY - JOUR
    AB - Cultural parameters affecting the production of bioactive metabolites from Streptomyces tendae TK-VL_333 were studied under submerged conditions. Production of biomass as well as bioactive metabolites was tested in twelve culture media. Of these, tyrosine broth supported maximum yield of bioactive metabolites. Studies on the effect of different carbon and nitrogen sources indicated galactose and tyrosine as good carbon and nitrogen sources for bioactive metabolite production. Optimum temperature and pH for bioactive metabolite production were 30 degrees C and 7 respectively. The bioactive metabolites obtained from 96 h old culture of the strain showed strong antimicrobial activity against the opportunistic and pathogenic bacteria and fungi.
    AD - [Kavitha, A.; Vijayalakshmi, M.] Acharya Nagarjuna Univ, Dept Microbiol, Guntur 522510, Andhra Pradesh, India.
    Kavitha, A, Acharya Nagarjuna Univ, Dept Microbiol, Guntur 522510, Andhra Pradesh, India.
    muvvavl@yahoo.co.in
    AN - ISI:000272134300009
    AU - Kavitha, A.
    AU - Vijayalakshmi, M.
    DA - Nov
    J2 - Res. J. Biotechnol.
    KW - Actinomycetes
    Streptomyces tendae
    antibiotics
    medium optimization
    cultural conditions
    antifungal antibiotic production
    resistant staphylococcus-aureus
    full
    factorial design
    biosynthetic capacities
    antimicrobial activity
    secondary metabolites
    catabolite regulation
    neomycin production
    nitrogen-sources
    nikkomycins
    LA - English
    IS - 4
    M3 - Article
    N1 - ISI Document Delivery No.: 524HL
    Times Cited: 0
    Cited Reference Count: 40
    Kavitha, A. Vijayalakshmi, M.
    Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, India
    One of the author (AK) expresses her sincere thanks to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, India for awarding SRF.
    Research journal biotechnology
    Indore
    PY - 2009
    RN - Temperature (also C-source, pH, incubation time and medium) changes the anitbiotic productivity of a soil microbe. Implications for my experiments, mutualism & temp. differences and use in biocontrol. Think back to Kiyomi's differential media - differential morphology. All this differential media stuff begs for field and in vitro trials!!
    SN - 0973-6263
    SP - 56-64
    ST - Influence of cultural conditions on the production of bioactive metabolites by Streptomyces tendae TK-VL_333
    T2 - Research Journal of Biotechnology
    TI - Influence of cultural conditions on the production of bioactive metabolites by Streptomyces tendae TK-VL_333
    UR - <Go to ISI>://000272134300009
    VL - 4
    Y2 -)
    ID - 134
    ER -
  • The Y2 entry is invalid-- the field should have a secondary date of some sort, and ")" is not legit. I'm always amazed at how bad EndNote's RIS export is, considering that it was developed as part of Refman, now part of the same parent company.
  • Huh... many thanks! Zotero is great, so far!
  • Report Error ID: 356206989
    I am having the same problem. When I imported my first endnote library it was fine, but I was trying to add additional endnote libraries and I receive the same java error message. I even tried to only import only two references.

    TY - CHAP
    AU - Goodman, Alan H.
    AU - Martin, Debra L.
    AU - Armelagos, George J.
    AU - Clark, George
    PY - 1984
    BT - Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture
    ED - Cohen, MN
    ED - Armelagos, G
    CT - Indications of Stress from Bone and Teeth
    CY - New York
    PB - Academic Press
    SP - 13-49
    N1 - Indications of Stress from Bone and Teeth
    ID - 2
    ER -

    TY - JOUR
    AU - Goodman, Alan H.
    AU - Thomas, R. Brooke
    AU - Swedlund, Alan C.
    AU - Armelagos, George J.
    PY - 1988
    TI - Biocultural Perspectives on Stress in Prehistoric, Historical, and Contemporary Population Research
    SP - 169-202
    JF - Yearbook of Physical Anthropology
    VL - 31
    N1 - Biocultural Perspectives on Stress in Prehistoric, Historical, and Contemporary Population Research
    ID - 5
    ER -

    Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
  • that's a bug in the translator introduced recently (if you're in a hurry, deleting the N1 lines that are the same as the title will fix this).
    We'll try to fix this asap.
  • I see one violation to the specification and possibly a second one. I'm not sure how tolerant the import script is. It could be that these are not fatal errors.

    The author name should be formatted
    AU - Lastname,Firstname

    That is, with no space between the comma and the first name.

    I cannot identify the spacing between the 2character tag and the data but the standard is:

    AU(space)(space)-(space)lastname
  • (see above - the import is quite robust, there is just a small bug. The translator removes N1 when it's equivalent to the title, but it does so in a way that currently causes Zotero to fail.)
  • Indeed. I fixed it and I'll push the update out later today. I want to incorporate one last change into RIS translator before sending this out to everyone.
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