Help! Word could not communicate with Zotero

samuelas
Hi. I keep getting the error message: "Word could not communicate with Zotero. Please ensure that Firefox is open and start again." But FF IS open! Please help!
thanks,
Sam
(Word 08, FF 2.5, Zotero 2.0b7.2, Plugin 3.0a5, 0S X.6)
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  • Simon
    Try opening /Applications/Utilities/Terminal and typing:

    ls -l ~/.zoteroIntegrationPipe
    You should see output that looks like:

    prw-r--r-- 1 simon simon 0 Oct 4 18:39 /Users/simon/.zoteroIntegrationPipe
    (The name will be yours, and the date will be different, but everything else should be the same.) If this works, then try:

    echo 'MacWord2008 addCitation' > ~/.zoteroIntegrationPipe
    Post the output here.
  • samuelas
    Thanks for the response! As far as I can tell, no postable output: inserting that in the terminal actually allows me to insert citations into a document--no other output happens! But when I try to use the apple script menu, I still get nothing. Does this make any sense?

    best,
    Sam
  • Simon
    edited October 4, 2009
    Huh. Try pasting this into the URL bar in Firefox:

    applescript://com.apple.scripteditor?action=new&script=alias%20((path%20to%20home%20folder%20as%20text)%20%26%20%22.zoteroIntegrationPipe%22)%0d%0ado%20shell%20script%20%22echo%20'MacWord2008%20addCitation'%20%3e%20%7e%2f.zoteroIntegrationPipe%22

    When Firefox asks, press "OK" to let it be opened in Script Editor, and then press Run. Post any error message you see here.
  • samuelas
    OK: I tried the first one again and saw this from the Word dialogue:

    "COMMAND: app(u'/Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Microsoft Word.app').make(new=k.custom_document_property,with_properties={k.name: u'ZOTERO_PREF_1',k.value: u'<data>session id="iRWZ1WDR"/><style id="http://www.zotero.org/styles/asa" hasBibliography="0"/></prefs></data>'}, at=app(u'/Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Microsoft Word.app.active_document.end)
  • samuelas
    2nd: I pasted the other into Fireforx: here is the output:

    alias ((path to home folder as text) & ".zoteroIntegrationPipe")
    do shell script "echo 'MacWord2008 addCitation' > ~/.zoteroIntegrationPipe"

    What do you think?

    thanks!
    s
  • Simon
    You might see that message if you try that command with no document open in Word, but it's unrelated to the issue at hand.
  • Simon
    Re 2: that's just the content of the script. You have to click "Run" at the top of the window to run it, and the output should appear in the lower pane.
  • samuelas
    OK, here's the output when I run it: error "File alias αυ’´ρα:Users:sam:.zoteroIntegrationPipe of «script» wasn’t found." number -43

    Mean anything?
    s
  • samuelas
    Is there a problem because my disk has a greek name?
  • Simon
    Yes, that's probably the issue. This is a bug in AppleScript, but we'll work around it in the next release. For now, if you rename your disk, everything should work properly.
  • samuelas
    Oops. Yeah, I think that's the problem. Changed the disk's name and it worked... so weird!
  • t0m
    hi.
    i have the same problem
    so i tried to paste :

    applescript://com.apple.scripteditor?action=new&script=alias%20((path%20to%20home%20folder%20as%20text)%20%26%20%22.zoteroIntegrationPipe%22)%0d%0ado%20shell%20script%20%22echo%20'MacWord2008%20addCitation'%20%3e%20%7e%2f.zoteroIntegrationPipe%22

    in the url bar firefox

    i obtained this message

    error "Le fichier alias Macintosh HD:Users:t0m:.zoteroIntegrationPipe of «script» est introuvable." number -43

    what can i do now to resolve this pb?

    thanks
  • lingley
    Dear Simon,

    I face a similar problem after upgrading to Zotero 2.0.2 and the new MacWord plugin 3.0a9.

    The error message reads:

    error "Die Datei „alias ILU:Users:ILU:.zoteroIntegrationPipe of «script»“ wurde nicht gefunden." number -43

    (it basically means the file, "alias..........." could not be found.

    Thanks and regards
    lingley
  • Simon
    edited March 19, 2010
    In 3.0a9, the above script should fail. If you're getting the "Word could not communicate with Firefox" error, one of two things is wrong. Either you have a space in your username, which breaks 3.0a9, or, more likely, you're both on non-English systems and canceled the dialog asking you to find the Word Script Menu Items folder after the upgrade. In the latter case, go to Tools->Add-ons, click "Preferences" next to Zotero MacWord Integration, click "Reinstall Word Components," select the appropriate folder (should be in the localized equivalent of Documents/Microsoft User Data/Word Script Menu Items), and restart Word.
  • dstillman
    The issue with OS X account names containing spaces is now fixed in the latest MacWord plugin. You can update via Firefox's Tools menu -> Add-ons -> Extensions -> Find Updates or from the installation page.
  • o_o_ogi
    ID: 1286406114

    I also have the same problem. Word keeps saying "Word cannot communicate with Zotero."

    1: I have my account name does not contain any spaces.
    2: I tried the other solution posted in this discussion, but nothing happens when I click "Reinstall Word Components." I could not find any updates when I follow Firefox's Tools menu -> Add-ons -> Extensions -> Find Updates.

    I am using Mac OS X 10.5.8,
    MacWord 2008,
    Firefox 3.6.2,
    Zotero 2.0.2,
    MacWord Integration 3.0b.1

    PLEASE HELP ME!!
  • dstillman
    Try reinstalling PythonExt from the installation page.
  • o_o_ogi
    Thanks!
    I tried, and it says "PythonExt does not work in FF 3.6.2"
    Should I uninstall Firefox 3.6.2 and install FF 3.5?
  • o_o_ogi
    For your information, PythonExt which is currently installed is version 2.6.2.20100203.
  • dstillman
    edited March 25, 2010
    The zotero.org version of PythonExt—I'm just saying to reinstall the version you have.

    It should work fine in 3.6.2.
  • o_o_ogi
    edited March 25, 2010
    Thanks for the clarification! I reinstall it, but the same message appeared again when I use Word... And I cannot re-install MacWord Components as well.
    Is this issue caused by my PC and Word run by Japanese language?
  • o_o_ogi
    I uninstalled both PythonExt and MacWord Integration, and then installed latest ones.
    But the same message "Word could not communicate with Zotero" appeared.
    What can I do? What is the problem?????
  • Simon
    Check if there's a Zotero folder in Documents/Microsoft User Data/Word Script Menu Items. Then check in your Documents folder for a folder with an equivalent Japanese name. If an equivalent folder exists, move the Zotero folder from Documents/Microsoft User Data/Word Script Menu Items to the appropriate Japanese folder, and delete the Microsoft User Data/Word Script Menu Items folder.
  • o_o_ogi
    I found Zotero folder in Word Script Menu Items, in Microsoft User Data with Japanese name. I did not see any folder with English name "Microsoft User Data".

    I think Zotero folder exists in correct place, if I understood your instruction correctly. What else would you suggest?
  • Simon
    Can you open one of the scpt files (it doesn't matter which) in the Zotero folder in Word Script Menu Items, copy the text starting with "do shell script" and ending with "on error," and paste it here?
  • o_o_ogi
    I opened Add Bibliography file and it says:

    do shell script "echo 'MacWord2008 addBibliography' > ~/.zoteroIntegrationPipe"
    on error
    display alert "Word could not communicate with Zotero. Please ensure that Firefox is open and try again." as critical
  • Simon
    Your scripts are out of date. Try opening your Firefox profile directory, navigating to extensions/zoteroMacWordIntegration@zotero.org/install, and opening install.applescript. Click "Run." You should see a dialog asking you to locate the Word Script Menu Items folder. If you do, navigate to the directory you found previously. If not, something weird is going on, and I'll need to ask a few more questions before I can get to the bottom of this.
  • o_o_ogi
    edited October 6, 2010
    I run the install.applescript, and got the following:

    [script removed — D.S.]

    But I got an error message saying "There needs " ", but..."
    What can I do?
  • Simon
    What's the entire error message?
  • o_o_ogi
    The message says,
    "Found identifier where shoud be ","", and it highlights "com" part below.

    (run script "version of application id ¥"com.Microsoft.Word¥"") as text ｳ 12
This discussion has been closed.