[GUI Plugin] Zotero Metadata Importer

[DaltonST]

You are not reading my post #20 that explains why you are wasting your time. Zotero does not support what you are trying to do. I stated why. Read my post #20 carefully.

If you wish to pursue this, you should test your ZMI .ris export file after manually changing it in a Text Editor using Search & Replace. Then, import it into Zotero.

You should contact Zotero Support as to why their RIS Import Translator, RIS.js, does not support automatically creating a link to a file attachment using the L1 tag. This is not a Calibre issue. It is a Zotero issue.

[DaltonST]

aquiaolad:

I have been running Zotero in its debug mode, and have discovered that the reason that L1 is not being honored is because the Path to the Calibre Library's Book, such as "S:/Calibre/CalibreZotero/AlfredCoppel/Flight from Time (5558).pdf", is not (per Zotero itself) a valid URI.

I manually changed the L1 path for a ZMI RIS export .ris file to "https://www.mobileread.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=146807&d=1456852975", which is a random .pdf file for one of my Calibre plugins stored on mobileread.com, and Zotero properly attached it after downloading it.

So, the challenge is to find a Path to a Calibre book that Zotero will view as a valid URI. If it is on the Internet, then it is valid.

Example of what did not work: S:\Calibre\CalibreZotero\AlfredCoppel\Flight from Time (5558).pdf

However, this worked perfectly: C:\Users\DaltonST\Zotero\storage\2VKJEH7F\1461.de. pdf

Zotero is written in JavaScript, and totally integrated with the Internet, so it plays by a different set of rules.

I will test using the new Calibre Server to see if pointing to that in some fashion passes the Zotero URI litmus test. I can change ZMI as necessary to facilitate a valid L1 URI.

I will look at this further until I can determine some workaround that works with Calibre, but I thought you would want to know.




DaltonST

[BetterRed]

Not sure if its relevant: when I want a URI for file, such as D:\Documents\Hart's Style Guide.pdf, I use a string such as this ==>> file:///D:/Documents/Hart%27s%20Style%20Guide.pdf

Essentially, prefix with "file:///", change back-slashes to forward-slashes, and url-encode any non-alphanumeric characters.

BR

[DaltonST]

Thanks.

[DaltonST]

Oh well, nothing is ever that simple.

Zotero absolutely hates Calibre's naming of subdirectories for its books, and throws an error if a perfectly valid Path in Windows and in Calibre is used if a subdirectory has anything that Zotero could possibly interpret as part of a URI that it has to make "human readable".

Extracted from Zotero's Debug History:

GOOD: Translate: Got file S:\Calibre\CalibreZotero\Ackerman, Diane\The Zookeepers Wife (5557)\qs_basic_functionality_overview (1).pdf as absolute path


BAD: Translate: File at absolute path S:\Calibre\CalibreZotero\Ackerman, Diane\The Zookeeper’s Wife (5557)\qs_basic_functionality_overview (1).pdf does not exist.


This is a Zotero error, since in reality, "The Zookeeper’s Wife (5557)" in Calibre is actually spelled "The Zookeeper’s Wife (5557)", but Zotero tries to prettify it, thereby ruining it by changing "Zookeeper’s" to "Zookeeper's".

Using Qt or Python to create a valid local file URI does not help matters, since Zotero will do the same thing as shown above.


Later this week I will post a new version of ZMI that copies the selected Calibre ebooks to a temporary folder with a simple folder name and with a simple temporary file name, and then points the RIS attachments specified in RIS Tags L1 (pdf) and L3 (epub, etc.) to the appropriate simple temporary files.

RIS Tag M2 "Extras" will still default to the original Calibre book path for future reference.


DaltonST

[DaltonST]

Deleted. Instead, see: Version 1.0.56 RIS Export Tag L1 for PDF file attachments

[aquiaolado]

Thanks for your efforts.

[aquiaolado]

DaltonST:

This is strange now.

Let me tell you what I did.

You must have changed the value of {path} because before the value of {path} did not return the full path, it returned the path without the filename.

Let me tell you what I did.

I used the Beta version, added it to Calibre

Tried to export a RIS file of one book and succeded. Then I went to Zotero and imported that file, as you said Zotero imported all the data and attached the pdf file.

I went to see the file attached and the name of the pdf was a random name composed of 4 numbers.

So everything worked has you said it would.

Then, by curiosity, I went to see the values in the RIS file. And I was surprised that it is not present the prefix "file:///". So you changed much more then only the value of {path}, also how it is presented.

Anyway I then tried to go a step further and substituted the value of L1 for the value of M2 (that has the full original path), save the file and imported it o Zotero, and it worked: it imported the file with the correct name.

Is there a way for you to let the L1 row be editable again, since {path} now delivers the full path and the way you made it doesn't require de "file:///" to be imported, it would makes things operable in a simple way.

Am I seeing this wrongly?

Thanks.

[DaltonST]

Your data just happened to work. You are lucky. I have to design for all scenarios, not just for the best-case scenario. Also, you are wrong about the number being random. It is the Calibre book id. That is shown in yellow in the example attached to my last post. It ties to M2 which is Extra in Zotero, and shows the Calibre full path of the attachment. Audit trail.

Also, file:/// is not needed at all.

Added: Zotero has plugins that will rename any or all file attachments however you please. "ZotFile" is one of those, if memory serves.


DaltonST

[DaltonST]

Version 1.0.57 - 2018-04-07 New: RIS Export Tag L4 for Ebook file attachments

Version 1.0.56 - 2018-04-07 New: RIS Export Tag L1 for PDF file attachments

ZMI now both imports files from Zotero into Calibre, and exports files from Calibre for import into Zotero.



DaltonST

[DaltonST]

Version 1.0.58 - 2018-04-11 New: Add the Zotero Key to each just-exported Calibre book after its import into Zotero so that the ZMI:Comparison Tab functionality may be used for both books imported from Zotero and Zotero books imported from Calibre.


See the attached example with ToolTips that explain the process.


DaltonST

[EmilThelonius]

Thank you so much for your work!

I have one question: Is there a possibility to have the original files just in one directory. I use to markup the files and don't want to have them double (one being in the Zotero file directory and one being in the calibre directory)...

[DaltonST]

Select All Books > Right Click Mouse > Remove Books > Remove All Formats from Selected Books. See the attached image.


DaltonST

[dzgarza]

Hi all,

Thanks for the work on the attachment, I'm really enjoying it so far.

I was hoping to use this to import links to each book, leaving the Calibre Library directory as the single source of everything.

I read through the thread a bit and saw that there were previous issues with this, sometimes depending on directory names and filenames. I also saw that there were a few workarounds, including copying files to a temp directory and pointing there.

I just wanted to see what the current status was, and whether or not it's possible to accomplish this linking at the moment.

(Note: in my exported RIS file, I do see M2 tags that point to the correct directories, as well as L1 tags that point to files in /tmp.)

Also, if there is a way to accomplish this by changing the naming scheme within Calibre somehow, I'd be willing to try that!

[DaltonST]

The Original Post, its attachments, and the ZMI plug-in's ToolTips contain the only up-to-date information that needs to be read. All old posts should be ignored as they often are deprecated or obsolete, add no value, and are a waste of time to peruse. To answer any questions you may have, simply download and carefully review the image attachments to the Original Post, then create a test Library, install ZMI, read the ToolTips (they are the documentation), and use it. It is all self-explanatory.


DaltonST