user-defined wildcard problem when default is set to ""

[jmiserez]

In previous versions of Zotfile (3.2), the following worked:

• Renaming a item of type Document or Web Page with a one or more linked pdf attachments.
• Selecting such an item and previewing the rename rules in the Zotfile preferences.

However, since the upgrade to 4.1.3 this doesn't seem to work anymore, the error being Unknown Error "{}". Renaming works fine for items with full metadata (with metadata), but for simple Documents or Web Page items it consistently fails.
Selecting such an item and then trying to preview the renaming rules does nothing and just prints [Please select a zotero item to see a preview of your renaming rules] as if no item was selected.

Any ideas what the problem might be?

[jlegewie]

This works for me. My guess that the problem is not related to the item type but something else?

[jmiserez]

I am 100% sure it is related to the item type, because my current workaround is setting the item type to Conference Paper and then it works. Set it back to Web Page and it doesn't work anymore.

Sample steps:

• Create a new item of type Document
• Change the title to "Test"
• Add Attachment->Attach Link to File (select any file)
• Manage Attachments->Rename Attachments (this won't work)
• Change item type to Conference Paper
• Manage Attachments->Rename Attachments (this works)

I've also tried setting the Renaming Rules to the simplest I can think of (%t), but it does not seem to make a difference. I also tried a few different item types:

Some that work are:

• Conference Paper
• Journal Article

Some that don't work are:

• Document
• Web Page
• Report
• Thesis
• Magazine Article

I also tried it with some items that actually are conference papers, if I set them to Document the renaming stops working; setting them back to Conference Paper fixes the issue.

I'm running Zotero 4.0.26.2, and ZotFile 4.1.3, no other addons. I'll try 4.1.4 and report back.

[jlegewie]

Sorry, I still can't reproduce this even when I follow your steps exactly. Could it be related to other settings? Do you import attachments "attach stored copy of file(s)" or use linked attachments with a custom location? etc

[jmiserez]

I just tried it with the absolute latest version (commit 396d458), and it's still there. Let me try it with a vanilla Zotero database/installation.

I should mention that I'm on Linux. But it worked on older versions, so it can't just be that.

[jmiserez]

Okay I can't reproduce the issue on a vanilla database, so I guess you can go ahead and close this issue. FWIW, I use linked attachments in a Dropbox folder but that also worked with the vanilla install.

[jmiserez]

I figured it out...!

The reason was a custom setting for extensions.zotfile.wildcards.user. This gets evaluated even if it's not used in the renaming field.

I had the following wildcards defined:

{  
   "1":{  
      "default":"",
      "journalArticle":{  
         "field":"series",
         "operations":[  
            {  
               "function":"replace",
               "regex":"\\W",
               "replacement":"",
               "flags":"g"
            }
         ]
      },
      "conferencePaper":{  
         "field":"series",
         "operations":[  
            {  
               "function":"replace",
               "regex":"\\W",
               "replacement":"",
               "flags":"g"
            }
         ]
      }
   }
}

(simplifies the series field, e.g. PLDI '14 to PLDI14)

And is the wildcard I used: {%a - }{%y - }{%1|%w - }{%t}.

However, even when not using the %1 ZotFile trips up, e.g. when using the default %c/{%y_}{%a_}{%t} it also doesn't work. Changing "default":"" to "default":{} fixes the issue for good.