Can't open recent PDFs in PDF viewer
I can't open any PDF files of the entries I made on Oct 20, 2011 or later in the internal or external PDF viewer. Opening the containing folder works fine, and for any older entries, it works, too (I don't have any new entries from Oct 5 to Oct 19).
Maybe I updated Mendeley around that time, but didn't notice early enough.
Backup+restore doesn't help.
If I remove a PDF from an older entry and add it again, the viewer still works, so it seems to depend only on the date of the entry, not on when I added the PDF.
The last working entry is the 266th, so this doesn't seem to be a magic number thing right now...
Bernhard Stadler
shared this idea
15 comments
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Bernhard Stadler
commented
Maybe your file:/// URL handler doesn't support symbolic links, but only normal files and directories?
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Bernhard Stadler
commented
The desktop shortcut is actually a symbolic link
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Bernhard Stadler
commented
I also looked into the DB, and the URLs in the Files table actually differ!
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Bernhard Stadler
commented
I see the difference now:
Last year, I created a shortcut or symbolic link or a junction (I'm not sure which) on my desktop to my eclipse workspace, which contains my literature in a subfolder "Literature".
Then, I navigated through that shortcut to my "Literature" folder and drag+dropped it to my favorite folders, so I could reach the folder more quickly.
Those files that were added by navigating through that favorite entry or the desktop shortcut don't work, while those added by navigating directly through my user folder work.It's probably a problem caused by shortcuts/junctions/symbolic links.
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Bernhard Stadler
commented
Or maybe it's because I created a shortcut on my desktop... I'll test that again
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Bernhard Stadler
commented
In version 1.5.1, an error message like "Could not open 'some\relative\path\myfile.pdf'" is displayed, which makes clear what the problem is:
I was using the normal Windows 7 file chooser to select the files.
The files are located in my user folder, like "C:\Users\MyUser\some\relative\path\myfile.pdf".
In the folder view of the Windows 7 "open file" dialog, the user folder ("C:\Users\MyUser") is displayed directly under "Desktop", but you can also choose it by selecting "C:", then "Users", then "MyUser", etc.
When I choose the files the first way, opening fails with the error "Could not open 'some\relative\path\myfile.pdf'", which is obviously is the case because Mendeley Desktop only stored the relative path from my user folder. When I browse through "C:\" etc., opening the file works again.Please fix this bug - I think it's just changing a few lines in your code.
But how can I repair my database without having to go through hundreds of entries manually?
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Bernhard Stadler
commented
Seems that the "Oct 20 - yesterday" hypothesis was not entirely true. Right now, I can't open those from Oct 20 to Nov 15, the first two of three documents from Nov 16, those from Nov 30 to Dec 2, and those from Jan 5, 2012.
It's a time range with gaps now, but still there are intervals of time where I can't open the PDFs, so it does correlate with time.
I can exclude that the problem is related to the folders the PDFs are placed in because there is a folder with two files one of which can be opened and the other can't. -
Bernhard Stadler
commented
I also tried backup + delete AppData folder + restore, but it didn't help either
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Bernhard Stadler
commented
I wrote that the bug was fixed an hour ago but it seems I was wrong - the bug still exists in Mendeley 1.3
@robert.knight: Yes, they are added correctly and have an icon. The entries look exactly like ones where opening the pdf file works. Their only difference is the date: All entries up to Oct 4 work (if there an exististing file is associated), and from Oct 20 to Jan 5 they don't.
Entries added today do work, however. I'm not sure whether this was the case all the time.
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Bernhard Stadler
commented
This bug seems to be fixed now.
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Anonymous
commented
I'm getting increasingly frustrated by and not a little suspicious of Mendeley. Zero support despite emails and posting. I'm beginning to suspect this 'free' offering will go increasingly downhill, and we will end up with our heavy time investment, and so be 'persuaded' to sign up and pay for a 'better' version. A variant on bait and switch...
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Anonymous
commented
Is there any previous mendeley version available that doesn't require any logging in and later decide to crash when the poor laptop doesn't have the memory needed for the uploaded files? I can't access my mendeley DESKTOP. I cannot afford to share online, not with my old laptop.
I miss the older version.. -
Anonymous
commented
Not very impressed with Mendeley staff responsiveness...have sent two emails and posted here and not a squeak from them...
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Anonymous
commented
Similar problem here. Can open (view) one or two pdfs internally in Mendeley, then it stops working. Something opens, but the pages are blank - no rendered content. Have restart Mendeley to get it working which takes forever - Mendeley keeps working as a hidden process long after apparently closing and trying to restart it with the hidden process running causes mayhem.
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Adminrobert.knight
(Admin, Mendeley)
commented
Hello - Did any of the files get moved outside of Mendeley? Do the files have a PDF icon in Mendeley or do they have an icon with a little yellow warning sign?
