Files on a WebDAV server

What WebDAV is and who needs it

WebDAV is a standard way of keeping files on a server of your own instead of a company's cloud. Nextcloud, ownCloud, InfiniCLOUD (TeraCLOUD), Jianguoyun, Koofr, university drives and most home NAS boxes all speak it.

Zotero editionZotero syncs the files attached to your papers either through Zotero Storage or through your own WebDAV server — you choose in Zotero on your computer, under Settings → Sync → File Syncing. If you chose WebDAV, Zotero's servers never hold your PDFs, so Rectoly cannot fetch them from there: every paper shows File not synced until you set the same server up here. Once you have, Rectoly reads from it and writes to it just as Zotero does.

Mendeley editionRectoly can browse a WebDAV server and take a PDF from it — to read on this device, or to add to Mendeley. It is one more way a PDF reaches you, beside your Mendeley library, the files on your device and the watched folder.

Zotero editionIf your PDFs were instead moved out of Zotero by ZotFile or ZotMoov, that is a different setting. See Files linked with ZotFile or ZotMoov.

Set up WebDAV Zotero edition

Use exactly what Zotero on your computer uses. In Zotero the setting is Settings → Sync → File Syncing; copy the URL, the user name and the password from there.

1. Open the setting in Rectoly:
   • Mac · iPadSettings › Sync & Backup › File syncing (WebDAV).
   • WindowsSettings › Sync › File syncing (WebDAV).
2. Set Sync attachment files using to WebDAV.
3. Leave the connection on https and type the URL — only the part between the scheme and /zotero/, for example example.teracloud.jp/dav. Rectoly adds /zotero/ itself, so leave it off; Zotero's own settings work the same way.
4. Type the Username and Password. Several services want a separate password here — see App passwords.
5. Press Verify Server.

Verify Server checks that the address really is a WebDAV server, that your user name and password are accepted, and that Rectoly can put a test file there and read it back again. When it passes, the row reads Verified with the date. Rectoly also verifies by itself before the first transfer if you never pressed the button.

If the zotero folder is not on the server yet, Rectoly asks "…/zotero/ does not exist. Do you want to create it now?" Choose Create and the check carries on. That folder is where Zotero keeps every attachment, so it has to exist.

Some servers do not show a file the instant it is uploaded. Rectoly then says the test file could not be read back right away, marks the server usable anyway, and carries on.

An unencrypted http address is accepted only for a server inside your home or lab network (192.168.…, .local and the like), with a warning that the connection is not encrypted. For anything else, choose https. A certificate Rectoly cannot verify — a self-signed one, for instance — is refused; there is no way to accept it, exactly as in Zotero.

Opening a paper Zotero edition

Nothing changes in how you read. Open a paper; if its PDF is not on the device yet, Rectoly fetches it from your WebDAV server, unpacks it and opens it. See Downloading PDFs and reading offline.

• Papers whose files were still in Zotero Storage when you switched keep opening from there, so a mixed library works without any tidying up.
• Papers in a group library always come from Zotero Storage. See Group libraries and handwriting.
• If the PDF is not on the server yet, Rectoly says This PDF isn't on your WebDAV server. Sync files from Zotero on your computer first. Zotero uploads files at its next sync, so the usual cure is to let your computer finish syncing.

Rectoly checks each file it downloads against the fingerprint Zotero recorded for it, and refuses a damaged one rather than opening it.

PDFs you add in Rectoly Zotero edition

While WebDAV is chosen, everything Rectoly adds to your Zotero library goes to your WebDAV server instead of Zotero Storage: Adding a PDF to Zotero, the watched folder, and PDFs shared to Rectoly from another app.

Rectoly creates the item in Zotero, uploads the file to your server, and records on the item which file belongs to it. Zotero on your computer picks the file up at its next sync and shows it like any other attachment. Nothing else has to be done on the computer.

• Adding to a group library still goes to Zotero Storage, because groups cannot use WebDAV.
• If your server is full, Rectoly says Your WebDAV server is out of space and the paper is not added.
• If the upload is interrupted, it carries on where it stopped the next time Rectoly runs; the steps are safe to repeat.
• Signing out removes the stored password, as it removes your Zotero login. Until you type it again, Rectoly stops before adding a PDF rather than quietly putting it in Zotero Storage.

Group libraries and handwriting Zotero edition

• Group, public and feed libraries always use Zotero Storage. Zotero itself does not allow WebDAV for them, so nothing about a group changes when you choose WebDAV.
• Handwriting stays in Zotero Storage. Rectoly keeps Reading Mode handwriting in a small file of its own beside the paper in Zotero, and that file goes to Zotero Storage even when your PDFs are on WebDAV — so handwriting still reaches your other Rectoly devices. See Sharing handwriting between tablets and PCs.
• Switching back to Zotero Storage costs nothing: papers already on the WebDAV server keep opening as long as the server settings are still there, and PDFs already on the device are never removed. Deciding what to do with the files themselves is a job for Zotero on your computer.
• Rectoly never deletes anything from your server that it did not put there itself.

Add your server Mendeley edition

1. Open the setting:
   • Mac · iPadSettings › Sync & Backup › WebDAV server.
   • WindowsSettings › Sync › WebDAV server.
2. Leave the connection on https and type the URL of the folder you want to start from. A Nextcloud address looks like cloud.example.com/remote.php/dav/files/USER; a university drive or a NAS has its own. Type it without a user name and without any ? or # part.
3. Type the Username and Password. Several services want a separate password here — see App passwords.
4. Press Test Connection. When it passes, the row reads Verified, and the browser is ready to use.

One server at a time. Remove clears the settings and deletes the stored password from the device. You need to be signed in to Mendeley to set a server up.

An unencrypted http address is accepted only for a server inside your home or lab network, with a warning. For anything else, choose https; a certificate Rectoly cannot verify is refused.

Browse the server and open a PDF Mendeley edition

• Mac · iPadIn the library, choose … › Open from WebDAV…, or Add to Mendeley from WebDAV….
• WindowsClick ⋮ above the library list › Open from WebDAV…, or Add to Mendeley from WebDAV…. While reading, the same items are in the Import menu above the paper.

The browser lists folders and PDFs only — everything else on the server is left out. Open a folder to go into it and use the trail above the list to come back. Name and Date modified sort the list. Rectoly remembers the folder you were in last time.

Then choose a PDF:

• Open brings it onto this device and opens it, with every reading tool available. It joins your other device-only PDFs, so you can open it again for free later. See Opening a PDF without signing in. Picking the same file again does not download it twice unless it changed on the server.
• Add to Mendeley uploads it to your library through the usual confirmation of title, authors and year. See Adding a PDF to Mendeley. You can select several PDFs and have them added one after another.

Rectoly only reads your server: it never uploads to it, renames anything or deletes anything. A folder with more than a few thousand entries is not listed — Too many items. Split the folder.

App passwords

Several services refuse your ordinary sign-in password over WebDAV and want a separate one, usually called an app password. If your user name and password are refused although they are right, this is almost always why — and with two-factor authentication turned on it is compulsory.

• Nextcloud and ownCloud: create an app password in your personal security settings, and use it in place of your sign-in password. The user name stays the same.
• InfiniCLOUD (TeraCLOUD): turn on the apps connection on your account page — it issues an app password, shown only once, to use instead of your website password.
• Jianguoyun: add an application in the account's security settings; it gives you the password to use here.

The user name is the one the service itself shows for WebDAV, which is not always your e-mail address.

Where your password is kept

The address, the user name and the password are kept on this device only, and the password is stored encrypted by the system:

• Mac · iPadin the keychain;
• Windowsencrypted for your Windows account;

They are sent to your server and nowhere else. Rectoly's own servers never see them, and neither Mendeley nor Zotero is told that you use WebDAV. Signing out deletes the password from the device; the rest of the settings stay, so you only have to type the password again. See Your data.

When something goes wrong

Every failure names your server, never Rectoly's.

The diagnostics file records what kind of failure happened, never the address, the user name or the file names. See Troubleshooting.