Library won't open

EndNote EndNote General
1

I recently transfered all of my files from my old Mac to a new Mac. I am running EndNote X2, and when I opened it on my new computer I could open any of my old EndNote libraries except for the one I created most recently (which houses over 100 references I’ve created so far for my dissertation). When I try to open that library I get the message “The document [libraryname.enl] could not be opened.” But I have no problems openining any of the other various libraries on my computer.

I went back to my old computer and for some reason the library won’t open on that computer either (even though it was working fine 2 days ago). I pulled up a backed up copy of the library on my old computer that did not include the most recent changes (in case the most recent changes were what messed it up).  But I still had the same problem - it won’t open.

I tried the “recover library” function in the tools menu but it didn’t work, since 0 citations were recovered.

Any idea what gives? Why on earth would this one library stop working when all the rest are just fine?

2

The key question is HOW did you transfer your files and which files did you transfer.  Did you compress the library first and transfer the .enlx file, or did you try to just move the .enl file, which is incomplete.  To recover a library you need the .DATA folder and its contents.  the .enl file is pretty much useless without it. As I recall, the Mac libraries may even have other structure restrictions.