In previous versions of EndNote, the PDF were named according files names given by the user. In X6, the PDF’s are given names including numbers. What is the reason for doing this?
We changed how the files were named in X6 in order to minimize issues with Windows and their max character path length limit (preserving cross-platform compatibility in case you have a Mac). It’s an area we are continuing to look at for future improvements.
- Tilla
Mathilda Edmunds, the EndNote team
Thanks. Yes, I’m a Mac user. It was easier when the pdf had the author names. However, I guess it is possible to rename the pdfs manually.
Thank you for the update on this. While I’m sure there was a good behind the scenes purpose for this change, from my user viewpoint, it was a “very bad thing”. Like many users, my workflow has grown to span multiple programs on multiple devices. My PDF are stored in my EndNote library, mostly, but I move them in and out (or reference them from) Scrivener, iAnnotate (iPad), DevonThink, Skim, etc. Meaningful folder and document names that don’t change unexpectedly is pretty key to making that process work.
Several competing products provide an option of no change to the document name or a configurable set of logical options, e.g., renaming to “1st Author, Year, Journal”. I’d love to see EndNote provide such an option.
Best and thanks!
Hello,
I am writing my dissertation proposal and after reading many forums I have decided to use quite the same softwares like you do: DevonThink Pro Office, Circus Ponies Notebook, Scrivener, and EndNote as my reference manager.
I have some idea how to co-ordinate my work between EndNote and DevonThink but I would like to get any hint about your research process since it seems you are much more knowledgeable about those two softwares than me.
I appreciate any help you may post.
Thank you!