a reader for DT files on Windows PC

[rarbeit]

I appreciate that a full port of DT to Windows PC would be a great effort.

But what about just a way to read the files on a PC (without having to export every time)?

Even read without search would be a big boon.

Thanks for a great program.

bob

[Bill_DeVille]

@rarbeit

I appreciate that a full port of DT to Windows PC would be a great effort.

But what about just a way to read the files on a PC (without having to export every time)?

Even read without search would be a big boon.

Thanks for a great program.

Thanks, Bob:

Making a viewer for Windows just to see files would be a bit tricky with the current database. But DT Pro version 2.0 will allow one to disclose all the contained documents.

I sometimes feel a bit sorry for some of my Windows-using friends. There’s nothing in the Windows world that quite matches DT Pro and DEVONagent. James Fallows compared dtSearch to DEVONthink Pro. In many ways, dtSearch is a remarkable program and can scale up to search large data sets. But DT Pro has the ability to let me put my personal stamp on a database by my choice of contents and actions. For me, that allows it to perform better in artificial intelligence operations than could dtSearch.

DT Pro allows me to write and edit within my database, and to link and relate elements in a way resembling Vannevar Bush’s Memex. DT Pro isn’t just a search machine with AI features. I can actually “evolve” the information as Bush envisioned. I like that very much. So for my purposes, DT Pro remains a deeper and richer program than is dtSearch.

[rarbeit]

Bill,

thanks for your reply.

What do you mean by “disclose all the contained documents”?
Do you mean the inidividual documents we have created within DT Pro?
I assume you don’t mean just the component files inside the “.dtBase” package.

How will this help with the cross-platform issue?

thanks again,

bob

[Bill_DeVille]

Bob:

In DT Pro 2.0, all files (except, of course, externally linked files) will be stored in the database package’s Files folder. THat means you could simply copy the Files folder (in the Finder) instead of having to do an export. To view the contents of a package in the Finder, simply select the package file, press the Actions button and select the option to view the package contents. Nothing mysterious.

You could then make these files available to a Windows machine. Of course, not all file types will be readable by Windows applications. Plain text, RTF, HTML, XML Wprd, images and QuickTime media would be the most likely transferable tile types.

I interpreted your post as basically asking how to provide copies of your database files to someone using a Windows platform.

[rarbeit]

Got it. Sounds great.

DT Pro has replaced four other programs I was using – and I have only scratched the surface of what it can do.

I look foward to whatever you think of next.

Many thanks. And all best wishes to the DT team for a great new year.

bob

[sjk]

@Bill_DeVille

In DT Pro 2.0, all files (except, of course, externally linked files) will be stored in the database package’s Files folder. THat means you could simply copy the Files folder (in the Finder) instead of having to do an export. To view the contents of a package in the Finder, simply select the package file, press the Actions button and select the option to view the package contents. Nothing mysterious.

Maybe not mysterious, but I think it’ll be best to recommend exporting (and other “usability friendly” methods) before suggesting to muck around directly in a database package to achieve equivalent results. That’s said in the interest of minimizing overly-geeky solutions.

[Bill_DeVille]

@sjk

@Bill_DeVille

In DT Pro 2.0, all files (except, of course, externally linked files) will be stored in the database package’s Files folder. THat means you could simply copy the Files folder (in the Finder) instead of having to do an export. To view the contents of a package in the Finder, simply select the package file, press the Actions button and select the option to view the package contents. Nothing mysterious.

Maybe not mysterious, but I think it’ll be best to recommend exporting (and other “usability friendly” methods) before suggesting to muck around directly in a database package to achieve equivalent results. That’s said in the interest of minimizing overly-geeky solutions.

I tend to agree with you, sjk.

It’s usually not a good idea to go mucking about inside database packages, unless their contents are well understood. It’s also wise to make certain the database is closed.

[rarbeit]

I certainly consider it good advice not to touch the active copy of a complex database except through the program.

My intent was to take a copy of the db to work each day for read/reference use only. I would not add to it or attempt to pass it back to the program. The one-way outbound copy is done automatically when I sync my “traveling disk” to my internal drive.

The alternative might be to automate the export so that a fresh export was made every night that I could then copy and take.

Should it be possible to use AppleScript to automate exporting the database to HTML?

thanks.

bob

[Bill_DeVille]

@rarbeit

My intent was to take a copy of the db to work each day for read/reference use only. I would not add to it or attempt to pass it back to the program. The one-way outbound copy is done automatically when I sync my “traveling disk” to my internal drive.

The alternative might be to automate the export so that a fresh export was made every night that I could then copy and take.

Should it be possible to use AppleScript to automate exporting the database to HTML?

Bob:

Check out the Daily Backup script, Scripts > Export > Daily Backup.

HTML export has possibilities.

In the case of the Tutorial database, which uses hyperlinks for organization and navigation, it was a one-click operation to create a Web site based on any early draft of the DT Pro Tutorial database. See http://homepage.mac.com/wbdeville/DT_Tutorial_Export/Welcome%20to%20DEVONthink%20Pro.html as an illustration.