I just upgraded to DTPO in hope of integrating my Hazel driven paperless workflow into DT. My current workflow is as follows:
Scan a document using SnapScan S1500M.
Have Hazel move the pdf file to an appropriate folder, based on one or more keywords (FYI, OCR is done by ScanSnap).
I need a Hazel rule (or an applescript) to import the scanned file into a specific FT database, or - if this is not possible - into the Global Inbox. I realize that I can import pdfs into DTPO directly, but I want to be able to maintain a directory structure in parallel with a DTPO database, just in case DT GOOBs some day.
Maintaining parallel data structure so that external folders and internal groups have the same documents and hierarchies is a huge amount of dull work, and will eventually breakdown, IMO, because it requires continual attention, and attention to filing drudgery always lags.
So, why bother to import anything? If Hazel is already configured to allocate documents to the correct folders, then just index all those folders and you’re done.
Just be careful with replicants (or avoid them entirely), and don’t move groups inside DEVONthink. Instead move folders in the file system and then update DEVONthink (File > Update Indexed Items). Indexing vs. importing has been written about extensively in the forum. Look for anything that Bill DeVille, Greg Jones, or Arnow has written on the topic.
To clarify, I am not looking to recreate the folder hierarchy in DT. I want to use DT for its superior ranking capabilities when I search for something. Hazel is not perfect. One time out of ten (roughly speaking) a document gets filed in a wrong place (e.g., I have a rule that looks for the name of a department store X to file a bill under Bills/X, but the store name also appears on my bank statement, so the bank statement winds up being filed under Bills/X, instead Bank).
Not sure what that means, then. But, whatever. I’d continue to recommend indexing your folders. DEVONthink searches indexed documents as efficiently as it searches imported documents.
Just to be clear, all I have to do is go to the Inbox, select the folder I had indexed previously (e.g., Scans), which contains my Hazel-linked directory structure, and choose Update Indexed Items from the File menu, right? DTPO will index just the items that have been added to the Scans directory since the last time the index was updated, right?
Hi,
I really appreciate the speed of OCR with inbuilt scansnap software. I mostly use DTPO for other research projects other than keeping my financials paperless, so the index solution looks both “secure” and speedy. How are you getting along with this workflow? any modifications?
I have a copy of hazel. I use it to keep my desktop clean.
However in this workflow instance my advice would be to import it into Devonthink and forget hazel. Maintaining a directory tree structure takes time and effort and modern thinking is to do away with this (e.g… evernote, iCloud) and use search instead.
It is actually easier, quicker, cleaner, better.
Changing a workflow pattern can be difficult because we are creatures of habit.