It is not possible to replicate documents between databases, but if you need to refer to the same document in multiple databases here is a quick method: select a document and copy its Item Link using Edit > Copy Item Link. Then, switch to the destination where you want the reference – in another group or another database – and press ⌘N to create a new bookmark. The bookmark will open the document in a new window when you click the bookmark.
Over here, I’ve assigned a keyboard shortcut to Copy Item Link, ^⌥⌘U, so with two shortcuts (^⌥⌘U ⌘N) I can quickly bookmark a document and insert that bookmark in another location.
Not the same as a replicant, and previews are not available** but the method avoids having a lot of duplicates.
[size=85]**feature request – preview bookmarks with x-devonthink-item URLs[/size]
That’s a good tip. It would be neat if a searchable preview of such bookmarks could be provided.
There’s a variation of that approach that can use the Item Link of a document that resides in another database, to make it accessible in notes.
I’m a heavy user of Annotation notes about documents. There are cases where I want to refer to a document that’s in a different database. That can be done by copy/paste of that document’s Item Link into a note.
Even though the link is to a document that’s in a different database, I can Control-click (right click) on the link and choose the option to open the document in a new tab in my current view window.
The result is ability to reference and view a document that’s located in a different database, without duplicating it into the current database.
Viewing such an external document within the current database can also be done in korm’s bookmarks, by opening the document in a new tab of the bookmark document.
There are limitations. For example, See Also works only for documents within a database, and a bookmark or Item Link in a note to an external document won’t be included in See Also or Classify suggestions based on the Content of that document. Personally, I like the restriction of See Also to a database, and design my topical databases with that restriction in mind.
Or just command-click the link inside the annotation document and it will open in a tab in the current window.
Similar to the case of the annotation document link, above: command-click the URL bar of the bookmark to open the bookmarked document in a tab of the current window.
The inability to replicate among databases is one reason why I have just one database right now. I tried multiple databases and got along OK, but this was a real sticking point for the many, many groups and files that need to be accessible in multiple locations.
With a preview of bookmarked stuff, I could see me re-evaluating my system, though I tend to replicate groups rather than individual files, so I am not sure how much I would actually benefit from such a feature.Being able to replicate files in different databases would be nice. I wonder why we can’t do that? I assume it has something to do with keeping all instances updated, esoecially with closed databases.
Well, I think this works well with groups. Edit > Copy Item Link works for groups too – and you can make a bookmark with a group link – and you can open that bookmark in a tab. See the picture. The contents of the bookmarked group appear as icons (or icons with previews, depending on your Preferences) in that tab, and you can click anyone of the icons to open that item in that tab. The back/forward buttons in the tab work too – e.g., to navigate back to the group view.
Thanks Korm! I meant that it’d be nice to have previews of bookmarked files and groups. Without the contents of the bookmarked groups, it isn’t terribly useful for me yet. Also, it’s gotta work on the iPad for me. As far as I can tell, bookmarks don’t do much on the iPad. Maybe DTTG 2?
