The purpose of the database Trash is to act as a safety net in the case of inadvertent deletions of database items. If I’ve “lost” a document that should be in a database, e.g., if I’ve just deleted some other documents and might have been careless in making selections, I can perform a search for it, using terms that I know it contains. IMHO, it’s highly useful if that document is found in the database Trash. It’s location in Trash is displayed. I can retrieve it.
I empty the database Trashes before they get so large that a quick scan of their contents to check for inadvertently deleted items becomes difficult.
I often use the Classify assistant to help file a document. If I click on the ‘Magic Hat’ button a drawer slides out and displays suggested groups. If I’ve selected that document I found in the database Trash, an appropriate location in the database will be displayed and I can select it and move it to that group.
However, Classify will never suggest a group that’s in the database Trash. If there’s a group that would be a good filing location for a document, but I’ve moved that group to the database Trash, Classify will not suggest it.
I’ve usually got Preferences > Import - Destination set to the select group option. That allows me to choose any group in any open database as the filing location. But the database Trash is not an option. What happens if I use that HUD to file a document to a specific group, then move that group to the database Trash? Will new content be sent to that group in the Trash? Try the experiment. Does the HUD displayed by Clip to DEVONthink behave similarly?
I often choose Tools > Show Groups & Tags to help me file content, as I can choose any group in any open database as the location to which to drag one or more selected items. Trash is not an option, which makes sense.
I rarely use the Sorter, other than to send it new content that is intended for a database that’s not currently open.
In all the years that I’ve been using DEVONthink, I don’t recall any instance in which I filed new or existing content to the Trash (other than inadvertent or deliberate deletion). In cases where a previously used location “sticks” in a HUD (which I think is convenient) I always glance at the location each time, as I tailor the location to each document and rarely file a series of documents to the same location.
The intended purpose of the Global Inbox is as a temporary holding place for new content that is to be later filed into one’s databases. I usually choose the Groups & Tags panel to allow movement of selected documents to my databases. Although the Classify assistant doesn’t work across databases, each database has its own Inbox which can be chosen to allow use of the Classify assistant within that database.