I have in several of my DT databases both ‘regular’ files (the ones I can see/read/open in the finder, I understand they are indexed files), and files who have the ‘DEVONthink 3 document’ type (in both Dt and finder’s information), that is items displayed with the blue DT logo.
I would like to have only indexed files in these particular bases.
What should I do in order to convert (not sure if it’s the appropriate term, but you probably get the idea) into the ‘actual’ files they are referring to ?
I see I can open the URL/link for each of them, and then reimporting in an indexed folder of the base, but I have hundreds of them, so is there a way to batch ‘convert’ them ?
If it were me, I’d made an Archive backup of the database, just in case something goes wrong. Then select the files you wish to take out of the database, Menu → Export → Files and Folders and thus export them into their new positions in your macOS file system outside of DEVONthink. Then, if wanted, index them back into the database as indexed (not imported) files.
FYI, I have very few indexed files as they are more complicated than imported files. The DEVONthink Manual discusses the issues.
Yes, I spent some time to read the DT on the imported vs indexed (tough) choice. What I understood is that the main criteria is : do I need to access the files outside of DT ? (DropBox share links, for example).
I also see that’s it’s confusing to manage both type of files in the same base.
BTW, I recently discovered that I can convert a hierarchical group/subgroups to tested tags.
This independently from the ‘exclude groups from tagging’ on or off option, which applies to the whole database.
But I also see that the corresponding files seem then to no longer be available in the finder, there are things I’m not yet very familiar with. I think I can get them back as indexed files by dragging them in an indexed folder -without losing their tags, I also have to experiment that.
Can you provide a screenshot of those? Although I have only imported files, I never see a DT 3 document type in my DT databases. Finder only uses this icon for databases, it seems.
This is with DT4, though.
What even makes you go into this folder? It is (and for good reasons, apparently) hidden from the usual Finder display. And the data inside it are DT internal metadata that you are not supposed to even know exist. Much less think about “converting” them.
For the not French speaking readers: The files are located in ~/Library/Metadata/com.devon-techonlogies.think3.
Back to your original post:
If you have indexed files, they are not “in” the database. Only imported files are “in” a database. Indexed documents in DT have a special icon indicating that fact.
What you see in ~/Library/Metadata/com.devon-technologies.think3 will certainly not appear in your database if you look at it in DT.
You never open anything “in Finder” – Finder is just a nice interface. You double click on a file and the associated program opens it. Which you can do exactly in the same way in DT: set “double click opens in default app” in its preferences. And you do not have to worry about importing vs. indexing, nor about weird icons.
TL;DR
DEVONthink is an abstraction layer. Like Finder. It uses metaphors (like Finder) that help you interact with bits and bytes on your disk. If you start hunting around, you will surely find information used by Finder internally, as you just found information used by DT internally. Leave those alone. Don’t even think about them. Just ignore them. Apple made it intentionally difficult for the uninitiated to even see things they do not understand and should not touch. Do not circumvent these safeguards by making hidden files visible or using “Go to Library” from Finder’s menu or the Cmd-G shortcut with ~/Library. If you have turned on “Show Library folder” in Finder’s preferences, turn it off again. Don’t let yourself be tempted! Stay pure!
Those are Spotlight metadata files. They are not files inside your database. And @chrillek is correct: you shouldn’t be messing about in the Library directory or in the internals of a database.
OK, I get it, thank you for your detailed explanations.
I had left activated hidden files view (“Command+Shift+.”) -I did this for another purpose.
I had made some research in the DT help files before posting, but of course did’t find information about these files as nobody should see nor handle them.
I understand now these mysterious files are metadata, not kind of invisible imported data I would have to convert back to their ‘normal’ I Indexed & Finder visible state
Which also means these metadata correspond to files I can be sure being in the base ?
i’m not yet confortable with the fact that files imported in DT kind of ‘disappear’, I mean are no longer visible in the Finder. Quite abstract to me. I hope I’ll get used to it with time.
I masked back all hidden files, hoping that I have not made a mess
Interestingly, the Finder is already an abstraction. As is the concept of files and folders. By using DT, you’re exchanging one kind of abstraction against another one that’s more versatile.
Perhaps it helps to think of documents instead of files. Put their content and what you do with it and them in the foreground.
It’s not really abstract at all, I suspect your framing is incorrect. When you import a file into DT, you’re telling the computer to move the file from Finder to DEVONthink, I.e. “I don’t want this file in Finder, I want it in DEVONthink”. So it’s doing that. Nothing abstract. In this sense, DEVONthink is a file manager (I can hear people readying their pitchforks, but it is true for the purposes of this conversation about Finder v. DT!).
Personally I ended up putting nearly everything in DEVONthink. There are specific reasons for a couple of folders to live on iCloud or outside DT on my Mac (and they’re not indexed), but that’s solely because of compatibility, use case or file size. Everything else gets put in a database where I can manage it “properly”.
If you hold the ⌘ Command key when you drag into DEVONthink, the file will be moved, not copied, into the database. If you are using File > Import > Files and Folders , you can click the Options button and enable Move Originals to Trash .
