If I create a replicate of a file in DTPro and then try to rename the replicate, the original file is also renamed.
Is there a way to create a link to a file in the DTPro database which has a different name than the original, but points to the same data?
E. g. the original is Einstein1918.pdf
and I’d like to create a replicate (or link) somewhere which is called “relativity theory” - is that possible?
Martin
No. But, duplicates may have different names.
ok, thank you.
But duplicates - if I’m not mistaken - don’t change when the content of the original changes and double disk space.
Martin
The topic of replicant behavior comes up often as many users expect replicants in DT to behave like aliases in the Finder. All replicants in DT point to the same document in the database. There is no ‘original’ with one or more ‘links’ (aliases) as is the case in the Finder. It might be helpful to think of all items in the database pointing to a corresponding document in the filesystem, even if there are no replicants of the documents.
Or illustrating it another way, you may have a group named ‘GroupA’ in your database named ‘myDatabase’ that contains a PDF document named ‘myDocument.pdf’.
This document in the group points to a file that will be located in a path that might look like:
~/myDatabase.dtBase2/Files.noindex/pdf/5/myDocument.pdf
Changing the document name in DT changes the file name in the path, and deleting the document in DT will move the document in the database to the database Trash, however the file will remain in the same path until the database Trash is emptied. Likewise, if you move the document in the database from ‘GroupA’ to ‘GroupB’, the file in the path remains unchanged.
When you create replicants in the database, then the structure works like this:
Replicant in ‘GroupA’ —➘
Replicant in ‘GroupB’ —➙ ~/myDatabase.dtBase2/Files.noindex/pdf/5/myDocument.pdf
Replicant in ‘GroupC’ —➚
All the replicants point to the same file in the path-there is no ‘original’ nor are there ‘links’ in the database in the way that files are linked with aliases in the Finder. If I change the name of the document in the database, the file’s name is changed in the filesystem, but the file still resides in the same path*. If I delete a replicant of the document in the database, say the replicant located in ‘GroupB’, then only that replicant is removed-the other relations to the file in the path remain unchanged.
Replicant in ‘GroupA’ —➘
Path is unchanged: ~/myDatabase.dtBase2/Files.noindex/pdf/5/myDocument.pdf
Replicant in ‘GroupC’ —➚
This can be repeated for each replicant in the database until only the last pointer in the database is moved to the DB trash, the trash is emptied, and only then is the document deleted completely. This is very different from originals and aliases in the Finder, where the aliases can be renamed but if the original document is deleted, then all the aliases point to a now non-existent document. Now I realize that your question did not ask about file paths, etc. but I hope that providing a complete picture of the relationship among replicants will be helpful in explaining why they cannot be renamed individually without renaming everything.
Thanks, korm, for clarification.
Somehow I thought that the “name” of an object in DTPro was not necessarily identical with the filename of that object.
Now knowing that the name of the object is identical with the filename in the DTPro Database, I understand.
What surprised me much more was that changing the name of indexed files or folders changes the names of the originals - I always thought they would stay untouched… (but thats another discussion…[size=50]http://www.devon-technologies.com/scripts/userforum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11349[/size])
Martin
Not always, e.g. as the footnote in Greg’s post mentions:
* This is usually, but not always, be the case-if the new file name is identical to another file located in the same path, then one of the files will be moved to a new path.
There are other cases where internal document (and group) names in DT can differ from external filenames, e.g. when exporting. I posted about that in the beta forum several months ago and could summarize key points here later.
I (still) wish it was possible, even if it never will be, for replicants to have unique names.
Actually, that would be Greg Jones, the replicant master. 
oh, I’m very sorry!
Thank you both - and this time especially Greg for the long version of the clarification.
and thanks, sjk, for pointing out the small print
Martin