I think it would be helpful to be able to delete exact duplicates (not altered copies of the same file), all at once.
Is this possible?
ccheney
You’ve got me. I haven’t figured out an easy way to do that. 
There’s a command to delete all instances of replicants, but no similar command to delete duplicates.
I can’t quite bring myself to bring new information directly into DevonThink in case somehow it is lost, so I end up clipping/saving things to my pre-DT subject folders, then periodically dragging things into DT. But this means I keep bringing in some duplicates even when I try not to. That is the reason for my interest in this feature. Even better, would be a Finder-like warning, or an option: Do not import duplicates!
Long ago I asked Christian for such a command. It never happened and somehow I think to remember that this problem should be solved with the new file format in ver. 2. I would like to know whether this is true and whether the problem will be adressed anyway.
Maria
I’ve had trouble with duplicates, too. [DUH TIME] It has to do with my browsing habits and importing the same Finder folders more than once.
This suggestion is somewhat lame, but this is what I do:
When I search for anything, I do not close the search window until I sort by name and search for duplicates. It depends on the date and the location of the duplicates which one is dumped. If the one I keep is in a less-than-obvious place, I use the contextual menu to move it to where it fits better.
That’s all I can offer. I wish DTP had a better way of doing it, but I consider dupes my fault and not the program’s!
Mike
One possibility is to use the script “Scripts > Data > Find & Remove Similar Contents”. This script will check for every selected item if one or more (almost) identical items already exist in the database and, if that’s the case, ask you if the the item should be deleted.
If you want to remove only identical items (duplicates), you have to change the limit of the script to 1.0 (see beginning of script).
Thanks, Christian, for letting us know about that script for duplicates & similar material. I’ll see if it can solve my problem.
Replicants! Sounds like Blade Runner, though the verb should be terminate. Duplicates do show up in red, however, don’t they?
No, duplicates show up in blue type.
Replicants are in red type.
Replicants are an interesting concept. Change one, change all. They are all ‘instances’ of the same file. On the other hand, one can change a duplicate without changing the other file.