DEVONthink Professional Office

DEVONthink Tips
1

I use DEVONthink Pro Office and want to back up my databases on DVD.
Is the best way to back up everything in my databases is to burn the
.dtBase2 to a DVD?

Thanks,

Frank

2

I always recommend keeping backups of databases on an external medium such as an external drive (including Time Machine) and/or offsite storage such as DVD-R. That’s protection against Bad Things such as a hard drive failure.

I use and recommend Scripts > Export > Backup Archive, as Backup Archive produces the smallest possible compressed and dated backup of the database. As the backup date is part of the archive’s filename, it’s easy to pick out the most recent one.

3

Is there a restriction on file types for this script? I am receiving an error message stating the database is damaged. Yet in the log window there are not any file exceptions. Rebuilding the database (File>Database>Rebuild) doesn’t alleviate the problem.

I too believe in backups; is Time Machine sufficient, or should I develop a workflow of archiving?

4

Backup Archive first verifies the database and will report an error. This has nothing to do with the filetypes of the documents stored in the database.

Have you run Tools > Verify & Repair? If an error is reported, run the routine again, to see if the error(s) can be repaired.

As you have already tried rebuilding the database, try something else:

  1. From the Split View, at the top level of the database Select All the content (groups and documents).

  2. Choose File > Export > Files & Folders. Choose a destination, e.g., your DeskTop, and create a new folder to hold the exported content. Now confirm the export.

  3. When the export has finished, examine the Log to identify any files that failed to export. Perhaps you had some damaged files. Save the Log as a record of missing files.

  4. In DEVONthink Pro, create a new, empty database. Now choose Import > Files & Folders and select ALL the contents of the folder that holds the previously exported material. When the import is finished, check the Log to identify any files that may have failed the import. If there are ‘failed’ files, save the log as a record of the missing files.

  5. In the new database, run Tools > Verify & Repair. If any error is reported, run it once more. You should end up with an error-free database, unless you have some problematic files, or perhaps operating system or disk directory errors on the computer.

5

Thanks Bill, this took care of the issue. I’m still learning my way around 2.0.