I’m a DEVONthink novice, so apologies if this is an obvious question.
I have two groups of files I want to import into a database, Group A & Group B. I intend to reorganize the files once they are in the database, mixing them together, creating new groups, etc. But, I would also like to mark the files in some way so that I can know which group of files each file originally belonged to, Group A or Group B.
My initial thought was to assign tags to the groups. I understand now, though, that DEVONthink tags are more dynamic than I expected them to be. I don’t want to debate this approach; I see that it has been discussed thoroughly elsewhere.
What is the right DEVONthink feature to use for this case?
I don’t think there is “the” right way. DEVONthink is very flexible, and in the end it’s the user that decides how to set it up and use its various features to fit it their specific needs and likes.
I don’t know why tags are not an option for you, but you ruled them out, okay. So my answer is: If you have the Pro or the Server edition you have custom meta data. Create one called, say, “source”, “origin”, or something like that and set it to the group name the files were in.
If you just have the standard version check the Inspector for other suitable options, like keywords.
A totally different approach would be to keep the original groups in DT and to replicate their items to other groups. Or keep the original groups and make the other groups Smart Groups. (Without knowing anything about your use case I would not go for these options. I would set the source as a value somewhere in the Inspector where it does not bother any further actions with the items.)
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I understand now, though, that DEVONthink tags are more dynamic than I expected them to be.
I’m not sure where you’re getting that idea, but tags are not inherently dynamic. There are dynamic forms of tagging, e.g., group tags, but that is another matter and not something that happens by default.
Your brief would be easily accomplished with a smart rule and an On Import event trigger.
Yes, with tags in any edition and yes, with custom metadata in Pro or Server.
A one-minute smart rule yields with both a tag and custom metadata…
Both approaches…
Do note, in this configuration, importing into any group in this location would get marked. So if you have a limited set of origin groups, you need to make sure you import / drag and drop to those groups before you start reorganizing.
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This might be useful in your situation if there’s more than just Folder A and Folder B to keep track of. i.e. If there’s a hierarchy that might be useful to remember
I took over a job about three years ago. I got a link to a Google Drive folder full of the previous person’s docs. I thought there was some knowledge stored in how it was organized so I went about it like this:
- synced it to my desktop
- indexed it into DT
- anything I wanted to re-use I duplicated to a new location in-Database and I left the original file structure as is.
Doing it this way helped when the client company switched to Sharepoint from Google. Before they killed the Google accounts I imported everything from that old Google Drive folder into the Database so I still had access to the old folder structure. After I completed my first season I was comfortable enough to leave the old folder structure in its database where it still resides. I haven’t referred to it or that database in over a year but it was helpful at the time.
Excellent! Thank you for the info!
I created a Smart Rule (On Import) that applied a tag to each imported item and got exactly what I wanted. I see how I could also use custom metadata, too.
I also tried a Smart Rule (On Demand) to do the same on a folder already imported into the database. Nice to see from your example that I can combine this with the On Import, too.
Is there a simpler way to apply a tag to a selected group and every item inside it? Let’s assume the folders are too large to easily expand them in the UI and manually select every item.
(FWIW, I think this is the root of my confusion about tags. I assumed they would be recursively and permanently attached to all sub-groups and sub-documents when applied to a top-level group.)
Thanks for the idea, SlickSlack. I had early-on considered leaving the imported trees intact, and just arranging duplicates. In my case, I decided the original arrangement wasn’t as important as just remembering which group the document came from. I’m glad you shared your scenario; it tells me I wasn’t crazy to consider it!
Thanks for the reply! I think I may end up applying custom metadata as you suggest, though Bluefrog’s reply below has helped me understand tags and how to apply them better, too.
Yes, via File > Database Properties > Inherit Tags of Groups. But this is a dynamic tagging function. So if you move documents out of the group, they will lose the tags of the parent.
I also tried a Smart Rule (On Demand) to do the same on a folder already imported into the database.
You don’t need a separate smart rule. Smart rules support having multiple event triggers.
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If you do decide to keep the original file structure intact, you might want to consider using replicants as opposed to duplicates.
With replicants you don’t make a duplicate copy of the files, instead you have two references to the exact same file.
